Thursday, January 25, 2007

Twins Batting Order - 2007

What I think we'll see from Gardy on opening day:
1. Castillo, 2B (S)
2. Punto, 3B (S)
3. Mauer, C (L)
4. Cuddyer, RF (R)
5. Morneau, 1B (L)
6. Hunter, CF (R)
7. White, LF (R)
8. Kubel, DH (L)
9. Bartlett, SS (R)

What you'd see from me on opening day:
1. Luis Castillo, 2B (S) - A perfect leadoff hitter for the Twins (I wanted him there over Shannon Stewart at the start of last season) - he takes pitches, has great at-bats, and gets on base.
2. Joe Mauer, C (L) - Hasn't yet developed the power of a #3 hitter. I think putting him second gives us a much better chance to send our power hitters to the plate with runners on base in the first inning. He takes a lot of pitches too, Cuddyer will have seen a lot of the opposing pitcher's stuff by the time he gets to the plate. I'm sure some would argue that more speed belongs in the #2 spot, but don't forget that Mauer has great baserunning skills.
3. Michael Cuddyer, RF (R)
4. Justin Morneau, 1B (L) - He belongs in the cleanup spot. More often than not, he'd bat in the first inning of games - with a runner on base - and give the Twins a great chance to jump ahead.
5. Torii Hunter, CF (R)
6. Rondell White, LF (R) - I struggle with who should bat 6th (White/Kubel) but ultimately I put White there because he will often be pulled for a defensive replacement late in games. I like the L/R/L/R format whenever possible, as it doesn't allow opposing bullpens to bring in a lefty/righty specialist to face many consecutive batters. Also, if White were pulled for a defensive replacement in the 7-spot, it would set up the 4-consecutive-non-power-hitters that we saw so often last year late in games.
7. Jason Kubel, DH (L) - I can't believe how many people are off the Jason Kubel bandwagon. He put up monster numbers in the minors, and looked very promising before his injury. I expect him to be healthy and return to form this year. (Also, when he got regular playing time before his knees acted up this year, he was an RBI machine).
8. Jeff Cirillo, 3B (S) - I thought Cirillo was a great offseason signing for the Twins. He provides insurance for a Punto injury or simply Punto returning to his previous form. Personally, I think Punto will return to his previous form, and Cirillo can be counted on to bat near or above .300. Plus, he kills lefties, hitting them at an obscene .413/.451/.493/.944 clip last year). If only Gardy didn't think a platoon was a kind of boat...
9. Jason Bartlett, SS (R) - In my world, he's a great #9 hitter. In the real world, I expect this spot to belong to Cirillo when Punto fizzles, with Bartlett moving up to the 2-hole. I certainly wouldn't object to that either, but I feel like Mauer fits the #2 role better.

Any thoughts? What changes would you make?

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