He Who Walks Behind the Rows. Lineup Preview

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He Who Walks Behind the Rows. Lineup Preview

Post by FuzzyRawley » Mon Jun 15, 2020 4:40 pm

Corn.jpg
2043 is here and so its another year to look to the Des Moines Kernels to improve upon last season and climb the standings into a playoff position. This year starts off on a sad note with the recent passing of former GM Edward Murphy. Recognizing Ed’s steady stewardship of this team over the past few decades, the Brewster Baseball Association agreed to rename The Kernels’ ballpark after him. To futher honor Ed, the Kernels also added 5,000 more seats, creating a raucous atmosphere in the heart of corn country.

The line up for this year’s Kernels hopes to feed off that atmosphere and produce runs at a rate to keep pace with the Heartlands best. Eschewing the traditional high speed and high OBP characteristics normally reserved for the leadoff role, Des Moines is going with the young, power hitting Hector Cruz. Cruz makes good contact, has a decent eye but can mash. With a plethora of hard hitters on this year’s roster, the Kernels needed to put him somewhere near the top to take advantage. Additionally, Cruz is primarily seen as a 1B, but with 1B Juan Mateo expected to get the majority of AB’s at that position, GM Webb kindly suggested to Manager Jonathon Henry, that Cruz get some time in at LF. It remains to be seen if this set up will last far into the season, but when you finish last in your division, any change is worthwhile to try.

Batting second is 3B Kiichi Suzuki, the first of four lefties in spots 1 through 5. Suzuki hits for good power but his contact is a little suspect to be this high in the order, but he is here on the strength of his last two seasons where his OBP was .348 and .337. With the likes of Yokoyama, Barreraand Yang lower down in the order, Suzuki will be on a short leash.

In the third spot is the supreme-masher, Lucio De La Cruz. This hombre has yet to see a pitch that he doesn’t want to send into the parking lot. Cruz is expected to stay primarily at DH, but will see some time in the outfield as the season wears on.

Batting clean up is….Mitch Dalrymple?! Clearly Manager Henry was half asleep on this one, probably should’ve slotted Juan Mateo in here, but maybe this setup will work. Dalrymple hits for good contact but is coming off of three average seasons where he produced run at or below replacement value. Maybe this will reinvigorate him, if not, Mateo will jump ahead.

The aforementioned Mateo, is coming off a strong second half of 2042 with the Kernels where he put up a .974 OPS. The 5th slot may do him well, but if Dalrymple struggles, Webb will want to see Mateo get more at bats.

Slots 6 through 9 are currently occupied by Yokoyama, Barrera, Williamson and Yang. Of these four, only Williamson is the non-masher. If the dingers come fast and furious from this group they won’t be hanging out in the bottom of the order for long.
When facing lefties, the line up turns over a lot. Williamson steps into the lead off role due to his historic OBP success against southpaws. Yokoyama moves up into 2nd, mainly to give the slugging youngster some time at the top of the order. In comes Tuckker York III and Craig White to provide a better off hand match up. The only anomaly is the introduction of lefty Juan Santana here. Santana is a pinch hitter against righties only because there’s some better players ahead of him, but he’s no slouch against lefties slashing .290/.324/.454 over his career. With this line, he needs to be seeing pitching regularly.
:cool: They say it don't be like it is, but it do!

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Re: He Who Walks Behind the Rows. Lineup Preview

Post by RonCo » Mon Jun 15, 2020 9:47 pm

That's an offense that will scores some runs.
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