The weird thing is that we don't really have a true leadoff man.
Wilson would fit the mold of the traditional leadoff guy more than most, but he hasn't shown a whole lot of consistency hitting.
Mahan is a guy that can possibly do it, but he really kind of is a 3 hole hitter or a 5 hole hitter with the power that he displays. One of the biggest issues I have with Mahan leading off is that he strikes out at a very high rate and doesn't walk a lot. Last year he had the 2nd most strikeouts on the team at 51 and only walked 11 times. Compare that to Wilson, who didn't hit very well, but still walked 16 times and struck out just 15 times. You also have the fact that it is still hard to tell what kind of a hitter Mahan is. He hit just .255 in league play last year. I don't know if that was a product of better pitching, getting moved up in the lineup, or both, but he struggled at times in SEC play. Only Carson and Heady had lower on base percentages than Mahan in SEC play. New year... could be different, but it is tough to say right now.
White could do it, but you don't want to give up the ability that he's shown to hit in guys from the 3 hole?
Reks hasn't shown a lot of extra base ability and would be a good leadoff, but he also hit 7 home runs, so he is kind of one you want to be hitting with guys on. He even showed this power in SEC play with 5 of those home runs coming on the weekends against league pitching. However, in league play, he only hit one extra base hit in league play outside of those 5 home runs.
So, who do you put at the top? No one fits the mold perfectly, and last year as I recall we kind of had a musical chairs of leadoff hitters.
Then the next problem is that we also haven't really shown anyone who is a true home run power. We have several guys that can hit home runs, but I don't know that many of them are really that type to hit one anytime they come up.
Pompey is that guy, but he also only hit .233 last year and struck out 48 times, third most on the team. Can he reel it in and start hitting for average and for power, or will he be a guy that is kind of all or nothing?
McNeill was a hitting machine early on in the season last year. If you take out league play he was hitting .280, and that includes the mid-week games late in the year where he was also struggling. So, he was very hot early on. Then someone threw him a slider. Game over. If he has adjusted I think he'll be an outstanding 5 hole hitter. If not... he drops to maybe 7th. Not sure how many home runs he can hit because I feel like he became almost entirely ineffective due to the slider, but if he has learned to lay off that pitch or to handle it then maybe he could fill the four hole gap.
It is an interesting lineup no matter how you shake it.
