Hunter

[msstate7]

He's our best hitter by far, but why does he hit so much better with no one on? Had to be critical of someone do good, but he does struggle with runners on

 

[Bob Sacamano.sixpack]

I'm sure the pitching to him changes dramatically when runners are on. Hopefully he can get some protection behind him.

 

[CadaverDawg]

Because Pirtle is batting behind him

 

[msstate7]

Because Pirtle is batting behind him

I wish rea could hit behind him, but I understand why he isn't. If hunter is walked, anything rea hits on the ground is a dp.

 

[CadaverDawg]

I wish rea could hit behind him, but I understand why he isn't. If hunter is walked, anything rea hits on the ground is a dp.

That has nothing to do with why Rea isn't behind him.....he SHOULD be behind him. But Cohen is too obsessed with lefty righty so he has to have a left handed bat in between them.

You never make a lineup based on double play potential. There is no reason for Rea not to be behind Renfroe. Even Slauter would be a better 4 hole option than Pirtle.

 

[msstate7]

Maybe Cohen will figure out who to hit 4th. He's wished up moving Bradford down. Detz has been good move to 2nd. Cohen seems to have us playing better now so ill be patient.

 

[CadaverDawg]

Maybe Cohen will figure out who to hit 4th. He's wished up moving Bradford down. Detz has been good move to 2nd. Cohen seems to have us playing better now so ill be patient.

Yea, Detz has been good in the 2 hole so far, but if having him hit 2nd means having to hit Pirtle 4th....I'd rather swap them up and have Pirtle 2 and Detz 4. I agree that as long as we're winning I'm good, but it's still concerning to see Cohen make such obvious dumbass decisions like that. Under no circumstances should Pirtle ever bat Cleanup.

 

[jeremyrbrown]

But Cohen is too obsessed with lefty righty so he has to have a left handed bat in between them.

If it had to do with hitting R, L, R, then why does Pirtle still bat cleanup against a lefty? (when all three bat R)

I think it has more to do with the fact that Pirtle has been our second best hitter in conference play.

 

[KurtRambis4]

I don't get

all the love for Rea. Everyone makes him out to be some great power hitter, when he's done nothin to show he is (at this point). Hell the scouts at games say the same thing; He's got no power. Singles hitter. He's basically Sam Frost in an offensive lineman's body.

 

[CadaverDawg]

If it had to do with hitting R, L, R, then why does Pirtle still bat cleanup against a lefty? (when all three bat R)

I think it has more to do with the fact that Pirtle has been our second best hitter in conference play.

That makes no sense. If it's because Pirtle has been hitting well, then why not put him in front of Renfroe and bat Renfroe 4th? Saying it's bc of Pirtle's bat, is basically saying that Pirtle is protecting Renfroe by batting cleanup....but do you really think in any situation, an opponent would hesitate to walk Renfroe to get to Pirtle? No.

If you really want Pirtle to be effective, move Renfroe back to cleanup and put Pirtle between Detz and Renfroe. That way he gets a ton of good pitches to hit with Renfroe behind him. But you know why that doesn't happen? Because it would be 3 straight lefties leading off the game against a Right hander, and Cohen is matchup obsessed right now.

That's why I think it's a matchup thing. But I may be wrong.

 

[jeremyrbrown]

That makes no sense. If it's because Pirtle has been hitting well, then why not put him in front of Renfroe and bat Renfroe 4th? Saying it's bc of Pirtle's bat, is basically saying that Pirtle is protecting Renfroe by batting cleanup....but do you really think in any situation, an opponent would hesitate to walk Renfroe to get to Pirtle? No.

If you really want Pirtle to be effective, move Renfroe back to cleanup and put Pirtle between Detz and Renfroe. That way he gets a ton of good pitches to hit with Renfroe behind him. But you know why that doesn't happen? Because it would be 3 straight lefties leading off the game against a Right hander, and Cohen is matchup obsessed right now.

That's why I think it's a matchup thing. But I may be wrong.

Albert Pujols was intentionally walked 3 times today with Josh Hamilton behind him. Does that mean Hamilton shouldn't bat cleanup?

And you didn't seem to have an answer to why Cohen sticks with Renfroe, Pirtle, Rea, against a lefty.

 

[GOOD_DAWG2.0]

Rea has no power. Did you really just type those words?

 

[CadaverDawg]

Albert Pujols was intentionally walked 3 times today with Josh Hamilton behind him. Does that mean Hamilton shouldn't bat cleanup?

And you didn't seem to have an answer to why Cohen sticks with Renfroe, Pirtle, Rea, against a lefty.

Are you comparing Pirtle to Hamilton? Please no. You actually just proved my point though. At least they put their next best hitter behind Pujols so that teams would have to think twice before walking him intentionally. Do you think teams worry about walking Renfroe to get to a slap hitting second baseman? No. And please do not even try to convince anyone that Pirtle is the second best hitter on our team.

And to answer your question, it is quite obvious to me....if it's a lefty, he wants as many Right handers in the heart of the order as possible, but he sandwiches Pirtle in there so that opponents can't bring in a good right hander to face Renfroe and Rea back to back...Pirtle can turn around and bat lefty. But what Cohen doesn't realize is that most teams don't care because they don't see Pirtle as a threat no matter which side he hits from. He is far less intimidating than Renfroe or Rea, or even Detz, Slauter, Porter, Frazier, or even Bradford for that matter.

Cohen is hurting us while thinking he is providing these big matchup problems for our opponents. Trust me, our opponents love the fact that they will face Pirtle more times than Rea throughout the season.

 

[jeremyrbrown]

I'm sure opposing teams are really intimidated by Rea's 29% K rate.

I'd love for him to be our cleanup hitter, but not on potential alone. Right now, Pirtle is hitting more like a cleanup hitter than Rea. Until that changes, I'm fine with the current batting order.

 

[Wicked Pissah]

I dont get the rea love. No power and a double play waiting to happen. He cant hit a curve either. So just walk renfroe and rea is either going to strike out or hit into a double play.

he has a good glove but he looks like cecil fielder and hits like ct bradford.

 

[KurtRambis4]

Just reiterating what

MLB scouts have said. You'll have to take that up with them. His HR totals don't do much to disprove that.

 

[Steakonastick]

Quote from a scout lsu series.

"He's the first guy you want coming off the bus. But he is Adam Dunn without the power."