seems like a no-brainer to me. Pirtle is a better hitter from the right side anyway. Still wish we would play Detz in the field and DH Porter against RH pitchers.
Why does Wes Rea not bat cleanup behind Renfroe?...
- Thread starter maroonmania
- Start date
One of the great mysteries. Cohen's biggest weakness is his ability to put a good lineup together.
All I can guess is Rea is prone to striking out. Or Cohen wants the capability of a lefty between them.
I can only guess at what's going on through Cohen's mind.... but it probably has to do with right/lefty matchups. He'd rather not have two righty's in a row in the middle of his lineup.
What really bothers me about our lineup woes is that I don't remember Cohen being like this at UK. He'd find one lineup, then stick with it. He liked his matchups, but he wasn't obsessive about it. The whole situation just makes me wonder if he wants to win so badly here that he's pressing and trying too hard. I mean, ultimately, baseball isn't rocket science. You find a way to put your 8-9 best hitters into the lineup all at the same time. The only exception is for an outstanding defensive SS or 2B.
Our lineup SHOULD be this:
1. Frazier
2. Pirtle
3. Renfroe
4. Rea
5. Porter/Detz
6. Norris
7. Slauter/Ammo
8. CT
9. Henderson/Robson
When/if CT puts it back together, you can flip him & Pirtle. That lineup isn't necessarily the best L/R/L matchup, but it IS the best lineup for us 1-9 in terms of protecting hitters & putting all our big bats together to protect each other. And can Cohen PLEASE let Norris out of the dog house yet? We all know Frost is a throwing E5 waiting to happen.
Our lineup SHOULD be this:
1. Frazier
2. Pirtle
3. Renfroe
4. Rea
5. Porter/Detz
6. Norris
7. Slauter/Ammo
8. CT
9. Henderson/Robson
When/if CT puts it back together, you can flip him & Pirtle. That lineup isn't necessarily the best L/R/L matchup, but it IS the best lineup for us 1-9 in terms of protecting hitters & putting all our big bats together to protect each other. And can Cohen PLEASE let Norris out of the dog house yet? We all know Frost is a throwing E5 waiting to happen.
Why Norris? He can't hit his way out of a paper sack. I honestly (I can't believe I'm saying this) would rather have frost at third. I may retract that statement later but he is playing at a much higher level than Norris. Ideal lineup would have detz at third and porter dh'ing regardless of a R or L handed guy on the mound.
I think frost is winning a job at 3b. He's hit well all year and really played good defense last night
The only reason Norris isn't hitting now is because he hasn't been playing. He'll play 2 games, then sit 3. How the hell do you get comfortable at the plate like that? He was one of our best hitters prior to his injury last season. If Cohen would just put him in the everyday lineup and let him get the necessary ABs, his bat would come back around. He's also one of the few guys we have that's got some pop in his bat, so it's to our benefit to put him out there & get him going.
Frost has turned into a very solid player, but he's not a 3B. He doesn't have the arm, period. Who cares how many balls you get to if you can't make the throw across? Honestly, I'd be willing to give him a shot in LF over Henderson & Robson right now. Pirtle has grown on me at 2B, or I'd be saying put Frost there.
Frost has turned into a very solid player, but he's not a 3B. He doesn't have the arm, period. Who cares how many balls you get to if you can't make the throw across? Honestly, I'd be willing to give him a shot in LF over Henderson & Robson right now. Pirtle has grown on me at 2B, or I'd be saying put Frost there.
I'm guessing its because he's
nothing more than a singles hitter with very little power. Just because he looks the part, doesn't mean he is.
nothing more than a singles hitter with very little power. Just because he looks the part, doesn't mean he is.
Another poster made a good point. If you don't know what Rea looks like and are just looking at his stat line, you don't put him at the four spot.
Pirtle and rea both have 1 hr in sec play. Although rea should have had one at Kentucky.
You put a RBI guy, and a guy that has HR potential in the 4 spot. Pirtle lucked up with a bomb or 2, but that's not the norm for him. Rea has missed 15 games and is known for power. It is very clear that Rea should be in the 4 hole over Pirtle. It's not even close to being an argument. If someone wants to defend Pirtle that's fine, he's hit better as of late. But he should never ever ever be a cleanup guy. As a matter of fact, I would think everyone in our lineup except Henderson/Robson should bat cleanup before Pirtle should.
I'm not bashing Pirtle...he's improved, just stating the facts. There's not another coach in Division 1 baseball that would bat Pirtle 4th if given our team. It's a dumb move.
This isn't directed at you Philly. I don't mind Rea batting 5th...I just hate Pirtle batting 4th, and I think Rea is our best option at 4th if not Renfroe, Detz, or Porter.
You may be able to justify Rea based on his numbers from last year, but he's not matching them so far this year.
To be fair, rea missed a lot of games. He pretty much missed the entire preconference schedule. He hit a homerun in his first at bat and then missed pretty much every game until the lsu series.
He's missed 15 games this year. Plus, I don't give a damn about numbers when it comes to us needing a clutch hit. If it's the bottom of the ninth and we have a guy on 3rd with two outs, and the opponent intentionally walks Renfroe....would you rather have Pirtle or Rea walking up to the plate with our chance at a CWS in their hands?
If you say Pirtle, you're either crazy or just arguing to argue.
Depends. Would you rather have the guy that has batted .255 or the guy that's batted .333 over the past 15 games?
We do not have a clean up hitter. And with CT slumping we had to move detz up to 2.
If Rea would hit it over the fence or in the gap you can put him there. But it does zero good putting a guy behind renfroe that strikes out 25 percent of the time. With only 2 doubles and 2 homeruns.
He looks like Tarzan but is hitting like Jane. There are 23 guys in the sec with more home runs then him. He's friggin 9th on our team on doubles.
He's great at first base. But just cause he looks like a power guy does not mean he is.
Right now Cohen is putting our four best hitters in sec play in a row. If Rea wants to move up all he has to do is hit the ball.
If Rea would hit it over the fence or in the gap you can put him there. But it does zero good putting a guy behind renfroe that strikes out 25 percent of the time. With only 2 doubles and 2 homeruns.
He looks like Tarzan but is hitting like Jane. There are 23 guys in the sec with more home runs then him. He's friggin 9th on our team on doubles.
He's great at first base. But just cause he looks like a power guy does not mean he is.
Right now Cohen is putting our four best hitters in sec play in a row. If Rea wants to move up all he has to do is hit the ball.