Who's Batting Second ?

By Shari Forst
Posted Saturday, March 24, 2007

All throughout spring training, Willie Randolph has been toying the second slot in the batting order. Most of the games I have seen of Spring Training 2007 had David Wright hitting in this spot.

Why fix something that wasn’t broken?

I am not one for loving changes to begin with, but if I am wrong I admit it. Last season when Paul LoDuca was inserted in the second slot I admit I was really upset and annoyed. I felt you needed speed at the top of the batting order. I felt Beltran was much better suited to hit second rather than third. Especially after he underperformed in the third slot his first year here. I felt LoDuca should be hitting sixth or seventh.

I could not have been more wrong. LoDuca turned out to be the consummate number two hitter. He patiently took pitches so Jose Reyes could steal bases, he is a great contact hitter and on a hit and run play he can go to right field very effectively. He was great at giving himself and moving runners over, while at the same time maintaining a batting overage over .300, even with his injured thumb. You couldn’t ask more of a number two hitter, and I ended up loving having him in that position.

When LoDuca sat out the few games that he did last season, they inserted Endy Chavez - a completely different type of hitter - yet having him there worked too. It gave them a different look, Chavez being left handed, and he has speed similar to that of Jose Reyes.

To me this was perfection in the batting order.

So now I have seen David Wright in the number two hole more than anyone else, and let me say for the record, I absolutely HATE this idea and I really hope that Willie Randolph just considers this a spring training experiment. I never felt he utilized Wright properly in his batting order in 2005. He stuck to that “Rookies Must Pay Their Dues” kind of mindset and hit him seventh most of the 2005 season, even when Mike Piazza was doing nothing in the fourth & fifth slots. By the time Randolph seemed to wise up and bat Piazza sixth and moved Wright up to fifth half the season was already gone. I always felt who cares if he is a rookie? It’s a matter of who can drive in runs, and Piazza at that time wasn’t. In 2005 I wouldn’t have minded seeing Wright hit third and Beltran second, but I was satisfied when he was finally moved to the fifth slot.

David Wright is an RBI hitter, he had over 100 RBIs for his second season in a row and 27 home runs. The number two hole in the batting order is not as good an RBI spot. Why waste someone who has the potential to drive in 120 runs in that position?

I don’t think Shawn Green will be around too long this season, and even if he is I don’t expect him to drive in too many runs. Concerning Moises Alou, I don’t know what to expect. I know if he is healthy he can really hit, but to my knowledge he seems to get hurt a lot, and at 40 years old even the smallest injury can keep a player out longer then when you are 25.

Personally I thought last years line up was perfect, and I was dead set against getting rid of Xavier Nady. Nady was another young guy with loads of unrealized potential. I think the Mets panicked with the Duaner Sanchez situation, but it did net us Oliver Perez who is looking good so far this spring.

Back to the batting order: If you remember, last season’s early line up went like this: Reyes, LoDuca, Baltran, Delgado, Wright, Floyd, Nady, and Anderson Hernandez. After Hernandez' injury just two weeks into the season, Valentin floated around the sixth and seventh slots in the order. Right down through the eighth slot this was a tough line up for any starting pitcher.

This years opening day batting order may look something like this: Reyes, Wright, Beltran, Delgado, Alou, Green, LoDuca, and Valentin. I don’t think this will be as effective as last season, and with the questionable starting pitching, I’m not so sure if they will be as much as a powerhouse as last season. This is why I feel Wright should be a fixture in the fifth slot of the order; they need as many RBIs as they can get and he is proven RBI machine.

Lets hope Willie Randolph realizes the same thing. Who knows if we can count on Valentin to produce like he did last season. I am always hopeful, but these scenarios don’t seem to work out for our Mets. Green & Alou, as I mentioned, are big question marks as far as I’m concerned. Keeping Wright hitting fifth will ground the batting order a little more.

I know you have to experiment and tinker in spring training, but I thought by now this experiment should be finished, and forgotten about.