Tony La Russa lineup theory; Discuss

[ANDYCOCHRANE]

What do you guys think of Tony La Russa's favoured way of picking a line up? He stresses power at #2 which surely goes against the strato "theory" of high OB and low DP at #2. What do you stress in a #2?

[LMBombers]

I like a decent number of hits and low gba for my #2.

I figure if you leadoff guy gets on base you want a guy that won't double him up or if the leadoff guy has stolen 2B then you want a guy to single him home. Also if your leadoff guy has stolen 2B then you don't really want a walk because that sort of defeats the purpose of risking a stolen base attempt.

Thats my theory anyway and I'm sticking to it :!:

:mrgreen:

[visick]

Are you referring to Walker hitting in the 2 spot ?

If that's the case, I think LaRussa had no other choice but to put Walker there. Larry brings great OB, BA, HR power plus he's usually a low GbA guy anyway...

[bleacher_creature]

[quote:cae2f60f4b="LMBombers"]I like a decent number of hits and low gba for my #2.

I figure if you leadoff guy gets on base you want a guy that won't double him up or if the leadoff guy has stolen 2B then you want a guy to single him home. Also if your leadoff guy has stolen 2B then you don't really want a walk because that sort of defeats the purpose of risking a stolen base attempt.

Thats my theory anyway and I'm sticking to it :!:

:mrgreen:[/quote:cae2f60f4b]

This is a sound theory. I think if you had a team with less speed at lead-off, tons of bats in the first place, then it makes sense to have a great "hitter" at #2.

Lou Piniella used to put A-Rod at #2 back in the Kingdme (Extreme hitters park for those who don't know, or weren't playing Strat then) due to his speed, hitting ability (.350+ in 2006 IIRC), and POP.

He had Jr. Griffey (in his prime), Edgar Martinez, Buhner, Mark Whiten, etc...

Check out this boxscore where they spanked the Yankees in the Kingdome, hitting FOUR HRs:

[url]http://www.baseball-almanac.com/box-scores/boxscore.php?boxid=199608280SEA[/url]

edit: This team sucked due to no starting pitching (RJ was hurt), and NO PEN.

[JAYDINGESS1]

Tony has done a lot of things his way in his tenure here and elsewhere. What it comes down to is lack of other options. Some other Tony decisions;

1) Hit the pitcher 8th. This was a head scratcher, talk shows went crazy here along with his critics.

2) L, R, L, R, L, R lineups. Great idea, must have personnel to attempt.

3) Mandatory Wednesday lunches with Kline, King, Tavarez (jk). Would love to be a fly on the wall if this ever happened.

Gotta love Tony.

[MARCPELLETIER]

[quote:a5d24bae73]What do you guys think of Tony La Russa's favoured way of picking a line up? He stresses power at #2 which surely goes against the strato "theory" of high OB and low DP at #2. [/quote:a5d24bae73]

:shock: :shock: :shock:

"Strato theory" indeed stresses on the importance of having a hitter with power at #2 spot (at least, that's the theory of many Strat players...see strategy thread "for newbies").

[PJ Axelsson]

I'm sure Tony is familiar with Strat theory as it applies to cards. Reality is what he is forced to deal with. Tony comes first, the cards follow...

[ANDYCOCHRANE]

For a while now i have been continually putting a weak power player at#2, such as Clark or Freel, behind players like Castillo. I am now wondering if it would be better to put these players at #9 and someone with better power at #2. I don't really want two similar players at #1 and #2, but do like the idea of having plenty of onbase.

[MARCPELLETIER]

IMO, the ideal line-up consists in

1-on-base machine (ideally with speed)
2- strong OPS hitter (among top 3 OPS in the team) (ideally with few gbA)
3- best OPS hitter
4- best slugger
5- second best slugger (ideally with good clutch)
6- the best of the rest
7- some pop with strong defense
8- weakest offensive player/strong defense
9-good on-base, ideally with speed

[MICHAELTARBELL]

what luckyman said.... :wink:

I often bat Dunn 2nd.... :)