With Alex Sanchez day to day Alan Trammell needed to slot someone else in the leadoff spot on Sunday. In a surprise move, he put Infante at the top of the order, and he responded going 3-5 and scoring a run. It led me to take a look at how the various spots in the Tigers line up have performed.
The table below shows the OPS that the Tigers have gotten from each spot in the line up, and how they rank in the AL.
Batter OPS AL Rank
1 .726 12
2 .828 6
3 .953 2
4 .810 7
5 .621 14
6 .759 7
7 .740 7
8 .859 1
9 .767 1
What jumps out is that the Tigers despite being average or better in spots 2,3, and 4 are exceptionally weak at leadoff and the number 5 spot. Also, the bottom of the order has done pretty well, but more on that in a minute.
In the leadoff spot Alex Sanchez has had the bulk of the at bats. While his .322 batting average is impressive, his .336 on base average and 11 caught stealings are now. I’ll even ignore Sanchez’s .386 slugging percentage because I’m more worried about OBA at the top of the order than power. What is really telling, is that in 61 games Sanchez has only scored 39 runs despite having solid production in the next 3 lineup spots. On the other hand, Tiger leadoff hitters other than Sanchez have scored 14 runs in 13 games. In addition, Sanchez is only seeing 3.04 pitches per plate apperance. Compare that to Omar Infante who typically sees 4.11. Simply put, Sanchez should not be in the top of the lineup.
Now the 5th spot has been exceptionally bad. There has been significantly less production from that spot in the lineup that any other. The 5th spot does have a .301 OBA which is actually impressive considering the position is only batting .219. The 5th spot has been shared almost evenly by Carlos Pena, Craig Monroe, Rondell White, and Bobby Higginson. White is the only one to hit for any power (.443 slg) and Higginson is the only one to get on base at a decent rate (.424).
The good news is that Omar Infante and Brandon Inge (with some of Munson’s power thrown in) have made the bottom two spots in the order the strongest in the American League.
So what should Trammell do to make the lineup more productive? While you could move Guillen to the 5th spot to generate more production, it would just weaken the another part of the lineup. Until one of Munson/Pena/Monroe/Thames develop into a consistent hitter, or White goes on another tear, it’s just moving around struggling players. In the meantime, I would bat Higginson 5th. He does a pretty good job of not making outs, so despite a lack of power, he won’t be a rally killer.
Re: Sanchez and his 39 runs scored.
In his case we may indeed have to include that .386 SLG in this critique, which, to be blunt, is barely acceptable for any sot in an AL lineup.
In raw totals, his .386 means 75 singles and just 11 XBH. Combined with the 11 CS, Sanchez simply is not doing a good job of getting to second base/scoring position on his own. Too often he either gives up any chance at extra bases by bunting, or he “showcases” his speed by getting gunned down at second.
And I dont like Guillen moving to the 5-spot – as you say, it weakens the top of the order, ostensibly in an effort to patch some perceived hole that may or may not be all that important. Given Tram’s affinity for situational hitting, it could be that the 5-spot has simply faced an inordinate amount of situations which force Tram to call sacrifices, hit-and-runs, or placing the ball to move a runner. Just a guess.
I’m getting tired of watching Sanchez get caught stealing too, but let’s try to keep all of this in perspective. This isn’t our year. Sanchez has supposedly been working with Gibby a lot on base stealing, so maybe this is all just a learning experience for Alex. If he costs us a few games this year, but learns some valuable lessons for next year, I’m all for it. However, if he’s stealing only making it 40% of the time next year, it’s time to turn on the red light.
Pudge is leading the league in hitting and is among the best in OBP, yet has scored only 34 runs because of the lousy hitting behind him. The biggest things they need are for Munson and Pena to wake up and for White to break out of his slump. Sanchez should be hitting ninth and should have been all along. I’d have Higginson lead off. His OBP is good, and he doesn’t have much power any more. But he doesn’t look like a leadoff hitter so they won’t do it.
good point about Higgy, Tim – he doesn’t fit Tram’s preconceived notion of what a leadoff looks like or can do at the plate and on the bases.
I have to admit, though, I have kinda like Infante in the leadoff slot. Lets hope he can keep hitting, because he at least “looks” like a leadoff hitter and can maybe force a move of Sanchez to ninth.