A good percentage of comments on this blog relate to “who bats where” in the batting order.
- “Shohei should bat cleanup.”
- “Freddie should be the number three hitter.”
- “No, Freddie should hit second.”
- “Max Muncy should hit cleanup.”
- “Mookie should hit 9th.”
… and on and on…
Where should everyone hit?
A better question is: “Does it matter?’
Modern sabermetric studies have found that batting order matters, but the difference between a good lineup and a perfectly optimized lineup is usually only about 10 to 20 runs over an entire season, which translates to roughly 1 to 2 wins.
A few things do matter:
- Your best hitters should get the most plate appearances
- That’s why teams often hit stars like Shohei Ohtani or Mookie Betts near the top.
- The leadoff hitter gets about 15-20 more plate appearances per season than the #2 hitter and roughly 70 more than the #5 hitter.
- The #2 spot is often the most valuable
- Traditional baseball put the “bat control” guy second.
- Analytics showed that the #2 hitter comes up in many high-leverage situations while still getting nearly as many plate appearances as the leadoff man.
- That’s why stars often hit second today.
- Avoid stacking weak hitters
- A lineup with three automatic outs in a row creates inning-killing dead zones.
- Protection is mostly overrated
- The old idea that a slugger hits better because another slugger bats behind him has very little statistical support.
For the Dodgers, the bigger issue isn’t whether Freddie Freeman hits second or third. It’s that they can roll out something like Ohtani, Betts, Freeman, Max Muncy, Will Smith, Andy Pages, and Dalton Rushing in the same lineup. The quality of the hitters matters far more than the exact order.
One famous quote from analyst and author Tom Tango captures it well:
“The best lineup is important. Getting the best players is far more important.”
In other words, Dave Roberts can spend hours deciding whether Freeman should hit second and Ohtani first, but he’d rather have eight great hitters arguing about lineup spots than eight average hitters perfectly arranged.
Charlotte Knights 4 – OKC Comets 3
LHSP Jackson Ferris gave up a solo HR in the 1st. In the 2nd-4th innings, he allowed a double but no runs.
In the OKC 3rd inning, DH Zach Ehrhard drew a 1-out BB, and went to 3rd on 3B Tommy Edman’s single. Edman stole 2nd. Ehrhard scored the tying run when 1B James Tibbs III grounded out. RF Jack Suwinski singled to score Edman.
In the 5th, Ferris walked the first batter. The 2nd batter reached on a fielding error. A 2nd BB loaded the bases. A 2-run single followed. The next batter hit a sac bunt with the 3rd run scoring and RHRP Ryder Ryan relieving Ferris.
Ryan and RHRP Carlos Duran shut down the Knights through the 8th.
OKC scored a run in the 8th to get closer. A 2-out single by Edman and a run scoring double (17) by JTIII. JTIII’s double was the only XBH for OKC.
In his final rehab game, Tommy Edman went 3-4 and scored 2 runs. He had the only multi-hit game for OKC.
Tulsa Drillers 21 – Wichita Wind Surge (Minnesota) 10
Tulsa scored in every inning they batted except the 2nd. Every Driller had at least 1 hit.
After four consecutive plus starts, LHSP Adam Serwinowski had a bit of a letdown. He gave up a lead off BB and a two out run scoring double for a 1-0 lead.
Tulsa came back with authority. They sent 12 to the plate and 6 scored. DH Josue De Paula was issued a BB and RF Mike Sirota was HBP. This was good to push his on base streak to 53. SS Elijah Hainline singled to load the bases. With one out, 3B Kyle Nevin singled in a run with the bases remaining loaded. 1B Chris Newell hit a SF for the Drillers 2nd run. CF Kole Myers hit an RBI single, and 2B Sean McLain blasted a 3-run HR (3).
In the top of the 2nd, Serwinowski gave up a solo HR.
In the 3rd, McLain walked, stole 2nd, and scored on JDP’s RBI single.
In the 4th, Serwinowski allowed a double and BB before being lifted for LHRP Evan Shaw. Shaw hit the first two batters he faced, forcing in a run, charged to Serwinowski.
In the bottom half of the 4th inning, Hainline doubled and scored on a 2-out 2-run 1B Chris Newell HR (9).
With Shaw still pitching in the 5th, he allowed a 2-out double and single putting runners on 1st and 3rd. The lead runner scored on a WP.
In the bottom of the 5th, newly signed catcher Hayen Gilliland (1) and JDP (11) hit solo HRs.
In the 6th, Shaw hit his 3rd batter. He got the ground ball but it was booted and runners moved to 1st and 3rd. After 1 out, LHRP Christian Suarez came in to relieve Shaw. Two WP and a two out single plated the two inherited runners.
In the bottom of the 6th, Hope had a leadoff double. Nevin and Newell walked to load the bases. Myers hit a SF and with one out, Gilliland hit a 2-run single.
Suarez allowed three runs in the 7th after a walk, single, WP and pickoff throwing error scored 1. A two run double scored two more and RHRP Kelvin Ramirez relieved Suarez. He gave up a solo HR before getting out of the inning.
Tulsa broke it open in the 7th. Sirota singled and Hainline doubled (10) him to 3rd. LF Zyhir Hope singled to score Sirota and Hainline to 3rd. Hainline scored and Hope to 2nd on a double steal. Nevin drew a BB. Myers hit a RBI single scoring Hope. McLain hit a 3-run HR (4) for his 2nd 3-run HR of the game.
Nevin hit his 6th HR in the 8th.
RHRP Antonio Knowles finished the 9th to end the game.
- Josue De Paula – 3-4, 2 BB, 2 runs, 2 RBI, HR (11)
- Elijah Hainline – 3-6, 3 runs, 2 doubles (10)
- Zyhir Hope – 2-6, 2 runs, 1 RBI, double (12)
- Kyle Nevin – 2-4, 2 BB, 4 runs, 2 RBI, HR (6)
- Kole Myers – 2-4, 2 runs, 2 RBI, SF
- Sean McLain – 2-4, 1 BB, 3 runs, 6 RBI, 2 HR (10)
- Hayden Gilliland – 2-4, 1 BB, 1 run, 3 RBI, HR (1)
- Chris Newell – 1-4, 1 BB, 2 runs, 3 RBI, HR (9)
- Mike Sirota – 1-4, 1 BB, 1 HBP, 2 runs
Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (Wisconsin) 7 – Great Lakes Loons 3
RF Eduardo Quintero hit a 1-out double (13) and scored on a 2-out SS Emil Morales’ single.
After LHSP Sterling Patick retired the side in order in the first, the Loons got a pair of doubles by LF Samuel Munoz (5) and 2B Jose Izarra (8).
Everything went south from there. In the 2nd, Wisconsin scored on a HR of Patick. In the 3rd, Wisconsin scored a tying run after a single, WP, and double. In the 4th, with Patick still pitching, he allowed a BB, single, RBI single and SF to have a 4-2 lead.
In the top of the 5th, Izarra had a 1-out single and moved to 2nd on a fielding error. Izarra scored on CF Chuck Davalan’s RBI single, climbing to within 1.
But in the bottom of the 5th, Wisconsin scored three off LHRP Matt Lanzendorfer. A HBP, BB, and a 3-run HR pushed the lead to 7-3.
Both teams went silent after the 5th.
Jose Izarra was 2-3 with a double (8). He was the only GL batter with more than one hit. Eduardo Quintero (13) and Samuel Munoz had the other XBH for Great Lakes.
Lake Elsinore Storm (San Diego) 8 – Ontario Tower Buzzers 7
Ontario jumped out to a lead in the 2nd. LF Brendan Tunink tripled (1) and scored ahead of DH Easton Shelton’s 20th HR.
Ontario scored another in the 4th. Shelton walked to lead off the inning. One out later, CF Landyn Vidourek also walked. Shelton scored on a single by C Conner O’Neal.
Ontario’s RHSP Tyler Gough pitched 4 scoreless innings on 1 hit and 1 BB. In the 5th, Gough gave up a lead off single and then struck out the next batter before being relieved by RHRP Jose Cabrera, who lost control of the game.
Cabrera faced 5 batters and did not record an out. HBP, WP, BB, HBP, 2 run single, and BB. Three runs in, and he left the bases loaded for RHRP Angel Cruz. Cruz walked the first three batters he faced for three runs. After a K, Cruz hit another batter for another run. He struck out the final batter of the inning. Let’s tally that up. 13 batters came to plate:
- 5 BB
- 3 HBP
- 2 singles
- 3 strike outs
- 7 runs
In the 6th inning, Ontario climbed back into the game. With 1 out, Vidourek (5) and O’Neal (5) hit solo HR. RF Mairo Martinus singled and RF Ching-Hsien Ko drew a BB. 3B Chase Harlan followed with a 2-run double (15).
RHRP Brock Stewart rehab appearance. He allowed a single in his 1.0 IP with 2 K. He threw 19 pitches (13 strikes).
RHRP Jesus Tillero pitched a scoreless 7th and 8th inning, with 1 hit and 1 K. Tillero came back out on the 9th, and on the 1st pitch of the inning, the sailed out over the CF wall for a walk of HR, for a 9-8 win.
- Chase Harlan – 2-5, 2 RBI, double (10)
- Conner O’Neal – 2-3, 1 BB,1 run, 2 RBI, HR (5)
- Landyn Vidourek – 1-3, 2 BB, 1 run, 1 RBI, HR (5)
- Easton Shelton – 1-3, 2 BB, 2 runs, 2 RBI, HR (20)
- Ching Hsien-Ko – 1-3, 2 BB, 1 run, double (10)
Discussion (104)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Nice win. Finally, Tucker looked good, great throw from right to nail the runner. Mookie’s swing velocity has actually increased since last year.
No, it means Espinal and Freeland are on the bubble.
From what? Guy has pitched all of 4 games in the majors and that was 2 years ago. He has only pitched in 7 games at OKC and isn’t blowing hitters away. He is 3-0 with a 2.81 ERA. But he has only pitched 32 innings. There is absolutely no reason to rush the kid. His time will come, just not this year.
There are reports that they will listen to offers for Devers, Adames and Chapman, along with Arraez and Ray, who would be rentals.
Miggy!
Nick Martinez’s changeup is hellacious. That pitch makes him one of the best pitchers in baseball. Tucker and Betts are the only ones hitting him hard.
Mookie swing the last week plus has looked much better and even his outs are now harder outs.
Is Pages gonna lose his all star bid or does he have one more hot streak left in him the next couple of weeks?
Does Roberts saying Edman won’t start until Wednesday mean it’s Espinal that’s going to be released? The Rays have a righty going tomorrow so you think they would want a lefty in LF and 2B. Could mean neither Ward or Freeland are going down.
Mookie and Tucker deliver together. Is that a first for this year?
Free River Ryan!
That’s one guy I would never vote for. I don’t vote straight Dodgers either. Pages, Wood, Soto right now for me.
agree, in many ways I think the team believes LRL (or the according with splits) is way more important than order.
Muncy batting 2nd makes a lot of sense, IMO. He has batted most in 5th spot, 4th second most, and 2nd third most.
Batting 2nd – 801 PA – .245/.362/.537/.899, BAbip .245, 54 HR
Batting 4th – 995 PA – .226/.354/.458/.811, BAbip .256, 52 HR
Batting 5th – 1043 PA – .231/.360/.491/.852, BAbip .251, 60 HR
His best metrics come as batting 3rd, but they come with a very significant reduction in PA.
Batting 3rd – 214 PA – .302/.397/.681/1.079, BAbip.310, 19 HR
Max has not batted 2nd this year. He has batted in every lineup position except 2nd and 9th.
This year batting 2nd:
Mookie – .149/.196/.234/.430
Freddie – .213/.276/.263/.538
Pages – .167/.200/.167/.367
Just for giggles I looked at Tommy Edman batting 2nd:
.291/.335/.439/.774 – 371 PA
Batting 7th and 9th are very comparable.
I doubt that Doc would go L-L-L, even against a RHP.
Webb will request a trade to Milwaukee.
Will never happen. SF will never trade their franchise face to LAD, and even if they did, Webb grew up hating the Dodgers, and that hate has increased since beginning his career as a SF Giant.
Very likable player. Sac St. product.
Nice start for James Outman’s Detroit career. First AB – HR – 415′
https://x.com/MLB_comment/status/2065705735296778713?s=20
I am still pulling for Outman. Maybe Detroit will stick with him.
Yuck to both those guys
Only player I’d be interested in is Logan Webb.
Me either. For instance, I am voting for PCA.
Me too
Giants are looking to be sellers at the deadline per MLBTR. Not that they would ever trade anyone good to LA.
I don’t ever vote straight Dodgers. I like to see what the other players are doing. I don’t like Arraez, but I voted for him at second anyway.
Rays ERA a full half point higher than the Dodgers. Rays offense not as good as LA.s
Actually, I read earlier today that Doc is thinking Edman won’t be activated until tomorrow.
There we differ my friend. I think he is always one pitch away from totally losing it. Happened on Sunday and has happened before. If he can get past the sixth, then he usually looks ok.
Thanks Matt.
Actually, it does. He has hit 3 or 4 most of his career and has done well there, why upset the apple cart putting him in a place he does not look comfortable.
“Midway through June, Edman’s return is at last on the horizon, as he wrapped up his rehab assignment with Triple-A Oklahoma City over the weekend and is expected to be activated from the 60-day injured list this homestand, likely on Tuesday, per manager Dave Roberts”.
Well, that’s cryptic…
Were the Sox running on him? Stealing signs?
10:10 PM ET
Rays (41-27)
Dodgers (45-27)
SP Nick Martinez R
6-2 2.43 ERA
SP Eric Lauer L
2-5 5.47 ERA
Confirmed Lineup
DH S. Ohtani L
CF Andy Pages R
1B F. Freeman L
SS Mookie Betts R
3B Max Muncy L
RF Kyle Tucker L
LF Ryan Ward L
C D. Rushing L
2B A. Freeland S
73° Wind 9 mph Out
Can Lauer keep the ball in the yard tonight?
Dodger fans seem to be voting early and often for the all-stars.
First returns show Max with a BIG lead at 3B–hooray!–and Pages ahead of all outfielders by a narrow margin. Freddie , now in his 15th season (!),is also leading at 1B in a fairly close contest with Olsen and Harper.
Mookie, despite his struggles, is 2nd at SS behind CJ Abrams, who is having a breakout year.
And Smith is second at catcher behind Drake Baldwin, also busting out in a big way.
Oh yeah, Shohei isn’t just leading at DH, but leading all players in total votes for the first time in his career. (I am surprised that has happened before, but perhaps now fans everywhere just accept he’s the greatest player ever.)
Also of note:
–Miguel Vargas is third in voting at 3B in the American League. Well-deserved.
–Belli is on pace to make the AL outfield,. Nice.
–Trout, having something of a comeback year, is second in AL OF vote behind Judge. I’m happy to see that.
–Blue Jays fans also seem to be voting early and often. Ernie Clement is rightfully leading at 2B, while Vlad Jr is perhaps wrongfully leading at 1B. I like Vlad, but at least three rivals are having better seasons. Vlad has been getting his hits and getting on base, but he has only 3 HRs, the same as Ryan Ward has had in more than 200 fewer ABs.
He does with me.
I think Tucker has had enough success to indicate he will have a much better finish to the season.
I disagree
Leading baseball in double plays (offensively) and recently going 2 – 18 with RISP doesn’t work against good teams. And you can’t blame one player, they all contributed to the above stats. Maybe Edman can alleviate some of that.
Hope your right, Bear. We all know Doc loves platooning. I think Ward will surprise us if we give him the rest of the year and he seems to have shed the poor fielder label with his play in the show so far. I like him as a bench piece
WEll put. And that’s not even taking into account the 40 man crunch and the downside of starting a player’s MLB clock.
ERA is not a great stat to go off of.
Wow, Badger, what would you say about Mookie’s recent performance if you compared him to Kims. Kim runs the bases well, plays superb defense and was hitting 380 last week. He hit .271 last year and close to that this year and had been shuffled back and forth a few times. No bad for a guy who played OF, 2B, SS and 3B. Any healthy Dodger doing that now?
Roberts comment on how it takes time for a young player is why I don’t see Tibbs or Ernhard joining the team anytime soon. It’s the downside to having a team that makes the playoffs every year.
That same article also mentions that since the calendar flipped to June, the Dodgers’s bullpen has allowed 32 runs in 38 1/3 innings (a 7.51 ERA). Just before that, the same pen had a 38 inning scoreless streak. Nothing like reverting back to the mean.
” Add cash with Tucker and he becomes tradable.”
Sure, add $30-35 mil per year cash and he becomes tradeable.
Although at the rate he’s currently hitting you might have to also throw JDP or Sirota into the deal.
small sample size doesn’t matter.
Not this year unless it is a total emergency. You are expecting a lot out of a kid who has all of 4 MLB games under his belt and that was 2 years ago. He has pitched in just 7 games so far at AAA. Rushing things a bit aren’t we???
Sheehan does not inspire confidence.
Ardaya’s latest ($$$$$)
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7360770/2026/06/14/dodgers-thoughts-bullpen-miguel-vargas-mookie-betts/
Roberts on Miguel Vargas’ emergence:
If or when Andy Pages is named an All-Star, he will be the first homegrown position player to do so for the Dodgers since Will Smith (who debuted in 2019). Vargas has a case to join him in Philadelphia … He looks every bit the type of player who was so intriguing in the Dodgers’ system… this is a full-on breakout this season.
“He’s thriving,” Dave Roberts said this weekend. “And with young players it takes time.”
He didn’t have the luxury of time with the Dodgers, who gave him the everyday job out of position at second base to start 2023, but by the time they traded him a year later, they didn’t really have a spot for him.
Also great bits on Betts’ underlying hitting analytics and musing about trading Ward (ala Outman) at the deadline.
Saw some interesting comments by Dalton Rushing saying that he was “exposed” as a catcher by the White Sox. Got me curious as to the subject of the catcher’s ERA. Anybody know where we sit on that stat?
Who would you trade for Aroldis Chapman? Boston traded Tibbs III and Ehrhard, maybe they aree having 2nd thoughts. I wouldn’t trade both, but one and a lottery ticket?
Sheehan for four, never more – needs a back, but never Jack!
I saw an article concerning high scoring after the A’s Brewers game. At 2000 feet above sea level, we may have an AL Coors field on our hands.
Looking forward to Edman’s return, took quite awhile for him to recover and hopefully the ankle surgery is behind him for good this time.
Wondering if the runs being scored in Las Vegas is alarming anyone in baseball world
Ever?
Good to know
Sounds like the best option.
With all due respect Badger, a player can only do what he can at the level he’s assigned. Hitting over .300 in AAA these days earns a “so-what”.
I get it, Kim’s OPS is lower because he’s not a power hitter.
AAA is a hitter’s league but damn is a guy supposed to hit .400, and steal 50 bases? I’d like to see Kim bunt for hits more but I don’t think you can discount a guy for those AAA numbers.
Ryan is not getting the call.
Espinal might go, but he is a right-handed bat. I do not think so.
The payroll says they already did something big.
Outfield prospects aren’t ready yet but could be for 2027. Add cash with Tucker and he becomes tradable.
His stats in the 3 and 4 hole based on over 200 games at each position in the lineup. Only other spot he has had more than 100 games at is #5 and he is a .250 hitter there.
Some might argue we did just that this offseason but we signed no SPs.
Postseason rotation:
1. Yamamoto
2. Ohtani
3. Snell?
4. Glasnow?
[I don’t see Sheehan or Sasaki getting a start]
5. Wrobleski?
6. Ryan?
Gonna be a tough call. Decision go right up to deadline and depend largely on health projections.
Four good starters is the goal, but three great ones and one five-and-diver also could would.
Sure, but remember that Rojas might be injured.
He’s who I would like to see put on IL.
You favored Kim, I favored Freeland. Neither may survive.
I agree.
And I’m still thinking they believe they will have the lineup to score runs. Against any pitcher? Not convinced of that. That’s why I think they will want to out pitch everybody in Sept/Oct. I’m still all in on Skubal or Joe Ryan (0.996 WHIP, 10.1 K9).
Or Espinal?
I don’t think they will send Ward down. Edman is basically a better version of Freeland. Switch hitter who can play multiple infield positions. Ward LH power hitting outfielder who can also back up Freddie at first.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Will, but those numbers in the 2 hole are pretty awful. He is more comfortable in the 3 and 4.
I predict something BIG. How often does a team get the chance to 3PEAT.
Push all the chips to the table…..
Easton Shelton is my biggest prospect surprise this season. As a traditionalist, RH power 1B will always appeal to me (Damn you Lasorda for trading Konerko!!)
Either Freeland or Ward. Edman has been playing a lot of OF.
Tampa can pitch! Question? Can the Dodgers hit? I think Tucker is his own worst enemy right about now! He’s fighting himself at the plate. I liked the bunt attempt yesterday. It shows that he’s willing to do what ever it takes to get back to being the hitter he is! I know Pages has better numbers, but some of his swings are worse than Tuckers. Hopefully he (Tucker)figures it out soon.
I agree with a lot of you guys. Move Pages back down in the lineup. I just don’t like him between Ohtani and Freddie. Just me.
How hard is it to pull for Ryan Ward? Not hard at all!! Hope he sticks with some team in the big leagues. If not the Dodgers, maybe AF will do him a favor and trade him to a team like the Twins.
Espinal or Freeland? I’m taking Freeland! Espinal has been ok, but Freeland has earned the right to stay! Kim? I still believe that he becomes part of a trade package. Would hate to see him go, but there’s not much else they can do other than keep him in the minors.
Dodgers are not playing very good baseball right now.. but yet they still have the second best record in the league. The bullpen is struggling after that historic streak. Sasaki was less than stellar last time out. Sheehan is becoming a mystery pitcher. Wrobleski is still learning how to be a starter in the majors. Mookie is showing signs of life. Tucker is not. Pages can be Superman at times and turn into someone unrecognizable other times. The lineup needs a healthy Will Smith! Max is having a nice year offensively. But he’s looked a little shaky on defense lately. ( nothing to fret about). Will Edman provide more offense than Freeland? He probably won’t be any better than Freeland defensively, though he can play outfield and play it very well.
Rumors still exist about Jeremey Pena to the Dodgers. It’s going to be very interesting to see how the front office handles the trade deadline! Something major? Something minor? Don’t know which one, but it’s going to be interesting for sure!
Roster change will come today when Edman gets activated. My guess, Freeland goes back to OKC.
Yes, he was just 19. But it still took him a few years to get his feet under him. Remember by age 25 he was an exe Dodger. He was a .274 hitter with LA, most of that because of his excellent 2004 season. 2004 was the only year he was an all-star as a Dodger. Also remember he walked the year McCourt took over, so the chances of him getting the same kind of contract he got from Seattle were pretty slim. He never again approached those 2004 numbers.
Moving to AAA is NOT necessarily a promotion anymore.
He’s fine, and he’s not being put on the 40 anytime soon.
Load management is the best way to get an aging roster of star players to the playoffs in peak form. What other team can afford to sign pitchers like Glass and Snell and basically shelve them during the middle of the season? I suspect the same is happening for Will Smith. His neck injury is real, but the severity and time off are being maximized.
I would not be surprised to see Yamamoto and Shohei get a “breather” although it appears Ohtani is being more managed with days off and such.
Max and Teoscar can be counted upon for self-inflicted injuries requiring rest. I am slightly concerned about bad luck affecting their availability for the playoffs– i.e., we saw a defensively diminished Teo last year in the playoffs (not pretty).
I like Pages, but until I see him perform in the playoffs I will not complain about signing Tucker for insurance.
Yeah, maybe. This Dodger team has stretches where they look like they are sleep walking. Why wake up for the Orioles? Everyone knows Bal’more blows.
Tucker’s OPS+ sits at 100. Major League average. Kim is in the minors. As you may remember, I was all in on Kim earlier in the year. I’m still hopeful about Tucker. I think Matt is right about him. And I don’t care what any of them are paid.
1. This is the all-in season. As much depends on the returns of Diaz, Snell & Glasnow as anything else. Ditto Edman, Teo, Phillips.
2. We really might trade for Skubal. As good as he is, the two main reasons are prospect surplus & avoidibg facing him.
3. The prospect crunch isn’t happening yet. This offseason we could trade Teo/Call and replace with Tibbs/Ehrhard. Then Tibbs could move to 1B to make room for JDP. Tucker’s last two years could be traded to open up a spot for Sirota. And so on.
4. I miss Will Smith.
5. Finishing with a top 2 record in NL is a must. I’d prefer #1 but it might not matter. Just get healthy.
“Not a difficult schedule coming up.”
The kiss of death……
Harsh, Badger.
You are more disappointed in Kim than in the $60 Million Dollar Man?
Kim played a solid SS while Mookie was injured. He’s a ML-level talent on a team that happens to have a surplus of such talent.
I am trying to be patient with Tucker.
Really I am!
Beltre was very young. Wasn’t he just 19 when he was first called up?
The Dodgers are 5-5, but no team in the West is playing any better than .500 for the last 10 games. TB is also 5-5, 17-18 on the road with a RDIFF on +8. The Dodgers should clobber them. Probably won’t though. Orioles and Twins both lower division clubs. Not a difficult schedule coming up.
Lineup? I agree it doesn’t matter all that much. Ohtani leads off then pull names out of a hat.
As for what the minor leaguers are hitting, it matters of course but who among them will break this lineup any time soon? Ryan Ward was the most ready among them, hitting .379 in the PCL. He’s hitting .237 in MLB. He will be going back down when Teo gets back. I assume Espinal gets the axe when Edman returns but I don’t know that. The organization does prefer veterans
The most disappointing new guy to me is Hyeseong Kim. He’s hitting over .300 in AAA but so what. A lot of guys are hitting .300 in AAA. His OBP there is good, but a .721 OPS at that level is not impressive. He may be able to squat 500 pounds but that hasn’t translated to squat at the plate. This guy should be a doubles machine and he isn’t. He should also steal 50 bases in the minors but in the last 30 games he has 2.
Tucker is under contract through the ’29 season, and Teo through the ’27 season. Perhaps the Dodgers deal Teo to create room for a rising prospect, but without such a trade or injuries there may not be an opening in the OF until ’28.
Considering the in-house competition, Tibbs may be best positioned to succeed Freddie at 1B. Ehrhard (or however his name is spelled) will have to fend off competition from De Paula, Sirota and Hope…assuming they are still around. Quintero is younger and probably another season away.
Plus, let’s not overlook Davalan and Kendall George. Davalan, now a Great Lakes, seems like a younger version of Ehrhard–and he’s walking more than he Ks.
Those stats regarding specific spots in batting order tend to have very small samples.
If Smith batted second tomorrow and had three hits, his average might surge by 150 points….
Sheehan might be a guy to remove after two trips through the lineup..
Sure hope Dreyer gets his problems straightened out.
Hang with Tucker. I actually think this bodes well.
He is due to have a really good 2nd half/postseason.
If we was lighting it up now, id fear a regression heading into 2nd half/postseason.
Hes gonna come up big when needed.
Stick with him!
Smith is not a bad choice at all. but his OBP this season is significantly lower.
Just for grins, a lineup based on descending contract AAV:
Shohei ==$70 m
Tucker –$60m
Mookie– $30.4 m
Freddie — $27 m
Teo– $19.6 m
Smith– $16 m
Edman –$12 m
Max– $10 m
Pages–??? My source didn’t list it….
While I’m trying to patient with the $60 Million Dollar Man, I’ve noticed that Tibbs, Ehrhard and Suwinski are putting up impressive numbers at OKC. If AF just didn’t have a jones for writing fat checks, these guys would be earning consideration to join the big club. We worry about Tucker blocking the 4 top OF prospects now in AA and A ball in ’27, ’28 and ’29, but his contract may also be holding back these guys right now.
Ward was held back stupidly in ’25 because the Dodgers signed Conforto for $17 million. Now he’s getting his chance and so far, so good. Small sample, but he’s been out-hitting Tucker. We used to assume that Ward had so much problems on defense–too slow, bad arm, etc–that he’d never get out of OKC. There were doubts that he couldn’t handle major league pitching. We should now see this was BS.
If I ran small-market club, I’d be looking for ways to pluck Tibbs and Ehrhard from the Dodgers….
3-3 trip in mid June with a few guys banged up, that is fine.
Lets have a good homestand. Mookie might have found something…
Happy Belated Bear!!! And Many More.
When AF made the trade that brought Tibbs and Erdhard to the house, most of us thought Tibbs was the prize and we were right. I wrote that Erdhard had very good numbers without the power that Tibbs displayed but has speed, which the Dodgers lacked. A year later an to the 23 year old is adding power to his package. This excites me because I vision a near future elite outfield of Erdhard, Pages and Tibbs reminiscent of the Kemp and Ethier era with speed. I know that Hope, DePaula and company are waiting in the wings but if these guys continue to progress we are set.
Next 3 series are against AL teams. Rays and Orioles at home then 3 with the Twins. So far this year we are 13-8 in inter league play. Season is almost half way over, boy does it go quickly.
I still would bat Smith second. Pages is much better lower in the order. He had numerous chances with runners in scoring position batting second this weekend and failed. Need Teo back in the lineup too.
Interesting stat. Why is there a 67 point difference between batting 2nd and 3rd? Is the potential extra at bat when he’s hitting second dropping his average? Not sure I buy that. Is it possible he doesn’t feel comfortable in the second slot? Then there’s the fact that Smith hit his game winning home run batting second in game 7.
Sheehan was good until he wasn’t. Gotta say it’s good to see the WhiteSox doing better and playing in front of large crowds.
Looks like you spent your birthday talking Dodgers Baseball. Sounds like a perfect day to me. Wishing you many more.
I thank all of you for the nice birthday wishes. Sorry they could no pull out a win on my birthday. But I had a very nice, peaceful day.
Based on his career stats in that spot, oh hell no. .193 hitter in the 2 slot. Hitting 3rd, he hits .260. Hitting 4th, he is a .272 hitter.
Roster crunch, and you do not want to move the kid too soon. He will get a long look in spring training next year. Huge difference between AA and MLB pitching.
Pages is hitting .250 in the 2-hole. He should be moved back to 6th where he hit .375. He is also just hitting .246 off of LHP. He is hitting .282 off of righties. Bellinger was called up from AAA in 2017. He had played in 3 games there in 2016 and played 18 games there before his call up in 17. He was called up simply because Adrian Gonzalez was injured, not because of his performance. But he flourished and won the ROY. Beltre was called up from AA in 1998. But in 77 games, he hit just .215. He would improve the next couple of years, but he was in no way a star. That came much later.
When Will Smith returns from the IL,he should bat second.
Can and should not keep dePaula any longer at AA. Nothing to prove for the kid there.
IMHO you can even make a case he is ready for the Show. Didn´t Beltre and Bellinger also came up right from AA ?
I think it’s pretty obvious that the top OBP guys should at the top of the lineup. Shoehei gets on base in more than 42% of his plate appearances.
His OBP is .427, far ahead of Max’s solid .371 and Freddie’s .363.
With Mookie’s bat cold and Pages’s bat scorching, Roberts moved Pages to the 2-hole even though his OBP wasn’t really stellar. His OBP for the season right now is only .319; I assume Roberts placed Pages ahead of Freddie in part to make sure he’d see better pitches to hit, and to preserve the L/R rhythm in the lineup. (FWIW, Tucker’s season OBP is .334–nothing to write home about, but a bit better than Pages.)
Pages, who has been an RBI machine this season, is so streaky that perhaps it’s hard to determine where he should fit in the lineup–but 4-5-6 seem right to me. Now he’s in his own serious slump: a 596 OPS over the past 15 days, including a .234 OBP.
Perhaps it’s time, once again, to shake up the batting order.
Tyler Gough was the return for Robinson Ortiz and was the Mariners’ #25 prospect at the time.