Who will benefit most from our new lineup?

[zenmaster]

Now that we have another big bat for a full season (Upton) and some other nice additions in Kinsler, Cozart, and Ohtani, who will benefit most?

Will Trout put up unheard of numbers now with some better hitters around him? Will Pujols see lots of good pitches and have monster year being the "soft spot" in the middle of our lineup? Upton have a career year?  

I'm very excited about our new lineup. 

[arch stanton]

My hope for Pujols is that he’ll try to use the right side more to make teams pay for the extreme shifts 

Even though he prefers to hit earlier in the count I’m hoping to see Kole go deeper into counts if he doesn’t get the first pitch fastball he’s looking for 

[Tank]

Who benefits most? Us.

[totdprods]

Echoing @arch stanton here, I honestly think Albert will. Once Upton joined the lineup last September, and Albert slid back, his plate discipline looked markedly better, he made more contact, and he was using the whole field.

When watching games last year, I felt like I was watching two different Alberts. When runners were on, he did a much better job looking like 'vintage Pujols'; working the count, putting the ball in play, hitting up the middle and to the right, looking for the hit rather than the home run, fighting off pitches. Age and ability certainly kept him from truly being vintage Pujols, but he looked much more the part. 

When he was up with bases empty or low leverage situations, he was Angels Pujols. Pulling the ball, swinging through, chasing the HR. 

This oversimplifies things a bit, but I really think Albert is keenly aware of his shortcomings. He knows he isn't going to be a .300 hitter, he knows he can't beat out grounders, can't stretch a single into a double, can't play small ball and take the extra base. Sure, he'll try sometimes, but overall, he knows he can't do much more than hit HRs, so when he's up with no one on, he just goes for that because he sees himself as the second 'big bat' and is just doing what he can to put a run on the board quick.

I think by not being the guy everyone besides Trout leans on (in his vet mind) will let him get back to being a more complete hitter, and take a lot of pressure off him. He will be in more situations where he can take the vintage Pujols approach instead of the Angels Pujols approach of 'well i better just try to hit a HR because no one behind me can', and he sure seemed to do so in September when he had a full line-up and another big bat.

I think he will once again hit around .250/30/100.

 

[Angel Oracle]

Anything would be better than 2017 for Pujols.

[Troll Daddy]

I think if Trout bats third he’ll be the big beneficiary. 

[eaterfan]

No one will benefit individually. Players will see their RBI and Rs increased. Those are team driven stats. The team will score more runs, but no one will magically become a better hitter.

I really hope Pujols is far enough down in the lineup that his ground balls to third don't cost the team too many runs.

[VariousCrap]

10 hours ago, Tank said:

Who benefits most? Us.

 

Exactly what I thought.  The fans.

[krAbs]

I think our pitchers will benefit, especially guys with nice ground ball rates. At a glance, Noe Ramirez has a monster GB% last year, and Richards and JC Ramirez had high numbers there as well.

[Angelsjunky]

The sad thing, @totdprods, is that "Angels Pujols" could have been a .290/.850 hitter if he hadn't been so obssessed for swinging for the fences. It is quite striking to look at his walk to strikeout ratio over his career, how it just got worse and worse: from 16.2% walks and 8.4% Ks in 2008 to 5.8% walks and 14.6% Ks in 2017.

[Angelsjunky]

The short answer: Everyone. With generally good health, this team wins 90-95 games. This team will score runs, but the big question is whether or not the pitching staff will be healthy. In a best-case scenario, they win 95+ games and challenge the Astros for the division. But that's with no major injuries, and with this pitching staff I think you have to assume someone goes down.

[totdprods]

7 minutes ago, Angelsjunky said:

The sad thing, @totdprods, is that "Angels Pujols" could have been a .290/.850 hitter if he hadn't been so obssessed for swinging for the fences. It is quite striking to look at his walk to strikeout ratio over his career, how it just got worse and worse: from 16.2% walks and 8.4% Ks in 2008 to 5.8% walks and 14.6% Ks in 2017.

Oh definitely - it's been underwhelming no doubt, and his approach probably could have/should have been better. 

I think some of it is just 'old dog, new trick' syndrome. He's aware of his limitations but isn't far enough removed from who he was to adjust to the player we all hoped he'd adjust too. I do think that simply by having Upton in the line-up, and a more complete line-up top to bottom, will help take some of that pressure off his shoulders to be the big boppin' run producer and will put him in more situational positions when hitting, which he seems to play better in. 

I really think he knew that walking and slapping singles when no one was on base would do him much good when he couldn't run or have anyone behind him to drive him in, and that was the case most of the time.

[eaterfan]

21 hours ago, Angelsjunky said:

The sad thing, @totdprods, is that "Angels Pujols" could have been a .290/.850 hitter if he hadn't been so obssessed for swinging for the fences. It is quite striking to look at his walk to strikeout ratio over his career, how it just got worse and worse: from 16.2% walks and 8.4% Ks in 2008 to 5.8% walks and 14.6% Ks in 2017.

I think it's just aging. His reaction time and bat speed drop. He has to start swinging earlier to compensate. It leads to pulling more balls and leaving himself open to the outside pitch. It will mean more swings and misses and fewer walks. The power is still there, it's the last tool to go. 

This is what really scared me about Moustakas. He appeared to be exhibiting the same signs as the Pujols decline. The power was still there, but the increased swinging and missing out of the zone and the decreased walk rate suggested to me that his bat had slowed.

[Docwaukee]

the 2014 lineup was of the best in baseball.  Anchored by Trout, it had top to bottom solid above avg hitters.  That's how I feel about the 2018 team.  

 

[Stradling]

The pitchers benefit the most. 

[Homebrewer]

Scioscia

 

 

 

 

extension forthcoming 

[Ohtaniland]

Arte benefits the most.

end thread

[Rico]

Trout will benefit by having Upton behind him for a full year.

If Cozart can come close to what he did last season I'l like to see him in front of Trout.  (Have him lead-off, with Kinsler 9th)

[NorCal Halo]

"If Cozart can come close to what he did last season I'l like to see him in front of Trout.  (Have him lead-off, with Kinsler 9th)"

I'm either a really bad fan or I just can't root for a feminine hygiene product like Kinsler (same went for #0). 

My hope still is that Cozart moves to second and Kinsler and Cron are traded after we sign Moustakas at the last minute before spring training.

[Stradling]

1 minute ago, NorCal Halo said:

"If Cozart can come close to what he did last season I'l like to see him in front of Trout.  (Have him lead-off, with Kinsler 9th)"

I'm either a really bad fan or I just can't root for a feminine hygiene product like Kinsler (same went for #0). 

My hope still is that Cozart moves to second and Kinsler and Cron are traded after we sign Moustakas at the last minute before spring training.

You’re not a bad fan but Kinsler is going to make us a better team. 

[NorCal Halo]

2 minutes ago, Stradling said:

You’re not a bad fan but Kinsler is going to make us a better team. 

Perhaps, so too would Moustakas IMHO.  But at first sign of failure, I'm starting the dump Kinsler club.  We will have jackets.

[Hubs]

I'd say the whole team benefits from the additions, but the lineup will determine who benefits the most.

I wonder if we'll see two drastically different lineups against lefties and righties. It's pretty safe to say that Valbuena won't play against very many lefty starters. But I also think we're going to see a lot of different lineups. A lot.

I also wonder how Simmons will do as he won't likely bat in the top half of the lineup. Will Cozart continue his hot hitting ways, and will Kinsler and Calhoun Rebound? How will Ohtani do with the bat? How many games will he play? Where does Pujols hit?

Against RIghties when Ohtani isn't hitting

 

1) Kinsler

2) Calhoun

3) Trout

4) Upton

5) Pujols

6) Cozart

7) Valbuena

8) Simmons

9) Maldonado / Rivera

 

Against Lefties when Ohtani isn't hitting

1) Kinsler

2) Trout

3) Upton

4) Pujols

5) Calhoun

6) Cozart

7) Cron / Cowart?

8) Simmons

9) Maldonado / Rivera

 

Against Righties or Lefties When Ohtani is hitting and Pujols plays 1B

1) Kinsler

2) Calhoun

3) Trout

4) Upton

5) Pujols

6) Ohtani

7) Cozart

8) Simmons

9) Maldonado / Rivera

 

Against RHSP or LHSP When Ohtani is hitting and Pujols is off

1) Kinsler

2) Calhoun

3) Trout

4) Upton

5) Ohtani

6) Cozart

7) Valbuena (against RHSP only) -- We either see Pujols play 1B every time there is a lefty on the mound, or Cron gets this spot against lefties

8) Simmons

9) Maldonado / Rivera

 

Other lineups include:

Against RHSP, Valbuena at 3rd, Simmons or Cozart off

Against LHSP, Cowart at 3rd, Simmons or Cozart off

Against RHSP, Pujols at 1B, One of the OF as DH, Ohtani pitching or off, backup OF getting a start

Against LHSP, Pujols at 1B, One of the OF as DH, Ohtani pitching or off, backup OF getting a start

Against RHSP, Kinsler off, Cozart at 2B, Valbuena at 3B

Against LHSP, Kinsler off, Cowart at 2B