Apparently, Tito is leaning towards batting Jacoby Ellsbury not at the top of the order, where he kicked ass in the World Series last year, but near the bottom.
I’m sure he doesn’t want to put undo pressure on his rookie center fielder, but for the 2008 Red Sox to really shine, Jacoby needs to be at the top of the lineup, getting on base in front of Papi and Manny, and using his speed to wreak havoc on the basepaths.
Here’s what I think the ideal Sox lineup for 2008 is:
- Ellsbury (CF)
- Pedroia (2B)
- Papi (DH)
- Manny (LF)
- J.D. Drew (RF)
- Lowell (3B)
- Youk (1B)
- Varitek (C)
- Lugo (SS)
It’s tough line up to pencil together. Burying Youklis near the bottom seems odd with his high on base percentage. I think we’ll see plenty of shifting in the 5,6,7 spots and surely, Youk will see days batting second.
2 Comments
Why not put dustin down in the order and move yuke to the 2 spot? Yuke has a better obp and dustin would get a ton of pitches to hit down near the bottom of the order. The likelihood that dustin is going to be a career 320 hitter is pretty slim but i think we have a good idea of what we are going to get from yuke day in and day out. in fact, i’d guess he’ll have his best year so far this year b/c the sox seem to have figured out how to handle him during the season. i would expect they force him into a few more rest days throughout the year so he doesn’t wear down as he usually does.
I think we’ll see plenty of days when that happens. Those two top spots will be handled with a “who’s hot right now” strategy. I do like Dustin’s ability to handle the bunt when we need to move a guy into scoring position in front of Papi and Manny. But yeah, you’re probably right that he’s not a .320 hitter. Though I admit that I’m always surprised at his plate discipline, he just looks like a Nomar type that can’t wait to swing. And swing hard.
Of course, it’s all based on Ellsbury taking over that leadoff spot.