Rios Might Hit 3rd...

[russ99]

Originally Posted by TheVulture

A guy with a sub .300 OBP two of the last four years batting in the third spot doesn't exactly inspire much hope here. Viciedo is supposedly sub par in left field because he has poor plate discipline, yet a guy who walks less than Viciedo in the three hole is a good idea? Don't get me wrong, I like Rios and I understand we don't really have much better options, but Rios seems better suited 5th or 6th. I'd actually probably prefer Rios 4th and Konerko 3rd, presuming he's recovered from his wrist problems.

Spot on. Plus Rios has struggled in the three spot in the past.

I still prefer Dunn in the three spot as long as he's doing OK at the plate - for him. He draws the most walks on the team and tied Rios in OBP last year despite his Mendoza-like batting average.

Also, the back of our lineup is rough enough without adding Dunn. Running Dunn, Viciedo, Flowers and Beckham together seems like masochism.

[WhiteSoxNation]

I'm a fan of....

DeAza<-------Best leadoff since Raines/Durham IMO
Beckham<-----hopefully sees a lot of FBs w/ DeAza onbase.
Paulie<-----Perfect #3, good eye, power, contact, avg....
Dunn<-----"swing bat hard ball go far"
Rios<----Can knock in runs if Dunn Ks......
Keppy<-----like the bat control w/ Rios in front of him.
Ramirez<----back to silver slugger form....I hope....
Viciedo<------30HR from the 8 spot.
Flowers<-------Give me .250/20/60 I'm happy

[doublem23]

I would have to believe Keppinger will bat 2nd. Bacon can bat 9th. He sucks.

[Foulke You]

Originally Posted by doublem23

I would have to believe Keppinger will bat 2nd. Bacon can bat 9th. He sucks.

Yep. Everything I've read says that Keppinger will be in the 2 hole to start the year. I believe his "plus" ability in that lineup spot is one of the main reasons he was signed.

[WhiteSox5187]

I know that Rios has a low OBP but he can hit for power and he can steal bases which might mean Konerko sees more fastballs. If he can put up numbers like he did in 2012 or 2010, I can live with a .330ish OBP from Rios coming out of the three hole if it means more fastballs for Paulie.

[DonnieDarko]

Originally Posted by WhiteSoxNation

I'm a fan of....

DeAza<-------Best leadoff since Raines/Durham IMO
Beckham<-----hopefully sees a lot of FBs w/ DeAza onbase.
Paulie<-----Perfect #3, good eye, power, contact, avg....
Dunn<-----"swing bat hard ball go far"
Rios<----Can knock in runs if Dunn Ks......
Keppy<-----like the bat control w/ Rios in front of him.
Ramirez<----back to silver slugger form....I hope....
Viciedo<------30HR from the 8 spot.
Flowers<-------Give me .250/20/60 I'm happy

No offense dude, but you always seem to come up with these hairbrained ideas on this board. This is yet another example.

[russ99]

I'm a fan of:

1. De Aza - good leadoff guy, better #2 - would prefer prototypical leadoff guy with more speed, walks, OBP and consistency

2. Keppinger - pretty good #2 guy, could be epic lower in the order or in a high AB supersub role like Maddon played him last year in Tampa

3. Dunn - We're stuck with him until contract is up, may as well keep him at #3, at least we'll get him on base for the RBI guys

4. Konerko - his protection is the only way Dunn has decent numbers, plus I'm old school - I like to see our best player hit 4th.

5. Rios - he did well here last year, why change it now? Plus he's lost his swing before when changed to different lineup spots.

6. Alexei - hope to see better results this year now that we're paying $7.5M this year and $9M next.

7-9. Three other guys who can hit.

Again I'll give Viciedo, Flowers and Beckham a chance. Let's see what they can do this with pressure to keep their jobs, at least long-term. It's not like we have big-league quality alternatives. If it clicks, we have a decent lineup to go with an above average pitching staff.

Also, not sure if I like two free swinging Cubans hitting back to back. Maybe give Flowers some protection and Viciedo less pressure hitting behind him in 8th as our "second cleanup guy"

[DrCrawdad]

Rios may climb to 25 GDP next season batting 3rd.

[Frater Perdurabo]

I like Rios hitting third. He will see more fastballs with Paulie behind him. In turn, a Paulie single to right generally will allow Rios to advance two bases.

I also like Dunn fifth, Viciedo sixth and Flowers seventh, especially later in the game, because Viciedo and Flowers crush LHP. Does the LOOGY come in only to face Dunn? Or does the opposing manager keep the RH pitcher in the game to face Dunn, and then Viciedo and perhaps Flowers? Often, the opposing manager will thus make two moves, or no move at all.

[CoopaLoop]

I have no idea what the every year is different from the last Alex Rios is going to do batting third.

I do know I am going to miss AJ's lefty stick in that lineup.

[sullythered]

Just took a quick look at his career splits. Kinda surprised to see he has hit 3rd more than twice as much as any other spot in the lineup.

[WhiteSoxNation]

Originally Posted by DonnieDarko

No offense dude, but you always seem to come up with these hairbrained ideas on this board. This is yet another example.

I'm pretty sure this will be the lineup

[DonnieDarko]

Originally Posted by WhiteSoxNation

I'm pretty sure this will be the lineup

Considering that everything I've heard about Keppinger suggests that he'll be batting in the 2-hole, I'll agree to disagree.

[TDog]

Originally Posted by TheVulture

Dunn without protection is a scary prospect. Note when Konerko was hitting as well as anyone in the league the first few months of the season last year, Dunn was productive. Once Konerko fell off, Dunn was worthless. I could be wrong of course, but Dunn batting where he belongs at the bottom of the order is going to be ugly.

Dunn without protection behind him in the lineup will give Dunn a higher on-base percentage because he will walk more. If walks are a big part of his offense, that would be a good thing.

When a big hitter has protection in the lineup, the idea is that pitchers will pitch to them instead of walking them and they will get fewer walks. Dunn was pretty much worthless last year from late May, long before Konerko fell off, and he wasn't worth that much before that. He was only hitting .230 at the end of May.

[doublem23]

Originally Posted by TDog

Dunn without protection behind him in the lineup will give Dunn a higher on-base percentage because he will walk more. If walks are a big part of his offense, that would be a good thing.

When a big hitter has protection in the lineup, the idea is that pitchers will pitch to them instead of walking them and they will get fewer walks. Dunn was pretty much worthless last year from late May, long before Konerko fell off, and he wasn't worth that much before that. He was only hitting .230 at the end of May.

Konerko's slide last year began in late May as well. His BA hit its season high on May 27 at .399 and his slide began pretty rapidly after that.

EDIT - ****, I see the graph image isn't coming through... Well here's a link to the page I procured it from: http://www.fangraphs.com/graphs.aspx...ge=1&type=mini