Post Non-Con Baseball lineup thoughts
So we've gotten 16 games into the season and seen just about every variation possible with our lineup and batting order. As we start to settle on who is and isn't a part of the games, we've figured a couple of things out.
Ace is the 2 hole. No shocker there. 1.223 OPS. He's had some dud moments but overall he is settled into that spot and has 3rd base locked up.
Bryce Chance has locked up the 9 hole and does his role excellently. Having 1.000+ OPS is typically a great player mark in college - our 9 hole has 1.061 and looks comfortable in that role. He can play any of the outfield spots we need as well.
Caterpillar feels like we can't bench him. He needs to stay in the 3 hole behind Ace and either be the 1B or the DH. 1.378 OPS is nuts no matter the competition.
This then leads to the next thing to notice. Stallman (though hurt) has 1.456 OPS. Nuclear hitting. It seems obvious to have him and Sullivan be 1B/DH and 3/4. But then you look at Cornholio and he's got a 1.329 OPS. We saw a bit of the potential softball lineup with him in Left yesterday. If he can be serviceable defensively out there then good ****ing luck with the 2-3-4-5.
Then at 2nd base you've got the Frei / Wyers platoon battle. Frei has double the at bats so take Wyers #s with a grain of salt, but 1.354 OPS makes it hard to bench and why he earned DH and leadoff yesterday. Frei mashes and has a 1.048 himself. This means you've got 5 guys vying for 3 lineup spots and platooning / earning their way into the lineup with insane #s. Cornholio being able to play LF opens this up to 4 spots and only one odd man out.
Woodson seems defensively to be our only real option at shortstop as his bat is far better than Sanders. Having him in 6, 7, or 8 hole makes the most sense based on batting side diversification and matchups.
Then you get back to the outfield. Teel has had a rough go of it but is a Rowdy like slow starter and still is at .921 OPS. You think with this week off if he's not too injured he'll be right back in the lineup and can be a 1-hole at his best or a 6-7-8 if others are performing. He then has CF defense on lock and along with Chance makes up for some of the shortcomings you have with Cornholio in left.
But then that leaves out Valincius and Parker. VV has performed when given the bat and Parker ****ing tanks bad pitches. Nunnalee is on thin ice in all regards and may have well played himself out of rotation. There's late game defensive replacement opportunities - but right now these 3 have to deal with a hot bat coming for their spot. Mind you if Teel doesn't get going like we expect - they can challenge for his spot too.
Chone/Raymond has pretty much settled into an even split. Maybe Milewski is healthy and ready to challenge again - but with those two hovering around the 1.000 OPS mark - hard to shake it up further.
All this to say - damn we're loaded.
My lineup for Arkansas would be:
Teel - CF
Reese - 3B
Sullivan - DH
Stallman - 1B
Cornholio - LF
Frei / Wyers (L/R split) - 2B
Woodson - SS
Raymond / James - C
Chance - RF
May swap Frei/Wyers with Teel going to 8 and Raymond/James going to 6
