Baseball Lineups: 2010

[Dad04]

_ You have GOT to have a couple of guys, that can make pitchers pay for mistakes, by putting the ball over the fence. I solid hitter who can put the ball in play can get a two out, two on hit. But if someone hits a homer in that spot, the situation goes from bad to devastating.. It's a momentum grabber, and a game changer. It doesn't have to be a constant, and we should never RELY on it, but it's got to be an element to a productive lineup. _

I agree. Some power is better than no power. Smith will hit bombs, probably more on the road though. Home runs come when there are less holes in the line up, when they can't pitch around your middle line up guys because your 6, 7 and 8 hole guys can hit too. That hasn't been the case lately though. We need more conssistency in the line-up. Hawkins was a great hitter, but he can't do it alone, as we saw. Hopefully he can continue this summer with wood bats.

[BrudaCajun]

_ I agree. Some power is better than no power. Smith will hit bombs, probably more on the road though. Home runs come when there are less holes in the line up, when they can't pitch around your middle line up guys because your 6, 7 and 8 hole guys can hit too. That hasn't been the case lately though. We need more conssistency in the line-up. Hawkins was a great hitter, but he can't do it alone, as we saw. Hopefully he can continue this summer with wood bats. _

Whoa, "Great" is an overstatement. He was "good" when Lucroy was hitting in front of him and Tatford was hitting behind him. He is by no means great, with all due respect to Mr. Hawkins

[CajunProud]

_ I agree. Some power is better than no power. Smith will hit bombs, probably more on the road though. Home runs come when there are less holes in the line up, when they can't pitch around your middle line up guys because your 6, 7 and 8 hole guys can hit too. That hasn't been the case lately though. We need more conssistency in the line-up. Hawkins was a great hitter, but he can't do it alone, as we saw. Hopefully he can continue this summer with wood bats. _

This is why Griffen is soooo important. We need for him to come around on his hitting. With the kind of raw power that he possesses in the lineup, we can do more things.

[Dad04]

Choose your own adjective. That's fine. We'll agree I'm sure 400 foot moon shots are not easy to do. You illustrate the value of the solid line up though.

[ManAboutTown]

_ This is why Griffen is soooo important. We need for him to come around on his hitting. With the kind of raw power that he possesses in the lineup, we can do more things. _

Thad is a guy that posses sheer, raw talent. If he works hard this off-season, he could be the talk of the SBC next year. He's an excellent defensive catcher, he's got a brilliant arm, and we've all seen what he can do when he makes contact. He needs to be more alert at times, and IMO, step up and be a team leader next season; a role that will probably STILL be vacant. Bottom line: If he puts in the work, he'll be a great player. Not good, GREAT.

[bruh]

I agree with that and for the poster who says small ball is dead, I say watch the way every west coast team plays. Small ball is alive and well and makes a lot of average teams very good.

I do think that we need to have at least 3 guys with 10+ homerun potential, but getting that 1 20+ bomb guy isnt as crucial as finding guys who can steal 20+ bags is, to me, more important then the 20 bomb guy. (for our park and our league)

Also, we have to do a better job of identifying true bullpen guys like Pilgreen, Laughter, Sham, Beck, Farquhar etc. We didnt have any guys like that this year and it killed us. I liked Haggan but having him as our top reliever is unacceptable. He is at best a lefty-lefty matchup guy.

We will always have good starting pitching, but until we can truly identify and build a bullpen, we will not be going back to a regional.

I think Les, Keefer, Goulas, and even Griffen can be those 10 homer guys. Griffen needs to be in a positon where he can hit in front of our best hitter so that he can get fastballs. Hitting him at the bottom of the lineup isnt going to help him because there is no one to protect him and people can junk ball him into bad at bats. The million dollar question is where is that in the lineup as he is too much of a liability as a 3 or 4 hitter. If you can really get him to focus on having a disciplined strike zone you can hit him 2 hole. 2 hole hitters see the most fastballs because pitchers dont want to walk him with the meat coming up. (Worked beautifully for Gisclair in 07).

Here is my lineup for next year. (9 guys who all played important roles this year)

1.CF Olasin SR
2.C Griffen JR
3.RF Smith SO
4.LF Goulas JR
5.1B Keefer SR
6.DH Long DR
7.3B Benzel JR
8.2B Bostick SR
9.SS Fontenot JR

[ManAboutTown]

1.CF Olasin SR
2.C Griffen JR
3.RF Smith SO
4.LF Goulas JR
5.1B Keefer SR
6.DH Long DR
7.3B Benzel JR
8.2B Bostick SR
9.SS Fontenot JR _

I'm going this route:

1 - Olasin CF
2 - Bowman LF
3 - Smith 1B
4 - Keefer 3B
5- Griffen C
6 - Fontenot SS
7 - Long or Porrier DH
8 - Goulas RF
9 - Bostick 2B

This is obviously pending JUCO transfers that come in and make an impact immediately. I also think Bostick started to figure some things out in the last 3 weeks. Good signs for next season.

[cajun2bag]

_ I'm going this route:

1 - Olasin CF
2 - Bowman LF
3 - Smith 1B
4 - Keefer 3B
5- Griffen C
6 - Fontenot SS
7 - Long or Porrier DH
8 - Goulas RF
9 - Bostick 2B

This is obviously pending JUCO transfers that come in and make an impact immediately. I also think Bostick started to figure some things out in the last 3 weeks. Good signs for next season. _

1-Olasin CF
2-Goulas LF
3-Smith RF
4-Keefer 1B
5- DH
6- 3B
7- SS
8-Griffin C?????Will he make contact next year??????
9-Fontenot 2B

In my opinion I think the other positions are open for competition. Those are the guys with the exception of Griffin who have earned a spot on the field. We will have to wait and see what happens with the rest of the line-up

[bruh]

foofoo,

I did forget about Bowman so I think he and Olasin can be a very effective 1-2. Goulas, healthy, is probably our best hitter. Thad would probably be best in the 5 hole, the only problem is that he needs someone protecting him. Fontenot is a good hitter but he wont help Thad see more fastballs. I love Fontenot at the bottom turning the lineup over.

The one good thing is that there will be a lot of options with veterans. It will be a veteran heavy team, and a team that is young and soft one year can click and be a group of experienced warriors the next year.

Everything will revolve around 3 guys. Goulas, Smith and Griffen. If they can shoulder the burden and take in upon themselves to carry the team, You're looking at a group that could be a threat for the SBC title. (from a lineup standpoint)

Someone needs to step up and help the pitching staff out. (I would love to see Jut back in the closer spot but I am not sure he can get his arm ready to pitch every day) It may be better to keep him as a starter. Cook needs to decide that he is going to be a guy who is going to win every time out. He is a good pitcher, but he needs to be a killer. Bulliard is the same way. This kid has the stuff to be great out of the pen, but he is not a killer.

as far as the rotation I would go with:
Fri-Osbourne
Sat-Jut
Sun-Cook
Tues-Fuse (I'd actually like to see how good he can be strictly pitching)

Bullpen:
Lackie: I like what I've seen so far. I think he could be a real good late inning guy if he isnt a starter.
Wascom: showed that he is a front line reliever. injury or illness sidelined him I believe: i hope he can get back on the field healthy because hes a good one.
Bulliard: This kid has to put it together, his stuff is too good to be on the bench (same with Marze)
Wilborn: I think he will be back as he probably pitched himself out of the draft. (Needs to redeem himself as a hard throwing lefty out of the pen)

I've heard good things about Larsen and Hubbell. hopefully they can get on the mound in some capacity.

new Juco guys need to assert themselves early and try and take someone's job.

[CajunT]

_ Choose your own adjective. That's fine. We'll agree I'm sure 400 foot moon shots are not easy to do. You illustrate the value of the solid line up though. _

Moon shots are one thing, hitting with runners in scoring position is another. His average over the past two years has not been great in those situations. I don't have those numbers right now, but I was shocked when someone told me those numbers. I enjoyed watching Hawkins play here, but he has struggled the past two years.