1. Ender Inciarte (L) CF
2. Josh Donaldson (R) 3B
3. F. Freeman (L) 1B
4. R. Acuna (R) LF
5. Nick Markakis (L) RF
6. Dansby Swanson (R) SS
7. Ozzie Albies (S) 2B
8. Tyler Flowers (R) C
9. Kyle Wright (R) P
1. Ender Inciarte (L) CF
2. Josh Donaldson (R) 3B
3. F. Freeman (L) 1B
4. R. Acuna (R) LF
5. Nick Markakis (L) RF
6. Dansby Swanson (R) SS
7. Ozzie Albies (S) 2B
8. Tyler Flowers (R) C
9. Kyle Wright (R) P
Lineup I’d like to see
Albies
Swanson
Freeman
Acuña
Donaldson
Markakis
Flowers
Inciarte
I would be all for moving a hitter to #2 based on a 40 PA sample.
We might need to start considering JD moving down in the order until he starts hitting.
Coppy
Right. Someone needs to let us know when he’s hot though, preferably before he is due to cool off.
Just for that, expecting a YUGE game from JD tonight!
Home run, multiple hits and RBI, etc...
expecting a yuge game from Inciarte
"I am a victim, I will tell you. I am a victim."
"I am your retribution."
JD's average exit velocity and average launch angle on FBs/LDs, and HR% for the last 5 years:
2015: 96.4 mph, 25.8*, 21.8%
2016: 97.6 mph, 26.2*, 19.8%
2017: 96.9 mph, 27.5*, 25.6%
2018: 96.3 mph, 26.7*, 17.0%
2019: 99.3 mph, 23.5*, 0.0%
I don't know what everyone else sees, but I put the bit of data I consider the obvious outlier in bold.
If JD had his normal HR rate of ~20%, he would have 2-3 HRs by now. Adding just 2 HRs that he "deserves" to his current slash line of .186/.314/.256 results in a slash line of .232/.353/.442. If JD had a .795 OPS right now, nobody would be saying anything about him other than how nice it was to have him in the lineup.
JD will be fine (barring health), and this is why modern day FOs don't make decisions based on the results of 51 PAs.
auyushu (04-12-2019), Braves1976 (04-12-2019), Dalyn (04-12-2019), jpx7 (04-12-2019)
A quick look at Acuna's data (not results), shows incredibly encouraging signs early.
Here are the 3 players over the last 3 years to have a 15%+ BB rate, less than 20% K rate, and a HR/FB rate of 20%+:
https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders/sp...,PA%7Cgt%7C500
That's a worst case .881 OPS with a .271 BABIP, and ~1.000 OPS with better BABIP luck.
The sample size is still a bit small to look at K and BB rates, but Acuna is looking like a legit 1.000 OPS hitter early in 2019. He probably should be hitting #2 with JD hitting #4, but that was something we all expected to be the case before this season even started.
Acuna is going to be viewed as one of the top 5 players in baseball by the end of the year. Right up there in that 2nd tier behind Trout with Mookie, Machado, and a few others. He is a really really really special player.
I'm very interested to see if Vlad will live up to the hype in the same way that Acuna did last year because there is even more hype surrounding that guy.
Well the home plate ump can’t be any worse.
Can we all agree Inciarte shouldn’t be leading off over Albies?
Gonna be very interesting to see Wright tonight now that he's gotten a lot of positive press.. and has to be feeling some pressure knowing Folty and Soroka are coming...
Weather radar looking good.... small chance of a stray shower... but overall despite the clouds, lookin' good!
Again...no modern competent FO makes these decisions based on 50 PAs...
Inciarte was a perfectly good lead off option vs RHP when his pull/center/oppo batted ball profile was fairly close to 33/33/33. Spraying the ball around like that allowed him to maintain a ~.330 BABIP, and produce a ~.350 OBP.
He then started pulling the ball in 2018 (40%), and predictably saw his BABIP (.293) and OBP (.325) drop as a result.
This year, he is pulling the ball even more (56%), and his BABIP (.207) and OBP (.289) have predictably cratered as a result.
Is 56% pull Inciarte the new deal, or does he just need to iron out a few things? I don't think 50 PAs is enough to say so either way, but I lean towards it being something he should be able to correct.
Wanting to move Albies to the leadoff spot after 40 PAs vs RHP is a little premature as well. Again, intelligent modern FOs don't make these decisions based on 40 PAs. Those are moves made by dinosaur leadership, and ignorant fans.
Ultimately, I think Albies/Acuna end up being the 1/2 hitters long term (perhaps pretty soon), but that's not a decision that can be made based on 40-50 PAs.
Last edited by Enscheff; 04-12-2019 at 05:59 PM.
50PoundHead (04-12-2019), jpx7 (04-12-2019)