Wild-Assed Lineup Proposal.

[Guest Edgy DC]

We've wondered what to do with do with Lo Duca, now that he's been hot for a month, Endy Chavez is pretty secure in the two-hole, and one of his primary skills (reaching base) pays fewer dividends batting behind David Wright.

How about, if Carlos Beltran is going to be out a few days, we try Captain RedAss at number three?

[metirish]

I'd try it,not sure Willie would though,LoDuca doesn't strike out much so that would be a plus,decent numbers hitting thrird.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/pi/bsplit.cgi?n1=loducpa01

I guess Wright will hit third and LoDuca fifth?

[Guest sharpie]

He batted third a couple of times last year, including one game I was at. I wouldn't be too surprised to see him there.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Since PLD's at-bats are the only ones I'm consistently enjoying these days, I'm going further out and suggesting that --- if Alou isn't ready, and why should I think he will be? --- Paulie starts againgst Cole Hamels in left field for the first time since 2004.

[Gwreck]

I'll endorse that. PLD was one of the options for LF for that game when they couldn't get Johnson in from wherever New Orleans was playing fast enough.

[metirish]

I like it,and gaining Castro's bat would be a plus.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

I was thinking we take advantage of the Cubs' misery and take Michael Barrett off their hands. Barrett can play 1B and 3B (retire, Julio) as well as catch and that frees up Castro to be the power hitting PH we need too often. Everybody wins!

[Guest Edgy DC]

Castro as the slugger off the bench? The ghoul by the batrack? I'm not seeing it.

[Guest iramets]

Good move, Johnny. Way too good for the Mets to make--you're asking Julio Franco voluntarily, for the good of the team, to step down, instead of the team (ever) making the call (which would sound like "We don't think he can hit anymore, and he obviously can';t do much else, so what's he doing here?),

[Elster88]

metirish wrote: I like it,and gaining Castro's bat would be a plus.

Last year aside, you might want to check out his career statistics before saying so.

[Elster88]

Johnny Dickshot wrote: Ithat frees up Castro to be the power hitting PH we need too often.

I'm not going along with this one.

[Guest Edgy DC]

]Last year aside, you might want to check out his career statistics before saying so.

I'm more looking to keep LoDuca's bat in the lineup occasionally on days when Castro would be playing anyway.

I'm also not that intimidated by Castro's career numbers. I think he can hit.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

I know Castro's got only-OK career power numbers. That said, I'd put him to bat in a need-a-three-run-homer at-bat sooner than Franco or Newhan.

[Guest sharpie]

With Valentin coming back soon, I welcome Easley back to the bench as a better power alternative than Castro or Franco or Newhan.

[Guest Rotblatt]

Johnny Dickshot wrote: I know Castro's got only-OK career power numbers. That said, I'd put him to bat in a need-a-three-run-homer at-bat sooner than Franco or Newhan.

I'd agree, but only against lefties. He's like a babe in the woods against righties.

[Centerfield]

The problem is that Franco isn't even the worst guy on our bench. Both he and Newhan are sporting OPS's lower than Glavine and Perez.

[Guest Edgy DC]

A lot of threads get turned into Franconian subjects.

I don't think there's anything wrong with Franco's swing. I think his strike zone judgment is off. That's tough to fix playing as rarely as he does. He's often cited (by Ron Darling as well as others) as "one of the best ever coming off the bench" or some similarity. That's not really the case. He was mostly a part-time starter with Atlanta, and last year was the beginning of a new role for him.

But he hit the ball as hard anybody in a Met uniform last night when he pinch-hit to put the tying run on.

[Guest cleonjones11]

A novel lineup would be one that includes Moises Alou

[Guest OlerudOwned]

I think Endy's starting to overstay his welcome in the two-spot.

And with Alou and Green out, we need Wright to contribute power to the middle of the lineup, which means the best candidate is LoDuca.

Funny how that works sometimes.

[TransMonk]

avi

[TransMonk]

Got lost in here, and thought it was the IGT. Avi...sorry.

[Zvon]

Havent read the whole thread, just intro.
I was not in favor of LoDuca in that second spot, but he has solidly proved me wrong.

Afew reasons.

Only 11 ks on the year.

Good two strike hitter and will look at many pitches and allow Reyes to steal.

He has been hitting above .300 all season.

If the plan to support Reyes using that spot fails, we still have 3 really nice big guns behind him to bring Reyes around.

And yea, in my mind its all about Reyes.

[Guest Rockin' Doc]

I have no problem with LoDuca in the 2nd slot. I know this has been debated before, but LoDuca did a pretty good job for the Mets last season. LoDuca has many of the attributes a team would look for in a prototypical second hitter. He'e tough to strike out, will go the other way and hit balls to the right side, and he has a high OBP.