Archive of SportingNews.com's old SOM Baseball forum

Can Paul Konerko hit in the number 3 slot or is he too slow?

The heart of my batting order versus RHP consists of:

(3) Jose Bautista
(4) David Ortiz
(5) Paul Konerko

Of the three of these guys, I like Bautista in the number 3 slot because he's faster than the other two. Bautista has 1-14 running speed, whereas Ortiz (1-9) and Konerko (1-8) are significantly slower. Since Konerko hits for better average and has a higher OBP than the other two, I'm considering moving him into the number 3 slot against RHP. I am somewhat hesitant to do this, however, because I don't want him clogging up the base paths. The players currently hitting behind Konerko are Pedro Alvarez and Yorvit Torrealba, neither of which are very fast (both are rated at 1-10 running speed).

I play in Rangers Ballpark and am fairly satisfied with the rest of my lineup.

How would you guys set the lineup?

I like your first choice for the reasons stated

I like Kon/Ort/Baut

I understand the speed factor but this is about slugging... these guys mostly hit 2b"s and HR's so speed is less of an issue

Kon's OB is better and I want guys on for Ort to drive in with all those extra base hits..this also applies to Ort and Baut...Ort has an excellent OBP for those HR's from Baut...

plus it lets you go R/L/R in the heart of the order

I tend to agree with splinter here.

U want your best pure hitter in the 3 hole and although Konerko isn't a pure hitter, he does have more hit chance on his card than Big Papi and Bautista.

In actuality, you have 3 #4 hitters here.

visick