Monday, June 14, 2010

Why the revolving Lineups?

Before I get into this, I read a couple different draft experts ranking the draft.  Two had the Pirates as the best draft, one had them ranked second and the other fourth.  That's a real good sign that things are turning in the right direction, providing they sign their picks. One said, "How can you not like what the Pirates have done?  They get the top two arms in the draft."  I like to hear praise like that.

Now onto today's issue.  Is anyone besides me tired of seeing a different lineup every game?  Let the talent play.  That's why they are starters.  I'm all for giving a guy a day off every now and then, but how can John Russell expect his regulars to hit with any type of consistency when they aren't playing consistently?  You don't need to keep your bench guys real fresh when they don't produce

It often appears that JR is picking his lineup out of a hat.  Guys like Crosby and Aki don't need regular AB's.  The other thing that drives me crazy is that every time someone seems to be going good for a couple days, he finds himself on the bench.

Clement started swinging the bat good, hitting the ball hard and suddenly he didn't play for four days.  Delwyn Young goes 2-4 with a homer and double then doesn't play.  This has happened all season.  I'm surprised he has the sense to keep writing Cutch's name in there everyday.  This is not the way to handle young players, especially when the team isn't going anywhere.

Suddenly, the conspiracy theorists are out.  Now we hear that Neil Huntington is telling JR who to play everyday.  I can't believe this is happening, or the Pirates are in much worse shape than even I thought.  I don't think either guy looks at scouting reports or anything.  I truly believe JR is just guessing everyday and hoping he gets lucky with the right eight guys.

Also I've heard Huntington is sabotaging the team.  For what?  To cost himself his job?  While I've been very happy with the guys he's brought in via trade the guys he brought in via free agency haven't been so good.  To his defense, he wasn't going after good free agents, he was going after cheap bodies to fill spots.  he was hoping to get lucky with a guy or two the same way he did with Garrett Jones.  Now isn't the time anyways to load up with free agents.  It is the time though to see exactly what you have with some of these guys and you can't do that by not playing them.

It's a little to late to be tanking it.  Don't give them that much credit.  If they were that smart, we would have David Price, Steven Strasburg and Bryce Harper as well.  The fact is that they are trying to win.  It's taking some time, but I'm still liking what I see down on the farm.

Russell has tried everything from batting the pitcher 8th to moving Cutch all around the order.  I really believe JR is out of options and just flipping the coin on guys.

To JR's defense (and that will be the only time those words will EVER come out of my mouth), his third baseman has 12 RBI's in the middle of June and his current right fielder having 17.  His five bench guys have a total of 46 so it doesn't get much better.

Right now this lineup stinks after the first 4 hitters.  However, he has to keep playing Laroche and Milledge.  Sitting them down every other game doesn't help one bit.

While it's true JR doesn't have the talent right now and maybe he should get the chance to see this rebuild through, I'm still not convinced he's the man for the job.  Pull the trigger on his job and bring in a more established manager like a Willie Randolph or a Phil Garner. This just is flat out not working.

11 comments:

  1. Great article. Couldn't agree more. i never understand why certain people are getting at bats over people who hit well the day before.

    You want to know why we don't score many runs. John Russell. Enough said. Fire him. I like the idea also of bringing in Randolph

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  2. Thanks for squashing the Neil Huntingtonsabotaging the team rumors. I have to laugh when I hear them.

    same old uneducated baseball fans

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  3. what i meant to say whas same old uneducated PIRATES fans

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  4. Well you said it yourself. the lineup changes cause no one is producing.

    I'd still axe JR though

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  5. Yeah but it's not as if they are putting quality players in for Andy and lastings. Let them play

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  6. and no consistency with where people bat. some of the descions make no sense. last week they batted laroche 3rd when he was in a 1 for 21 slump.

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  7. How can you say NH isn't sabotaging the team. he wants his guys to play. plain and simple

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  8. ummm. they are all his guys, you hayseed. dumbest comment ever right above me.

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  9. Andy and Milledge have had a long enough look, but they are better than any options currently on the roster

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  10. you say that Nh or JR isnt sabtaging the team but everytime someone does wee, the are grabbing pine shortly after. I wonder how many straight games pedro will play in a row when he comes up

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  11. If that's the case genius, why have Jones and Cutch played in every game. let me guess, simple luck of the draw?

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