Grady Sizemore

[Play By The Rules]

What do you guys do with him? I'm kind of at my wits end (granted, it's not all the far to travel...)

First of all he's so darned slanted. That's probably why he's almost always available, and, lately, my attempts at other CFs that would fit my strategy better (lately I'm in a Chase kick) almost always fall through.

So he's there, and he has some redeeming factors. The 1 in CF. The speed/SB. Nice card vs. RHP.

But where do you bat him?!?!? I'm kind of frustrated, been hitting him either second or third, or else down in the lineup against RHP. (Very often hit him 8th or 9th in my kind of heavy lineups against LHP...)

Last night I moved him up to leadoff to take advantage of his speed on one of my teams. I got swept. He doesn't QUITE have enough OBP to lead off but seems to have too low of an average to hit in a run producing spot.

Maybe you guys could give me some advice. Here's the lineups I used last night for the two teams in question:

Sizemore CF
Gerut RF
Utley 2B
McCann C
Branyan 3B
Choo LF
Votto 1B
Escobar SS

(Prior to last night it was:)

Escobar SS
Gerut RF
Sizemore CF
Utley 2B
Branyan 3B
McCann C
Choo LF
Votto 1B

Thanks for your advice and your general feedback on Grady Sizemore...

[Rant]

He's a bit of a tweener for the price. For your park, I'd almost want to put him at sixth (good value power, disruptive on the base paths and can create his own scoring opportunities; not good enough in other areas to make him an outright great choice for the top of the order). I'd either lead him off or lead Utley off and bat the other one sixth.

Assuming this is a no DH league, and that you don't mind getting killed by Mussina...

Sizemore (speed, decent OB, good power)
Gerut (good OB, low dps, good power)
McCann (best all around hitter)
Branyan (great power, low avg, high hrs, best ops for your team)
Choo (+ clutch, +OB and, good power)
Utley (*, about equal batting to Sizemore, but better versus lefties)
Votto (neutral clutch, good bat)
Escobar (good OB)
P

For lefties, I'm assuming you have at least someone who's subbing for Branyan at third. But if were taken at face value I'd grudgingly bat Sizemore second b/c having a lineup of Sizemore/Escobar/Branyan might create a vortex.

Utley
Sizemore
Gerut
Votto
Choo
McCann
Escobar
Branyan
P

[cummings2]

I'm in the midst of my first team with him.

I slotted him 3rd vs. RHP and 9th vs. LHP.

Mostly due to low DPs. I like low DPs in the 2 and 3 spots.

I think I'd go with your new lineup but with Choo-McCann-Branyan 4-5-6

C2

[Play By The Rules]

I don't like McCann too high (#3) because of the DPs and the speed... I'm gonna stick with it tonight at least, of course I have platoons vs. LHP:

Victor Martinez (YES!, when he's not hurt) C
Utley 2B
Dillon 3B
Votto 1B
Renteria SS
Gerut RF
Guillen LF
Sizemore CF

No DH, and yes, I have Mussina in my division...

:roll:

[J-Pav]

[b:435d734c2c]PBTR[/b:435d734c2c]:

Sizemore is the number one CF in Chase vs RHP, he's totally serviceable vs. LHP, and he is the number one CF overall.

He's number two in runs scored on one of my better offensive teams, but his numbers are only .232/.330/.471 (15 HRs, 16 SBs) in PNC thru 72 games. He seems to have that Torii Hunter thing from the last two years - he's not worth the price if you [i:435d734c2c]only[/i:435d734c2c] look at the stats line, yet there he is, scoring 100 runs and knocking in 100, playing great defense.

I have him batting 2nd versus RHP, and 8th versus LHP, but that's just me. You should probably bat him 2nd or 3rd versus RHP to maximize his productivity though.

GL,

[b:435d734c2c]J[/b:435d734c2c]

[visick]

Like J-Pav, when I used him, he hit in the 3 hole vs. RH's and in the 7/8 hole vs. LH's.

visick

[durantjerry]

He is a problem. I bat him first if I can afford to not have the power lower. Second works with a decent OBP and maybe someone will be on base for a HR. I don't like batting him third as much, as he's not really a great hitter. More of a power/walk/OBP guy who can run. I think what most determines where he bats is more based on the remaining personnel, as you don't really want 35 HR's vs rhp's batting first unless the rest of the lineup is power laden. Fifth or sixth works if you need his power lower. I would have to say JPav's description as highly servicable vs lhp's might be somewhat of an over statement. More like a number 8 or 9 hitter IMO.

[J-Pav]

Hey [b:1422e79208]Jerry[/b:1422e79208]!

I said "totally" serviceable, not "highly" serviceable! By that I meant you don't need to platoon for him, you can bat him low in the order against LHP, as I said I was doing myself by batting him eighth.

Truth be told, his card vs LHP is pretty much the equal of Hamilton's, although his productivity is more from the OBP/SB than the SLG side (walk rolls on 4-5-6-7). It is very strange, however, just how terrible his individual avg/obp/slg stat line hides his contribution (in terms of net runs and RBIs). Still, you never hear how bad Hamilton is vs LHP.

The [b:1422e79208]tangotiger[/b:1422e79208] book ("The Book - Playing the Percentages in Baseball") would probably bat him in the three spot. Although most people like the second best big banger there, the [b:1422e79208]tangotiger[/b:1422e79208] definition perfectly fits Sizemore - a good hitter that doesn't fit the other more well-defined roles. (Wait. Is that The Book or Baseball Musings?)

To add to the confusion of the new card set, I have Josh Anderson batting [i:1422e79208]ahead[/i:1422e79208] of Sizemore. His line is .316/.350/.502 (7 Hrs, 21 SBs). Yet he only has 38 runs scored (he's a platoon DH, so the runs scored are not further diluted by his defense).

Go figure.

[scorehouse]

sizemore's card is a joke! he is the most over priced player in strat. never ever try him in an 80mil league.

[AeroDave10]

[quote:e769b5b085="scorehouse"]sizemore's card is a joke! he is the most over priced player in strat. never ever try him in an 80mil league.[/quote:e769b5b085]

Good thing I put him on my draft card for the opening round of the Player's Championship! ;)