I honestly hated mcreynolds more.

I'm watching the Blue Jays highlights on SC.

damn that team can hit the long ball LOL.

[QUOTE=CoMoChief;8741110]I hope to God this team's bats start to wake up.

Escobar needs to lead off.[/QUOTE

No Gordon can't hit anywhere but first in the order

No. For whatever reason Gordon is infinitely better as a leadoff hitter than he is anywhere else in the lineup. Last season he was there and had a career year. This season further proves it based on the fact that Yost tried him all over the place. In only one spot does he play to his potential.

As a leadoff hitter this season in 206 at-bats he is batting .291 with an OBP of .385. His other 132 at-bats are what drags down his BA. The leadoff hitters job is to see pitches and get on base and Gordon does both those better than Escobar.

Escobar is batting 30 points higher than Gordon but has an OBP 30 points LOWER than Gordon when he is in the leadoff spot and 15 points lower on the whole season. Gordon is perfect where he is. And Escobar seems good at the #2 spot so far.

Exactly to the Moose avatar

Can anyone find a stat or source on what AG's stat line is at the #2 spot?

There's no reason why he shouldn't be able to hit from the #2. If he can't it's because he's mentally weak, not because he isn't seeing as great of pitches.

He's been in the majors for what 4-5 yrs now? To sit there and play baby games and not let a faster/more productive base runner (steals, getting to 2nd, taking away the double play ball) is just criminally stupid. Escobar would be an allstar instead of Elvis Andrus if he was our leadoff guy.

Leadoff man is supposed to get on base. Gordon does it 30 points better despite his BA being 30 points worse. What does that tell you? It tells me he is better at drawing walks and getting on base. What is a better situation having a better hitter for average (Escobar) behind a better on base guy (Gordon) or the other way around? It's better to have a guy on base for a hitter than no one on base for a guy that draws more walks and gets on. In addition to getting on base, Gordon benefits the team by letting them see more pitches.

Also regarding stolen bases, it is overrated for a leadoff hitter. How many times does a leadoff hitter steal to start a game? Not many because the situation doesn't call for it. Anyhow last season Gordon stole 17 while Escobar stole 26. Not a huge difference.

And if you are concerned with Escobar getting the ASG as a good reason to mess with the lineup, then that is just silly. Let Andrus have the ASG while we have the better player.

Whenever I start a game thread it goes like 20 pages. The rest of you pissants have trouble getting 10. I'm not sayin... I'm just sayin.

Except Gordon doesn't walk much, doesn't steal bases much. He's not a table setter. He's more like a #2 hitter or #5 or 6.

Doesn't walk much?! Not only is our best at drawing walks by 17 more walks than Billy, he is 8th in the AL in walks. But yeah he is not good at walks. Nothing like putting your best OBP guy at 5th or 6th in the lineup.

He gets on base. FFS. That's the single most important--no, the only quality that is significant in terms of a lead-off hitter.

He's a #1. A damn good one.

You know what "sets the table"? Getting something on the table.

OBP. Nothing else ****ing matters.

Makes me think of: OH NOEZ, Dunn leads the league in strikeouts!!! OH ****. He only gets on base and hits ****ing home runs. Stay away from that problem.

Alex Gordon. You can get all pissed at him for not being Mike Schmitt or just accept him As Jim Eisenrich with less terrets.

Yep. People who would complain about Gordon at #1 also probably complained at Dunn for being an all-star. One of the Aflac trivia questions recently said that only two players have ever led the league in strikeouts, HRs, and BBs in the same season. I didn't catch who it was but Dunn has a chance at it this season.

JJJJJJJJJJJJJ------IIIIIIIIIIIIIII------MMMMMMMMM-----MMMMMMM-----YYYYYYYY Agrees