YS 2025-07 – Opening Day Line-up Announced

[RonCo]

April 1, 2025:

The Nine will be hosting the Brooklyn Robins to begin the 2025 season, and that means we’ll see the savagely talented left-hander Salvador ‘Quagmire’ Barron on the hill against the home boys. Barron went 16-9 last season, leading the Robins to their tenty-billionth JLA title in a row, so the challenge will be stiff. Against that backdrop, the club has announced the starting lineup and batting order fans can expect to see when they come to Chavez Memorial later tonight.

DH William ‘Dinner Plate’ McIntyre (.246/.331/.350 in 2025) will lead off. Dinner Plate has been in Vancouver the past two seasons, and like most hitters who go to Vancouver, his numbers dropped off a cliff. The team is expecting better things than a .331 OBP. The fact also is that even at 31 years of age, McIntyre can fly on the base paths. He stole 57 bases last year, and if the OBP gets into the .360+ range the Nine front office thinks he can manage, one could expect some pressure applied to the opposing hurlers.

1B António Rodríguez (.265/.368/.394 in 2024) will hit second. Rodríguez may not be your prototypical slugger at the first sack, but the 25-year-old has exhibited the ability to get on base during both his MBBA seasons, which—let’s face it—is a must when you build a team in Chavez Memorial (a place notoriously hard to homer in). The fact that Rodríguez isn’t a heavy threat for the long ball just adds to this need. He’s pretty slick with the glove, though, and some think this is the year Rodríguez becomes a name player.

Splendid Dominican Luis Baca (.341/.412/.564) will hit third and play RF. Barring injury, you can pretty much expect to say this for 162 games this year. If there’s anyone happy to have the fury of activity focus on EBA star Alfredo Salazar this off season, it’s Baca—who was at the center of the Yellow Springs controversy last year. “I just want to hit,” Baca said earlier this spring. Clearely, the 22-year-old will get his chance now.

New catcher Peter McClure (.270/.346/.425), fresh from two seasons in the Huntsville dugout, will hit clean-up for now. No one can doubt the quality that McClure brings, and his 4.2 WAR last year was his best since that rookie season when he dropped 4.7. At question is how long a 35-year-old catcher can be productive and how much the Nine’s ballpark will change his numbers.

33-year-old 2B Bryan Vogel (.250/.290/.493) will hit in the #5 hole. The team has been concerned about him since being diagnosed with MS in 2023, but he rebounded with a 27 homer, 3.0 WAR season last year. His defense is still solid, and he’s been working on conditioning this off-season. Vogel has also begun working to raise MS awareness in the community, and fans are beginning to respond. Here’s to a feel-good 2025.

LF Carlos Medina (.223/.296/.377) will fill the #6 slot. At 25, Medina has had two cups of coffee in the bigs, so this likely represents his final real chance to catch on as a regular player. His 10 homers and 19 doubles in 345 AB last year shows he has some pop. Defensively, he’s sound. Clearly, though, Medina is another question mark that pre-season prognosticators are holding against the club’s prospects.

Seventh will come 23-year-old 3B Luke Jordan (.239/.305/.381), the club’s first pick in the 2023 draft. He was pretty clearly over-matched much of last season, but he hit 3 homers this spring and got on base at a .353 clip. Make this the norm, and Jordan may well find himself a home here in Yellow Springs for the foreseeable future. Bottom line here is that a lot of people are expecting a lot of good things from Luke Jordan in 2025.

CF Francisco Ruíz (.270/.281/.339) will hit 8th. Or, rather, we should say he’ll swing 8th. We continue to be boggled by the fact that the over/under line Vegas gives for how many walks Ruíz will draw this year is 4. Look at that number. Unless you’re Mordeci Brown, you can count those on the fingers of one hand. Anyway. Ruíz will come to the plat 8th, but mostly he’ll roam center field.

Newly acquired rookie SS Sixto Berroa will hit ninth. Expect Berroa to platoon with Tino Aguilera. The best you can say about him is that he probably won’t strike out a tone and he’ll walk more than Ruiz in half the time. TO be fair, Berroa has shown the ability to get on base a bit in the minors, so we’ll withhold final condemnation until he gets a chance to prove we should hate on him.

So that’s your starting lineup. Can it beat the Robins?

We’re about to find out.

[agrudez]

Jordan should be MUCH improved this year, but Vogel will definitely revert to mean. A full season of Baca will be a huge boon, obviously. A solid lineup to go with a solid (and uniquely Southpaw heavy) rotation - I have a feeling that I'm going to fire up #WhyNotYS again in the Zodcast. 3 playoff teams from the JLM would be pretty awesome, too.

[recte44]

I'm kind of stoked to see what Berroa can do.

[RonCo]

I'm mostly worried about Berroa in the field.

[Chey]

What's your end game starting Berroa? He doesn't look that doughty of a fielder, and he's certainly not the kind of bat to justify poor defence up the middle.

[RonCo]

Aguilera has no bat--especially against LHP. So I'll platoon them for now. Aguilera plays against RHP, and Berroa (who has a bit better bat against LHP) will play with Aguilera as a late inning defensive replacement against LHP. I've got a few other ideas in the minors if that doesn't work out relatively soon.

In the end, my whole shortstop scenario is a wreck right now.

[RonCo]

If this sim is representative (which I know it's way too early), the platoon pair OPSed at the .740ish range and gave me league average defense at the slot.

In addition, Berroa's component defense ratings suggest he may have a little growth to go. He's young.

You never know. Our ability to upgrade in the off-season wasn't good. But again...we'll see.

[trmmilwwi]

Poor start for Jordan but I like the looks of that kid. He could be good.