2020 Lineups

[Dtwncbad]

Fletcher

Trout

Ohtani

Rendon

Upton

Pujols

Goodwin/Adell

Castro?

Simmons

 

Thats pretty sweet!

 

[jchalos89]

Yup we definitely need at least 2 catchers (1 starting, 1 back up. Stassi and Bemboom are not even good enough for back up) 

I'd say starting Tommy La Stella in 1B will be better for team's production and use Pujols as pinch hitter and starting DH on Ohtani's off days makes more sense.

OF will look different depends on how quickly Adell adjusts to big league level, but if Adell performs as expected (.300 avg, decent power, superb speed) we might have really great top and middle lineup with Adell-Simba-Trout-Rendon-Ohtani-Upton (Fletch being 2nd lead off at #9 spot)

I don't know how Joe will line em up but personally, I think it makes more sense to put Trout and Rendon together since Ohtani will have some off days and I would want to put my team's best hitters and full-time starters together in the line up. 

But I think Trout-Ohtani-Rendon makes good sense too since Ohtani is faster and hits from the left side so it makes harder for opponents to pitch and make pitching changes (especially from 2020 pitchers has to face at least 3 batters once they take the mound)

[CanadianHalo]

I can’t imagine Trout and Rendon aren’t hitting back to back

[the14thjoey]

This thread is going to be sick.

[hangin n wangin]

I would way rather have La Stella as a line up regular instead of Pujols’ washed up ass. His PT seriously needs to stop.

[Pancake Bear]

5 minutes ago, CanadianHalo said:

I can’t imagine Trout and Rendon aren’t hitting back to back

Left right. If Ohtani is in, good chance he hits between them. But they also could go Trout, Rendon, Ohtani, Upton. 

[CanadianHalo]

3 minutes ago, Sean-Regan said:

Left right. If Ohtani is in, good chance he hits between them. But they also could go Trout, Rendon, Ohtani, Upton. 

Yes I realize the whole R-L-R thingy but give me Trout and Rendon back to back. We didn’t just go out and give Rendon 245 million not to protect Trout

[floplag]

9 minutes ago, hangin n wangin said:

I would way rather have La Stella as a line up regular instead of Pujols’ washed up ass. His PT seriously needs to stop.

When we have a better option, it will, to date we havent, thus moot. 

[the14thjoey]

1 minute ago, floplag said:

When we have a better option, it will, to date we havent, thus moot. 

La Stella is a better option.

[Angel Oracle]

If Stella hits like he did in 2019, then he does need to take 100 1B starts away from Pujols, and then fill in elsewhere as needed including 40 DH starts.  

Pujols gets 60 1B starts and 20 DH starts.   Ohtani gets the remaining 100 DH starts.

[floplag]

5 minutes ago, the14thjoey said:

La Stella is a better option.

Perhaps, well see this season how he can play there.  
My comment was more addressing the past than the current however.

[hangin n wangin]

1 minute ago, floplag said:

Perhaps, well see this season how he can play there.  
My comment was more addressing the past than the current however.

Which is why it was pointless. 

[bloodbrother]

Lineup to start the year

2B Fletcher
CF Trout
3B Rendon
DH Ohtani
LF Upton
SS Simmons
1B Pujols
RF Goodwin
C Castro/Maldonado

Lineup by the end of the year

RF Adell
CF Trout
3B Rendon
DH Ohtani
LF Upton
SS Simmons
1B La Stella
C Castro/Maldonado
2B Fletcher

 

[floplag]

7 minutes ago, hangin n wangin said:

Which is why it was pointless. 

Not when people have been bitching about it for the better part of three years when there was no better option... even you are assuming it changes now.  Call it what you will but until we have a clearly better options then or now, hes going to get his shot. 

[Cosmo_Kramer]

12 minutes ago, bloodbrother said:

Lineup to start the year

2B Fletcher
CF Trout
3B Rendon
DH Ohtani
LF Upton
SS Simmons
1B Pujols
RF Goodwin
C Castro/Maldonado

Lineup by the end of the year

RF Adell
CF Trout
3B Rendon
DH Ohtani
LF Upton
SS Simmons
1B La Stella
C Castro/Maldonado
2B Fletcher

 

Pretty realistic imo. Hopefully Adell takes a big step

[Angelsjunky]

43 minutes ago, jchalos89 said:

, but if Adell performs as expected (.300 avg, decent power, superb speed) 

I would be cautious about expecting a .300 BA from Adell in 2020, and perhaps not for a few years. That’s his upside, but it might take him awhile to improve his contact rate.

[CanadianHalo]

14 minutes ago, Angelsjunky said:

I would be cautious about expecting a .300 BA from Adell in 2020, and perhaps not for a few years. That’s his upside, but it might take him awhile to improve his contact rate.

Yeah I definitely don’t see him hitting leadoff by the end of the year for that very reason 

[Duren, Duren]

Looking at the lineup from the other side - defense.

Outfield should slightly worse than last year if Upton, Trout and Adell get most starts. Trout is Trout. No problems with range and basic skills  though obviously there is always room to fine tune arm accuracy a little more. He also will have to take some of Upton's space on balls hit closer to left center.

Upton is a bat, not a glove. If he is positioned carefully and in good physical shape he can be competent.

Adell should eventually be excellent, but right now he has big learning curve. Ballparks, hitters, positioning. Calhoun last year was probably better than Adell will be this year, but it will only be short term.

I'm a big proponent of having a quality inner diamond defense. Amazing how small things can help pitchers. 

Rendon and Simmons are top notch on that side. Fletcher has been moved around but seems at least smart and sure handed. Range could be an issue. Rengifo as a part time sub and defensive replacement gets the job done. First is a defensive area on non strength. Pujols wasn't terrible handling throws, but range is terrible. We don't have a defensive star on the roster at that position, so I guess at best it will be average. Hitting will be the priority there anyhow.

Catcher is the big unknown.Stassi was unimpressive in a small window. I would seek out a good pitcher handler with a good arm. Hitting won't be a major strength, but if he can get timely hits, move runners and not be an easy out you have to accept it.

All in all, an excellent defense up the middle with a solid catcher added and pretty good overall. Left field and first base have always been positions where hitting is prioritized over fielding traditionally. 

[the14thjoey]

57 minutes ago, floplag said:

Not when people have been bitching about it for the better part of three years when there was no better option... even you are assuming it changes now.  Call it what you will but until we have a clearly better options then or now, hes going to get his shot. 

In 2019, Jared Walsh and Matt Thaiss were better options.

In 2018, Jose Fernandez was a better option.

In 2017, Cron, Cowart, and Valbuena were better options.

In 2016, Marte was a better option.

None of these guys were long term solutions, but they all had better performances than Pujols in those respective seasons. I'm one of the last guys to say move on from an aging vet and I wasn't calling for him to lose his job in those years, but it would be disingenous to say we never had options. We did. This year I'm calling for him to lose his job because Rendon pushed him out. Fletcher, La Stella, Simmons, and even Rengifo were clearly better last year and most likely will be this year if given a shot. 

[floplag]

3 minutes ago, the14thjoey said:

In 2019, Jared Walsh and Matt Thaiss were better options.

In 2018, Jose Fernandez was a better option.

In 2017, Cron, Cowart, and Valbuena were better options.

In 2016, Marte was a better option.

None of these guys were long term solutions, but they all had better performances than Pujols in those respective seasons. I'm one of the last guys to say move on from an aging vet and I wasn't calling for him to lose his job in those years, but it would be disingenous to say we never had options. We did. This year I'm calling for him to lose his job because Rendon pushed him out. Fletcher, La Stella, Simmons, and even Rengifo were clearly better last year and most likely will be this year if given a shot. 

You forgot Bour, but no matter.  The bottom line is that none of them put up better numbers...  its moot, to take that job form him someone is going to have to do better, clearly better, and they havent to date.

[UnrulyManBun27]

Does anyone think Jared Walsh could be a viable plan to start at 1B? In my opinion it seems like that’s the higher upside plan than giving La Stella 1B.

[Dick B Back]

1 hour ago, bloodbrother said:

Lineup to start the year

2B Fletcher
CF Trout
3B Rendon
DH Ohtani
LF Upton
SS Simmons
1B Pujols
RF Goodwin
C Castro/Maldonado

 

Mang in the 7 hole!

[tdawg87]

I like that we actually have a sick lineup.

[Cosmo_Kramer]

I think we could see La Stella bat leadoff vs R.

I think we could see La Stella at 1B sometimes.

I think we could see Fletcher bat leadoff vs L.

I think we could see Fletcher in the OF sometimes.

I think we could see Pujols play more vs L.

I think we could see Ohtani bat more vs R.

[Cosmo_Kramer]

5 minutes ago, Randy Gradishar said:

Ah, the old antiquated R-L-R thing vs antiquated lineup protection thing. I'd put Ohtani between them, simply because he's probably the worst of the 3 and none will bat leadoff. But the ideal lineup would probably be:

Rendon

Trout

Upton

Ohtani

La Stella

 

I'd still split up lefties, especially with the 3 batter minimum next year. You could make an argument for Ohtani to bat between Trout and Rendon to try to protect him from those matchups.