The Opening Day Lineup

by Sam Page on Apr 5, 2009 1:02 PM EDT in Quick Hits Comment 27 comments

Finally, an Opening Day lineup. Jerry Manuel just delivered it on the field before the team's workout at Citi.
Reyes - SS
Murphy - LF
Wright - 3B
Delgado - 1B
Beltran - CF
Church - RF
Schneider - C
Castillo - 2B
Santana - SP

We spend all offseason debating lineup optimizations and there it is. And so much for all that Reyes-batting-third controversy.

Hooray, baseball season!

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The only flaw to the lineup...

The only flaw is it’s a little ho-hum, pretty much the exact same thing as last year right down to the pitcher. It’s great to see Daniel Murphy in there, though. Imagine Ramirez in for Church. :-)

Oh well, I think we’re ready to go. The experience over the last few years hopefully implants itself. And it sounds like a deadline trade is very likely. So, let’s all root for the A’s to tank.

The 2009 NY Mets: WE GOT K-ROD! OMG, Putz, too! Sign Lowe! Lowe's a Brave. Sign Manny! Tim Redding, WTF? Sign Manny! Sheets or Perez? SHEETS! Perez?? Oh, Sheets is hurt -- good job, Minaya! WTF?! SIGN MANNY!

by ZaBlanc on Apr 5, 2009 1:29 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Holliday?

I think the A’s will be buyers at the deadline, but who knows. The AL West is just so weak.

King of the bling come to lay down the evidence//Not George Bush, L-Millz be da president

by Sam Page on Apr 5, 2009 1:30 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Not to mention even if the A's are sellers

Imagine what it would take to get Holliday.

by Gina on Apr 5, 2009 1:35 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

millledge and heilman

lulz

King of the bling come to lay down the evidence//Not George Bush, L-Millz be da president

by Sam Page on Apr 5, 2009 1:41 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

We'd probably have to add one of Niese/Gee

Remember they sent Gio Gonzales too.

In other news has anyone figured out that trade from the Rockies point of view yet.

by Gina on Apr 5, 2009 1:46 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

No

That trade is an absolute disaster for the Rockies already.

by mets81 on Apr 5, 2009 3:13 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

No sense.

They just are cheap bastards is all. They’ve done this for years (I live in Colorado). They make trades and signings just enough to point and go “Look! Jeffrey Hammonds! Keep an eye out for him!” Then, end of the year, they get traded for the next “big thing.”

This year they are trying to sell Jason Marquis and “the young guy who is replacing Matt Holliday.” Conveniently, if you want another Matt Holliday, keep the original and move the young guy to RF!

by ZaBlanc on Apr 5, 2009 5:23 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

But I mean plenty of teams trade soon to be free agents for prospects

It’s just that usually they at least get good prospects. Colorado doesn’t seem to have gotten very good players.

by Gina on Apr 5, 2009 6:07 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Probably a lot.

I can only imagine what Billy Beane will wrangle out of Omar for Holliday. Probably involve his right hand and at least 1 close relative.

by BobbyV_Incognito on Apr 5, 2009 8:46 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

And perhaps a large sandwich

" YES! BASEBALL IS BACK! YES! "

by LOUtheMETandNATSfan on Apr 5, 2009 9:04 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Looks like a candidate for Mo Vaughn's lunchbox.

by BobbyV_Incognito on Apr 6, 2009 9:27 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

It may be ho-hum, but I've got a lot of confidence in it.

But there is some drama considering the acquisition of La Shef! Gonna be ~~interesting~~ maddening to see how that plays out.

Hooray baseball seaon indeed sir!

" YES! BASEBALL IS BACK! YES! "

by LOUtheMETandNATSfan on Apr 5, 2009 2:05 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Hopefully...

"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf"
-Tug McGraw

by squid92 on Apr 5, 2009 3:56 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Too bad Sheff can't catch

or play second

by Dr. Blogstein on Apr 5, 2009 1:48 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Reyes batting third

I’m not sure why the fact that Jerry decided not to do it ends the controversy. The Indians cost themselves a lot of runs by hitting Grady Sizemore leadoff, and the Mets are now going to do the same thing with Reyes.

I don’t give Daniel Murphy more than a month in the #2 spot. He’s not terrible, but I don’t know why everyone is under the impression that he’s good. Opposite field hits don’t count extra.

by Straight Flushing on Apr 5, 2009 3:52 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Does it really cost a lot of runs?

How many runs over the course of the season does a team actually lose due to issues with the line-up.

Also why would batting Sizemore lead off hurt the Indians, most line-up optmization theories seem to think your best hitter should be 1st or 2nd, sizemore is definitely they’re best hitter.

by Gina on Apr 5, 2009 4:05 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Wow I was just typing all that

The amount of runs it would cost couldn’t realistically exceed 2. Lineup orders aren’t a big deal.

King of the bling come to lay down the evidence//Not George Bush, L-Millz be da president

by Sam Page on Apr 5, 2009 4:07 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

How many runs does it have to cost?

You’re right that “a lot” of runs is overstating it, but I hate to see even 1 run given away to “high SB = leadoff” zombie thinking.

by Straight Flushing on Apr 5, 2009 4:31 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Who leads off then?

It would have to be someone w/ a better OBP potential than Reyes.

by mets81 on Apr 5, 2009 4:55 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Castillo

It’s true that you bring him to the plate a bit more, but he does have a much higher career OBP than Reyes and also has decent speed.

by Straight Flushing on Apr 5, 2009 10:46 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah but he's not in his prime

I don’t think it’s very likely he has a higher obp than Reyes but even if he does he’s still a lesser hitter overall.

by Gina on Apr 6, 2009 12:10 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah, Career...

But you have to go back to 2006 to find a year where he signifcantly out-performed Reyes’s last few years and he’s 8 years older than Jose.

Now, i think Castillo will bounce back a little and hopefully he can OBP .360. But Jose is coming off OBPs of 354, 354, 358. And its his age 26 season, I don’t see where Castillo is a significantly better option.

I’d probably flip-flop Beltran and Delgado (especially against LHP, but otherwise, I think this is the lineup.

by mets81 on Apr 6, 2009 9:03 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Reyes =/= Sizemore

He isn’t going to be hitting 30+ homers this season. You can’t really compare the two.

Who's world is it? It's yours.

by BlackOps on Apr 5, 2009 9:37 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Grady Sizemore is another interesting case who is underestimated and overhyped.

"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf"
-Tug McGraw

by squid92 on Apr 7, 2009 12:43 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Reyes should be batting second behind Castillo. Beltran should be batting clean-up followed by Delgado and then Sheffield.

by erickench20012002@ on Apr 5, 2009 10:23 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Hahahaha, no...

Any situation where Luis Castillo is getting the most Met ABs is a sad, pathetic one indeed.
Luis should be hitting 7th, as out of the two worst starting hitters on the team (Schneider the other), he has less SLG potential than Schneider, and thats more important in front of the pitcher.

"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf"
-Tug McGraw

by squid92 on Apr 5, 2009 10:41 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Welcome aboard

Check out this article by our own James, over at Metsgeek, if your haven’t already. Your lineup looks alot like one of the one he found using Dave Pinto’s analysis.

Also check out this post at Beyond the Box Score.

King of the bling come to lay down the evidence//Not George Bush, L-Millz be da president

by Sam Page on Apr 5, 2009 10:47 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs