Batting The Pitcher 8th
 

Larussa has gone back to hitting pitcher 8th like he did one year in an effort to get McGwire more at bats. He says he like to have Pujols bat in the first inning and likes to have 3 real hitters in front of him. Im not sure if this has been posted before but what do people think about this strategy? How about if a mananger starting batting a pitcher who can hit 6th or 7th ? Has anyone done this recently on a regular basis ?(I know dontrell willis hit 7th a few times a few years back) I know its not going to continue at this rate but Micah Owens is absolutely crushing the ball. In the event that he doesnt have much of an offesnive dropoff is there any reason why he shouldnt bat ealier in the lineup?

Re: Batting The Pitcher 8th
 

Lineup construction matters very little in the grand scheme of things. Batting the pitcher 2nd might be a problem; batting him 8th probably isn't.

Re: Batting The Pitcher 8th
 

Micah Owings was an awesome hitter in college, so I guess it is possible for him to not be the worst hitter in his lineup every now and then.

Re: Batting The Pitcher 8th
 

As Kyle said, it has little relevance, but I think BP did a piece a few years back and it was postulated that the optimum lineup construction would have the pitcher, or worst hitter, batting as far as possible away from the best hitter, which would be 8th, as the best hitter should bat 3rd in order to gain slightly more at-bats in the 3rd hole rather the 4th.

I'll see if I can find it, but I'm sure someone around here has the article on speed dial.

Re: Batting The Pitcher 8th
 

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Micah Owings was an awesome hitter in college, so I guess it is possible for him to not be the worst hitter in his lineup every now and then.

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I'm still fairly shocked he was drafted as a pitcher. I heard that scouts weren't convinced of him having a wood bat swing, but jesus he's doing a hell of a job proving that wrong.

Re: Batting The Pitcher 8th
 

[ QUOTE ]
As Kyle said, it has little relevance, but I think BP did a piece a few years back and it was postulated that the optimum lineup construction would have the pitcher, or worst hitter, batting as far as possible away from the best hitter, which would be 8th, as the best hitter should bat 3rd in order to gain slightly more at-bats in the 3rd hole rather the 4th.

I'll see if I can find it, but I'm sure someone around here has the article on speed dial.

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This is true. The lineup analyzer (Google for it) indicates this is accurate as well. I used it for my Little League lineups occasionally. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Re: Batting The Pitcher 8th
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Micah Owings was an awesome hitter in college, so I guess it is possible for him to not be the worst hitter in his lineup every now and then.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm still fairly shocked he was drafted as a pitcher. I heard that scouts weren't convinced of him having a wood bat swing, but jesus he's doing a hell of a job proving that wrong.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, occasionally kids with metal bat / high school swings can do pretty well. There's never a question about power, but the ability to hit for average. Garrett Atkins is a good example of this.

Re: Batting The Pitcher 8th
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Micah Owings was an awesome hitter in college, so I guess it is possible for him to not be the worst hitter in his lineup every now and then.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm still fairly shocked he was drafted as a pitcher. I heard that scouts weren't convinced of him having a wood bat swing, but jesus he's doing a hell of a job proving that wrong.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, occasionally kids with metal bat / high school swings can do pretty well. There's never a question about power, but the ability to hit for average. Garrett Atkins is a good example of this.

[/ QUOTE ]


His current clip is sustainable of course, don't you think? Mostly kidding of course, but assuming he hits at a strong rate into next season do you think the Dbacks ever consider making him any type of position player? Or is his arm simply more valuable? Again, this is assuming this isn't just complete variance, and he shows that he can hit over a decent sample size.

Re: Batting The Pitcher 8th
 

isn't owings' OPS better than several of the d'backs everyday guys?

Re: Batting The Pitcher 8th
 

Kevin Goldstein talked about this awhile ago, but it was about Josh Hamilton instead of Micah Owings. Hamilton routinely hit 96 mph with his fastball in high school and completed his senior year with a 0.00 ERA. The consensus is that to simply be in the big leagues doing one thing was hard enough; to be an actual two-way star would be next to impossible.

Doesn't mean it couldn't happen, though. That being said, injury risk to a pitcher who is also playing OF on his offdays has to be pretty severe.