Time to move Hamilton out of the 4 spot?

[seenoevil]

He is getting exposed badly. Teams are constantly taking the bat out of Albert's hands. It's time to change up the lineup Scioscia.

[Glen]

Agree.  And give him a game off first.  He looks terrible up there.  

[rafibomb]

Yes.

[WestistheBest]

I'd sit him one. Let Trumbo protect Puljos...then maybe move him down. He'll hit eventually, but we don't have time to wait.

[Jeff M]

Trumbo's been solid lately. Give him a crack at protecting Pujols.

[stormngt]

same topic, different names.......

[MacNasty]

I wouldn't change a thing with this lineup right now.  Tinkering with it when these guys aren't hitting isn't always the way to go.  Hamilton WILL get hot, just a matter of time.  Plus, Pujols hasn't exactly struggled of late, the protection thing is overrated in a lineup like this because no pitcher wants to put anyone on when they play this team.

 

Let it roll for a while longer and he'll get hot when someone else in that group gets cold.  It's all good.

[Reveille1984]

I guess it will take a few more times of Pujols getting IBB'd with nobody on base to get the point across.

[seenoevil]

I wouldn't change a thing with this lineup right now.  Tinkering with it when these guys aren't hitting isn't always the way to go.  Hamilton WILL get hot, just a matter of time.  Plus, Pujols hasn't exactly struggled of late, the protection thing is overrated in a lineup like this because no pitcher wants to put anyone on when they play this team.

 

Let it roll for a while longer and he'll get hot when someone else in that group gets cold.  It's all good.

 

Understandable. Though Hamilton keeps getting worse every day. He is feeling the pressure of batting behind Pujols and he isn't making other teams pay for it. I like to see Hamilton get some confidene back, then bat him behind Pujols

[AngelArcher]

I actually think he's going to have a pretty good series against the rangers. If he still sucks then try sitting him for a game to get a mental break.

[tj_]

Shuck > Hamilton right now.

[Bob Trop]

He had a mental break Wednesday and Thursday. His swing seems very long right now. He needs to study video and see if he can figure things out.

[Stradling]

You all would hate this but I wish we had Vernon to give Hamilton a day off. I would just rather send him out to play right than JB Shuck.

[MJ from La Verne]

Agree.  And give him a game off first.  He looks terrible up there.  

 

How many times in your life have you EVER seen an opposing pitcher actually WANT to pitch to the clean-up hitter with one out and the winning run on 2nd base? C'mon, the Mendoza Line is rock bottom, not a GOAL. Sit him for the Texas series.

[MJ from La Verne]

How many times in your life have you EVER seen an opposing pitcher actually WANT to pitch to the clean-up hitter with one out and the winning run on 2nd base? C'mon, the Mendoza Line is rock bottom, not a GOAL. Sit him for the Texas series.

 

And yes, you need to sit a guy who makes over $154k per game. I've seen 4 yr. olds who have a better swing trying try to swat butterflies then Josh "waving" at off-speed pitches. Sit this dude!

[fan_since79]

I guess it will take a few more times of Pujols getting IBB'd with nobody on base to get the point across.

If this keeps up, Pujols might just break the AL record for intentional walks in a season. It's 33, shared by Ted Williams and John Olerud.

 

No one will ever break Barry Bonds' ML record of 120 (!) set in 2004.

[Earnest Borgnine of 9]

How many times in your life have you EVER seen an opposing pitcher actually WANT to pitch to the clean-up hitter with one out and the winning run on 2nd base? C'mon, the Mendoza Line is rock bottom, not a GOAL. Sit him for the Texas series.

How many times are you going to paste this into multiple threads?

[MJ from La Verne]

How many times are you going to paste this into multiple threads?

 

Once. My apologies. I posted to this thread before I saw the 'How much worse can Hamilton get" thread. Going forward, I'll do my best to only post to one thread. My sincerest apologies, Mr. Borgnine. Enjoy your evening.

[gurn67]

Lately it seems that almost all of the Angels major free agent signings or trade acquisitions start the season flat. I looked up some of the more recent ones to see if Sosh had moved them down in the lineup through 17 games.

 

2005 Steve Finley.

Still batting 5th with a .175 average

2007 GMJ

Still batting leadoff with a .234 average

2007 Shea Hillenbrand

Still batting 5th with a .182 average

2011 Vernon Wells

Still batting 5th with a .186 average

2012 Albert Pujols

Still batting 3rd with a .232 average

2013 Josh Hamilton

Still batting 4th with a .176 average

 

About the only hitter that I could find who started strong, since Vlad in 2004, was Matsui and he began to suck soon after.

 

Hopefully, Hamilton's 2013 follows Pujols' 2012 path and nobody else on that list.

[AZMike]

If this keeps up, Pujols might just break the AL record for intentional walks in a season. It's 33, shared by Ted Williams and John Olerud.

 

No one will ever break Barry Bonds' ML record of 120 (!) set in 2004.

There were cases where pitchers intentionally walked Bonds with the bases loaded. Completely nuts.

[Chuck]

Trumbo needs to bat 4th and Kendrick 5th against Holland tomorrow.

Move Hamilton down to 6th.

[Ray McKigney]

It's still early in the season. He'll get on track. At his point, he is terrible.

[LaBargedad]

What about moving him to the 3 spot between Trout and Pujols? I know it sounds crazy but he might see more stuff he can hit until he gets on track. Just a thought.

[seenoevil]

Pujols might get intentionally walked every game at this rate.

[AZMike]

What about moving him to the 3 spot between Trout and Pujols? I know it sounds crazy but he might see more stuff he can hit until he gets on track. Just a thought.

Doesn't sound crazy at all. I was advocating having Hamilton bat second even before Bourjos looked like a credible leadoff hitter. If Hamitlon swings at (or even better, takes) a strike in the dirt, Trout advances to second base. Still  gives the righty-lefty alternation (you'd get a huge block of righties if Josh was simply moved down to 6th or 7th). It also looks like Trumbo is back and can protect Pujols. I was worried he was lost after how last season went, Trumbo not long ago looked worse than Hamilton does now (swinging K's on balls at his helmet etc). Hopefully Josh will come back out of it himself before too long.