Weekly lineup post and the March 2, 2023 Game Thoughts

 Weekly Lineup Thoughts

• In the first few games we have seen Zunino hitting 5th a couple of times.  While we may get to that sometme this year we are not there yet.
• Today's lineup had a number of things I didn't like:
• Gonzalez hitting 7th and out on an island by being followed by two guys who won't be big offensive threats.  This will exacerbate any tendency for him to go after pitches out of the zone, making hm a weaker hitter.
• Three right handed batters in a row
• Rosaro hitting second, as he is not a true #2 hitter - too many DPs and chases too many pitches.

Again, nothing I have seen so far sways me away from a lineup that looks something like this:

Gimenez (or Kwan)

Kwan (or Gimenez)

Ramirez

Gonzalez

Bell

Zunino

Naylor 

Rosario

Straw

Again, the goal is to not give up two outs with one swing of the bat and also balance the lineup.  I know this hurts Rosario's number of plate appearances but I think it balances the lineup with no more than two same-handed guys in a row.  

Today's Game

Now, here are my thoughts on the box score and looking through the Summary for inning by inning stuff on the MLB website:

1. Feel a little better about Quantrill today.  Don't know how hard they were hit but his hits were on ground balls which is a good sign with our IF defense.

2. Jose with a couple of hits today.  I don't think he generally muscles up in spring training but I would like to see him driving the ball for extrabase hits before the season starts.

3. Lampe filling in, hit a triple.  Don't know how he looked defensively.  With his skillset he has to be able play CF and hit.  As a corner outfielder I can't see how his skillset fits this team in the near future with Brennan, Straw and Kwan with Lampe, like Brennan and Kwan, being LH hitters who would only be passable in CF.  Still, if he can hit and take a walk he might start at AA this year, which is better than what I thought.  Still think he starts at Lake County but could quickly move up to AA.

4. Josh Naylor with a couple of hits.  The further he gets away from his gruesome injury the more we see who he really is.  Still, no RF for him, please.  He wasn't good in the OF before the injury.  Now I think his defensive range would really be unacceptable and his arm is not that good for RF.

5. Morgan must have looked better.  Barager and Diehl helping to cement their position as AAAA guys who, even if Hentges goes to the DL, shouldn't EVER be added to the 40- or 26-man roster.  Davis Sharpe looked that way :-).  Mason Hickman, as a reliever, is clearly a work in progress but I still have LOTS of hope he adapts to that role and balls out for years in the majors.  We forget about Kyle Marman but I could see him closing at Columbus this year.

6. Oscar Gonzalez - He is not striking out but it doesn't sound like he is making hard contact, either.  Watching the game would have been helpful to see that.

7. Joe Naranjo continues to get hits.  People forget he hit .235 each of the last two years at the same level of the minors although his HR total went up from 6 to 18.    Still, to see the guy get basehits in these games, no matter what inning he gets into the game, is a good sign that he may still be on the steep part of that learning curve.