Archive of SportingNews.com's old SOM Baseball forum

I want to bat Klesko leadoff at Shea. What do you think?

When I have had him on my teams, he has produced well in the OBP
department.

Klesko not a leadoff man, however, he does have positive clutch and he is a lefty that hits lefties. In Shea, I bat him in a 5-7 hole. He always produces for me.

Klesko is good value in any park.

I agree with Jaydingness - his positive clutch makes him an ideal #5-7 hitter (I usually put him 5th).

Note that although he is slightly better against lefties than righties, he has normal power against RH pitching but is weak against LH pitching.

Regards,
Steve

Wow...I was told in the past that Klesko WAS a good leadoff hitter. That's where I had him at times. He was good...just kept getting hurt.

He does have a high OBP which is something you want in a leadoff hitter. However, he doesn't have any speed (which is obviously something you want in a leadoff hitter) and does have some power against RH pitching which gets wasted (to a large extent) if he bats leadoff.

If there is nobody else better to lead-off for you with better speed or OB, Klesko is your man.

When I've used him (3-4X), he hit .260-.270ish, w/.360-.380 OB.

Depending on the lineup, I would go with Klesko at leadoff OR in a 5-7 spot. If you have a roster that would allow you to have a bunch of thumpers lower in the order, Klesko's OBP would make him ideal for leading off. Speed is not a requirement in this game - heck, people were using Todd Pratt to lead off in the 2003 set! Granted, I generally look for speed out of MY leadoff hitters, but I have seen people have great success with station-to-station teams the last year or so.

On the other hand, if your lineup is a little bit flimsy in the middle, with some questionable players being thrown in there, I would recommend Klesko in the middle to help you solidify things. I hope that makes sense.

Admittedly he is not the ideal leadoff guy, but I have used him there on occasion. I batted him 6th-7th vs. RHP. He'll bat around .280-.290 and get on base 38-40% of the time. Better than some, IMO.

djskcsams,

Assuming that you've already drafted your team, post here the L/R lineups you are thinking of using for your team.