Jeff Keppinger should play at which position?

[AmarilloRed]

I have seen a lot of people discuss Jeff lately , and with a batting average of .354, an OBP of .407, and a slugging percentage of .539, I think we should discuss where he should play. I will list all 8
positions, and you can vote for as many as you wish. I won't list pitcher since I don't believe he can pitch(that I know of). You can also vote for all 9 positions and put him on the bench. However, if you put a .354 hitter on the bench we will have a nice talk. So go ahead and participate in this newest poll. I myself voted for SS and 3B, as I believe he will eventually start at one of the positions or platoon with the players currently starting there.

[TStuck]

I'm voting for 2nd with Phillips sliding over to SS.

[Krawhitham]

Originally Posted by TStuck

I'm voting for 2nd with Phillips sliding over to SS.

same here

[BearcatShane]

Toronto needs a SS right? Well maybe we could work out a deal in the offseason where they get Gonzalez and Jeremy Accardo comes back our way. We could then move Phillips to short and Keppinger to 2nd.

[Blue]

I wouldn't want to move Phillips off of 2B at this point. He's too comfortable there. No reason Keppinger couldn't play SS.

I say deal Gonzalez and play Kepp at SS next season.

[BearcatShane]

Originally Posted by Blue

I wouldn't want to move Phillips off of 2B at this point. He's too comfortable there. No reason Keppinger couldn't play SS.

I say deal Gonzalez and play Kepp at SS next season.

Phillips would be a much better shortstop than Keppinger. Phillips is comfortable at 2nd but believe me, he'd be fine at short. He's just a great athlete.

[reds44]

Play him at 1B vs. lefties for now. That solves alot of the problem.

[boognish]

Originally Posted by reds44

Play him at 1B vs. lefties for now. That solves alot of the problem.

Thank you, reds44, for echoing my thoughts!

See if Keppinger handles the platoon role at first; though he doesn't have the power for the position, wasting plate appearances on Conine helps nobody, especially considering the "breaking up the lefties" strategem...Conine hitting fourth is an embarrassment to our moribund franchise, and since two consecutive managers have insisted on doing so (PM has hit Phillips fourth, also not a good idea, but that is a subject for another thread), the order--or "suggestion," if you prefer--would seem to originate from higher in the organization.

Conine's ghastly .260/.319/.392 helps nobody and he will be gone next season...let Keppinger have the platoon role while spelling others at the other 3 IF positions and the corner OF, and see if he can reprise Rich Aurilia ca. 2006. Keppinger has a chance to be an outstanding ninth player, and giving him a decent number of PA the rest of the season at different positions will go a long way toward determining if slotting him in to a bench/sometime starter role next year is a good idea.

[mound_patrol]

Originally Posted by boognish

Thank you, reds44, for echoing my thoughts!

See if Keppinger handles the platoon role at first; though he doesn't have the power for the position, wasting plate appearances on Conine helps nobody, especially considering the "breaking up the lefties" strategem...Conine hitting fourth is an embarrassment to our moribund franchise, and since two consecutive managers have insisted on doing so (PM has hit Phillips fourth, also not a good idea, but that is a subject for another thread), the order--or "suggestion," if you prefer--would seem to originate from higher in the organization.

Conine's ghastly .260/.319/.392 helps nobody and he will be gone next season...let Keppinger have the platoon role while spelling others at the other 3 IF positions and the corner OF, and see if he can reprise Rich Aurilia ca. 2006. Keppinger has a chance to be an outstanding ninth player, and giving him a decent number of PA the rest of the season at different positions will go a long way toward determining if slotting him in to a bench/sometime starter role next year is a good idea.

The perfect post. I can't add a thing. Just wanted to say I agree completely.

[ThirdBaseCoach]

BP needs to stay at 2b. he is one of the few bright lights this year, so why mess that up?

they should try Kepp at third and work on getting an everyday SS.

[AmarilloRed]

Originally Posted by boognish

Thank you, reds44, for echoing my thoughts!

See if Keppinger handles the platoon role at first; though he doesn't have the power for the position, wasting plate appearances on Conine helps nobody, especially considering the "breaking up the lefties" strategem...Conine hitting fourth is an embarrassment to our moribund franchise, and since two consecutive managers have insisted on doing so (PM has hit Phillips fourth, also not a good idea, but that is a subject for another thread), the order--or "suggestion," if you prefer--would seem to originate from higher in the organization.

Conine's ghastly .260/.319/.392 helps nobody and he will be gone next season...let Keppinger have the platoon role while spelling others at the other 3 IF positions and the corner OF, and see if he can reprise Rich Aurilia ca. 2006. Keppinger has a chance to be an outstanding ninth player, and giving him a decent number of PA the rest of the season at different positions will go a long way toward determining if slotting him in to a bench/sometime starter role next year is a good idea.

From all we here, Votto is a good 1st base prospect. I would expect him to be the starter at first base next year. I would not expect Votto to be in a platoon unless he has difficulty with left-handed pitching. I agree he will not be a starter this year, but will play all over the diamond for now. Just out of curiousity, who were the two people who voted to put him on the bench? He is on the bench now, but he is hitting well enough to be starting.

[mound_patrol]

Originally Posted by AmarilloRed

From all we here, Votto is a good 1st base prospect. I would expect him to be the starter at first base next year. I would not expect Votto to be in a platoon unless he has difficulty with left-handed pitching. I agree he will not be a starter this year, but will play all over the diamond for now. Just out of curiousity, who were the two people who voted to put him on the bench? He is on the bench now, but he is hitting well enough to be starting.

Votto is a great prospect at first, but so far this year he has struggled a bit against lefties. I would like to get him atbats against lefties so he gets better, but if you have to play keppinger and the Reds still have Gonzalez then platooning at first is the only option I would choose.

[I(heart)Freel]

Two thoughts for the morning, whilst I digest my Eggo.

At what point does this team turn the page and start prepping for 2008? I would've thought that would've happened at the trading deadline, by shipping out guys who arent in next year's plan. But, well, not so much.

So, if Kepp is in the plans, if he's being thought of to possibly play some SS or some left, or possibly full-time at third, then why not start playing him there now? He's had some defensive issues, so why not get him some reps to solve that now. Makes no sense to me.

At worst - and really, I do mean at worst, give him Conine's job, pushing Conine to the PH-only role. Frankly, I'd thought we'd see Votto by now too, but that's another post.

The other thought:

Has anyone noticed by bad Dunn's splits are this year? Yes, I was/am one of the posters advocating for a trade. So go ahead and call me a Dunn-hater/Marty-apostle blah blah blah. Even though I'd said repeatedly I like the guy, just want his salary spent elsewhere.

However, look at the stats (and I'll use the ones that most favor the big Donkey):

versus lefties
AB: 151
OBP 0.302
SLG 0.371
OPS 0.673

versus righties
AB: 250
OBP 0.395
SLG 0.648
OPS 1.043

That's pretty large, and really other than a very statistically strange last year, his splits have always been pretty tilted. But this year is extreme.

Could be that managers have figured out that going to the lefty specialist against Dunn is always the way to go? And it can't be a lineup protection issue, because if he wasnt getting anything to hit, his OBP would still be good.

Maybe Kepp needs to take some starts versus lefties away from Dunn? (Note the word "some.")

Again, if Dunn isn't in the 2008 plan, why not? Truth is, it will help Dunn get a better FA contract by padding his stats.

Something to consider over the next waffle.

[boognish]

Originally Posted by AmarilloRed

Just out of curiousity, who were the two people who voted to put him on the bench? He is on the bench now, but he is hitting well enough to be starting.

I was one of those who voted to leave him on the bench, thinking that is the role for which he is best suited (look back to the Aurilia 2006 analogy from my earlier post). There are plenty of ways to get a valuable bench player time without sitting down young assets, and evaluating Keppinger does not have to come at the expense of EE. I happen to think getting a read on EE is the higher priority...I like his defense and offense better at third base. Hopper, Gonzalez, and Conine have plenty of right-handed at-bats which could be sacrificed for the purpose of seeing Keppinger's capabilities.

On a related note, I think it speaks volumes about how bad this bench has been recently...every time a bench guy has a hot couple of weeks, people are clamoring to toss a valuable starting player aside to get the guy more at-bats. Keppinger is much more valuable to the Reds as a bench player getting four starts a week at multiple positions and an option to PH against LHP. For heaven's sake, we are not far removed from CHAD MOELLER and JUAN CASTRO getting key PH appearances!

[Blue]

uhh... why should I believe you over me?