Author Topic: Cubs in '11  (Read 57285 times)

JR

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Re: Cubs in '11
« Reply #45 on: February 25, 2011, 02:21:58 pm »
I was about to say I don't remember Ramirez being a very good hitter in the 3-hole at all the handful of times we've tried him there.  Particularly, I remember him hitting badly in 2006 in the 3-hole after Derrek Lee got hurt.  Still, his OPS hitting third that year overall as 1.066, so my memory there is kind of scewed on how bad of a start he had to that season.

I think it's a comfort factor more than anything else, though.  Ramirez has about 7 times as many at bats hitting cleanup as he does hitting third.  He's only had 27 AB the past three years in the 3 hole.  He's used to hitting cleanup, so there's not much sense moving him around unnecessarily when there are other quality options for the 3 hole available.

Marlon Byrd will probably be the 3 hole hitter to start the year, and while he won't be spectacular, he should be adequate there.  Really lineup order doesn't matter much anyway, so whether they decide to hit Ramirez 3rd or 4th, it's not really going to matter a whole lot.