Jeter In The 2-Hole

[DoubleX]

Looking through his career, Jeter seems to have had better seasons in terms of BA and Walks, and thus OBP, when he's batted 2nd in the lineup. Jeter already has 3 walks through a game and a half. I'm expecting a big year from Jeter, and I think the extra pitches he sees will benefit the guys after him.

[farmsystem]

I agree although I haven't looked closely at his career numbers in the two spot. It'd be great to see him have numbers like he did back in 98 and 99.

[Imapotato]

whew scared me...not the best context in the thread title doublex

[KCGHOST]

Jeter is a stud no matter where you bat him.

[DoubleX]

whew scared me...not the best context in the thread title doublex

Ha! Where is your mind at potato?

[mikesty]

He's a much better player in the 2-hole, by far. He's just not quite the perfect leadoff guy. I think he and Damon will become very good.

I think Jeter needs to work a little harder on the bases. Torre needs to let him steal more while he's still young. The same applies to A-rod.

[gehrigfan]

Damon, Jeter...and Matsui 3rd?

I have to agree. I think Jeter will have a great year with Damon ahead of him. I also think Damon will play pretty well for us this year. My concern comes after these guys get on...and our parade of home run hitters get up swinging for their stats.

I would like to see Matsui batting 3rd and Sheffield 5th to see if our run production can increase with that lineup. I think Matsui will hit for a decent average this year and isn't as concerned with homers as the next three guys are.

[pacewon]

I think his better career numbers batting 2nd are a result of him peaking while Chuck Knoblauch was here, since Knobby always batted leadoff and Jeter was always #2. He had 19 BBs in April of last year and a .465 OBP, his best month of the season, and that was almost all compiled as the leadoff hitter, so I wouldn't look much into his first 6 games as if he's going to be much more patient all year in the 2 spot.

That being said, I think that Damon and Jeter are both excellent table-setters and it would make only a tiny difference if Jeter was moved back to leadoff.

[Imapotato]

Ha! Where is your mind at potato?

Well, considering guys who trash Jeter...without getting into details, the main thing is of course he watches Brokeback Mountain daily, if you get my drift

[mikesty]

I would like to see Matsui batting 3rd and Sheffield 5th to see if our run production can increase with that lineup. I think Matsui will hit for a decent average this year and isn't as concerned with homers as the next three guys are.

That's actually the best idea concerning the Yankees I've heard all damn day. My dad and I just discussed that, and we agreed that Sheffield is more of a "free swinger" and a roll of the dicel, whereas the steady Matsui is a constant producer who I guarantee could put the ball in play any day and could even throw down a few sacrifice bunts. Brilliant !

[Mariano_Rivera]

That's actually the best idea concerning the Yankees I've heard all damn day. My dad and I just discussed that, and we agreed that Sheffield is more of a "free swinger" and a roll of the dicel, whereas the steady Matsui is a constant producer who I guarantee could put the ball in play any day and could even throw down a few sacrifice bunts. Brilliant !

I was actually thinking of this
Damon
Jeter
A-Rod
Sheffield
Giambi
Matsui
Posada
Williams
Cano
I didn`t pay to much to the back end or Matsui/Giambi my main focus was that Sheffield hits for pure power while Rodriguez has some good speed making him better in the 3 hole but your idea makes much more sense. Now I`m thinking this
Damon
Jeter
Matsui
Sheffield
Rodriguez
Giambi
Posada/Williams (switch however you want)
Cano

[mikesty]

Yeah keep in mind L/R

L - Damon
R - Jeter
L - Matsui
R - Rodruguez
R - Sheffield
L - Giambi
S - Bernie
S - Posada
L - Cano

Having A-Rod bat AHEAD of sheffield makes more sense IMHO because as you said he has more speed, contact and isn't a gamble like shef. If you want to keep up the L/R pattern, switch him and giambi...

[switch_hitter]

I like Sheff third, because his bat is so intimidating. But I wouldn't mind seeing him move to fifth, Matsui at the cleanup spot, and Arod third. That way, we have R/L/R/L at the 3-4-5-6 spots (Giambi), and Arod and Matsui are both quicker than Sheff, so he won't stop them on the basepaths.

[Mattingly]

Well, considering guys who trash Jeter...without getting into details, the main thing is of course he watches Brokeback Mountain daily, if you get my drift

AAAAAAAAACK! Only if ya believes the t-shirts being sold outside of Fenway. h

Hey, XX, since when did we allow these Phillies Phans in here?

Seriously, here are Jeter's 2003-05 three-year splits, by batting order:

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/splits?statsId=5406&type=batting3

[b]By Batting Order AB  R   H  2B 3B HR RBI  BB HBP  SO SB CS  AVG  OBP  SLG  OPS[/b]
Batting #1      988 187 303 46  6 37 119 104  16 169 18  9 .307 .380 .478 .858
Batting #2      648 110 199 44  1 13  71  58  17 109 26  3 .307 .378 .438 .816
Batting #3      142  23  44  4  2  2  10   4   5  26  4  2 .310 .351 .408 .759
Batting #8        1   0   0  0  0  0   0   0   0   0  0  0 .000 .000 .000 .000

[Mattingly]

I like Sheff third, because his bat is so intimidating. But I wouldn't mind seeing him move to fifth, Matsui at the cleanup spot, and Arod third. That way, we have R/L/R/L at the 3-4-5-6 spots (Giambi), and Arod and Matsui are both quicker than Sheff, so he won't stop them on the basepaths.

Sheffield in the 3-hole is fine, since Rodriguez' driving guys in hasn't come around fully yet. Sheffield does have his bad moments, such as GIDPs when we need a run, or at least a baserunner, but it still puts less stress on Alex. for whatever reason, Alex isn't coming through as much in game-winning situations. I'd prefer to keeping him as cleanup.

Giambi got 3 walks a few days ago, so he's essentially doing what he did when he made his "comeback" in 2005: getting on base. That's good, but until he also drives someone in, I'd say that Matsui should be in the 5-hole.

Here's my plan:

L - Damon - leadoff
R - Jeter - 2-hole
R - Sheffield - 3-hole
R - Rodriguez - cleanup
L - Matsui - 5-hole
L- Giambi - 6-hole
S - Posada - 7-hole
L - Cano - 8-hole
S - Williams - 9-hole

Later on, I think that A-Rod and Sheff can switch spots in the lineup, and if Bernie hits well, he can hit in the 7-hole.

I remember Matsui hitting very well in the 6-spot last season, but he'd been bumped all over the place. Perhaps a very low spot to hit in, and I remember some of the Japanese press mentioning (not outright complaining, but they did mention) that he'd never hit lower than cleanup in Japan w/the Yomiuri Giants. Perhaps he does better when he sees more pitches. Less pressure from #6 than right after cleanup. Who knows?