Lineup imbalance

[malcontent]

Yesterday 12 of the Nationals' 14 hits were from seven position players batting LH.

Conversely, the Reds' offense to this point of the season has come almost exclusively from two of only three LHH on the roster, Votto and Bruce. Watching their parade of RHH flail away against RHP in some of the worst plate appearances in modern history has been simply nauseating.

Jocketty has traded away or released one LHH after the next, to make even worse what was already an obvious lineup imbalance and proven vulnerability to RHP. Reds fans may have forgotten, but they only have to look toward St. Louis to see what a balanced MLB lineup looks like.

None of this means anything, I'm quite certain, to Baker. I've never read of any concern on his part regarding this matter. I can only imagine that Baker must think that if he could hit RHP in his day, then any RHH should be able to do the same. In Baker's mind, there is no inherent vulnerability. Reds RHH should be coming around, any day now, so long as they stay aggressive. That's what was so confusing about Rolen to Baker. By all rights, he should have been coming out of his slump. He was still aggressive. It wasn't as if he was trying to walk his way out.

What an absolute joke. We're still in circus land, four years and counting.

Jocketty and the rest of the FO have to know better. So why is the team in such a predicament?

[krm1580]

I would like to see more LHH options as well but I don't think the issue with the Reds hitting is simply the handedness of their lineup. If it was their heavilly RHH lineup would crush lefties and we all know that does not happen.

The problem is the Reds have a lineup full of below average hitters, made all the more shocking by the fact that they play in a hitters park. Here are the Reds stats at OPS by position vs NL league average

Position League Reds Rank
C 0.708 0.663 12 of 16
1B 0.789 1.059 1 of 16
2B 0.693 0.618 15 of 16
SS 0.665 0.717 4 of 16
3B 0.715 0.507 16 of 16
LF 0.734 0.549 15 of 16
CF 0.756 0.619 14 of 16
RF 0.775 0.965 2 of 16

To put this in perspective 2009 Willy Taveres would be an upgrade at both LF and 3B


And of course my personal favorite stat OPS from the #4 spot.

League Reds Rank
0.777 0.577 16 of 16

By contrast, the Cardinals are above average offensively at EVERY position ranked no lower than #5 league wide anywhere. The fact that the Reds are still within 3 games is somewhat of a miracle.

[Billy Hamilton's Legs]

If anything, last night proves that this lineup really needs that righty with some power behind Votto. When you can't walk Votto, good things always seem to happen. Addition by subtraction too: not only does that bat add protection, it takes away PAs from LF/3B. A package of Homer/Leake, Heisey, and some prospects should be able to get a nice bat in LF. It looks like there are others in the market for a 3b too, so a LFer might be easier to obtain.

[Stray]

I like what someone else said yesterday, just bunch up our guys that are hitting and hope for the best. Cozart-Stubbs-Votto-Bruce and then hope for the best. I would even move Hanigan up in the lineup on his starts.

It's not that different guys aren't being given a chance, it's that most of them are giving us next to nothing.

[malcontent]

I would like to see more LHH options as well but I don't think the issue with the Reds hitting is simply the handedness of their lineup. If it was their heavilly RHH lineup would crush lefties and we all know that does not happen.

The problem is the Reds have a lineup full of below average hitters, made all the more shocking by the fact that they play in a hitters park. Here are the Reds stats at OPS by position vs NL league average

Position League Reds Rank
C 0.708 0.663 12 of 16
1B 0.789 1.059 1 of 16
2B 0.693 0.618 15 of 16
SS 0.665 0.717 4 of 16
3B 0.715 0.507 16 of 16
LF 0.734 0.549 15 of 16
CF 0.756 0.619 14 of 16
RF 0.775 0.965 2 of 16

To put this in perspective 2009 Willy Taveres would be an upgrade at both LF and 3B


And of course my personal favorite stat OPS from the #4 spot.

League Reds Rank
0.777 0.577 16 of 16

By contrast, the Cardinals are above average offensively at EVERY position ranked no lower than #5 league wide anywhere. The fact that the Reds are still within 3 games is somewhat of a miracle.
Excellent post and perspective, krm1580.

Those numbers are flat-out shocking. 2B 15 out of 16? Someone needs to show that one to DatDudeBP. A little less chest-thumping and a little more OPS could be in order. Of course, that might mean taking the occasional ball 4 or EVEN BALL 6 once every 50 PA, something which there seems to be less than zero pressure to do. That contract was awful before the ink even dried.

It is amazing this club is within 3 games. Some of that has to be due to the Cardinals slacking off a bit...seriously, what Central rival do they really have to worry about? Surely not this team. This team desperately needs a well-directed kick in the rear. Of course, the odds of it coming from Baker are nil.

[Stray]

Phillips has actually been swinging the bat a lot better lately. Maybe since he's coming off of his injury he's going to start to turn it around.

I worry a lot more about LF, CF, and 3B than I do 2B. And lets be real, he's not a cleanup hitter by any stretch of the imagination, and we didn't sign him to be one. He's hitting out of position because of how bad the rest of our options are...well except for Bruce when he's on a hot streak.

[Kingspoint]

krm, those numbers are hard to look at. They make me want to throw up. Frazier sits is the main reason why.

[malcontent]

krm, those numbers are hard to look at. They make me want to throw up. Frazier sits is the main reason why.
Yep. Rolen had to take himself out of the starting lineup.

Baker admitted that he could tell that something was wrong, but didn't talk to Rolen about it. He just kept running him out there, game after game.

That's what we should want in a manager, I guess.

[New York Red]

I would like to see more LHH options as well but I don't think the issue with the Reds hitting is simply the handedness of their lineup. If it was their heavilly RHH lineup would crush lefties and we all know that does not happen.

The problem is the Reds have a lineup full of below average hitters, made all the more shocking by the fact that they play in a hitters park. Here are the Reds stats at OPS by position vs NL league average

Position League Reds Rank
C 0.708 0.663 12 of 16
1B 0.789 1.059 1 of 16
2B 0.693 0.618 15 of 16
SS 0.665 0.717 4 of 16
3B 0.715 0.507 16 of 16
LF 0.734 0.549 15 of 16
CF 0.756 0.619 14 of 16
RF 0.775 0.965 2 of 16

To put this in perspective 2009 Willy Taveres would be an upgrade at both LF and 3B


And of course my personal favorite stat OPS from the #4 spot.

League Reds Rank
0.777 0.577 16 of 16

By contrast, the Cardinals are above average offensively at EVERY position ranked no lower than #5 league wide anywhere. The fact that the Reds are still within 3 games is somewhat of a miracle.
Wow, just terrible. I'd hate to think where we'd be without the outstanding pitching we've gotten in most games. We are fortunate to only be 2½ games out of first place at this point. Phillips is slowly coming around, so I'm assuming that problem will take care of itself. LF and 3B are much bigger issues that I'm not sure get corrected any time soon.

[Ironman92]

It's been like this since Bob Boone

That one year Mr. Clutch himself batted 3rd all season and only had around 57 RBI (never stopped Grande and Welsh from saying how great he was RISP)....never a thought of putting anyone else there.

[New York Red]

Anyone catch the Nats lineup in the series opener against us? They started four RH, four LH and a switch-hitter. That's the kind of balance we can only dream about.

[LaFlamaBlanca]

Anyone catch the Nats lineup in the series opener against us? They started four RH, four LH and a switch-hitter. That's the kind of balance we can only dream about.

The Nats offense that is 24th in the league in runs scored? If they're terrible left hand hitters, they're terrible left hand hitters.

However, I don't understand the lack of platoon bats for match ups either. Losing Francisco didn't help. This was also the reason the Ludwick signing left me scratching my head. What sense at all does a righty-righty platoon make? This offense would work much better with a LH OF who could achieve ~ .330-.340 OBP against righties and steal a few bags.

[OGB]

I like what someone else said yesterday, just bunch up our guys that are hitting and hope for the best. Cozart-Stubbs-Votto-Bruce and then hope for the best. I would even move Hanigan up in the lineup on his starts.

It's not that different guys aren't being given a chance, it's that most of them are giving us next to nothing.

A million times this.
It's as if Baker thinks there is some proviso in baseball's labor deal that states that catchers must bat 8th.