Buck Shuffles Lineup

7

A quick note that I felt was important to mention about the Rangers loss to the Angels last night was the lineup changes that Showalter made for the game. He must have heard my pleas that Brad Wilkerson be taken out of the leadoff spot, because he was batting 7th last night. Wilkerson went 1-for-4 last night with no strikeouts to raise his batting average to .175. He was hitting behind Ian Kinsler, who was moved up from 9th to 6th. According to the Rangers website, Showalter isn’t quite reader to move Kinsler into the leadoff spot for fear of the pressue it would put on the rookie. In fact, he said he was hesitant just to move him up to sixth, for fear of disrupting the success he’s had in the 9th spot.

Speaking of Kinsler, really bad news out of last night’s game. Rangers.com is reporting that Kinsler dislocated his thumb and is likely to go on the DL. Fortunately, X-rays did not show any fractures or any ligament damage. The Rangers are reportedly hoping he will miss no more than 2-3 weeks.

Replacing Wilkerson in the leadoff spot last night was veteran outfielder Adrian Brown. Brown went 1-for-4 in the game, and currently has a .200 batting average. Laynce Nix was moved into the 9th spot in the lineup where he got three striketouts, but at least he finally got his first hit of the season. His batting average is .045. The other lineup change involved Mark Teixeira. He hurt his finger taking a line drive at first base the other night. While he recovers, he will be the DH and will be replaced at first by Phil Nevin.

By way of update, I should also mention that Robinson Tejeda got rocked in his second minor league start. He allowed five runs on eight hits in five innings. Fortunately for the Rangers, Rick Bauer is performing well, so this doesn’t kill them. Hopefully John Koronka will be as sharp as he was in his first start when he goes against LAA tonight. The Rangers need all the help they can get right now.

(All statistics courtesy of The Baseball Cube. To read more about the Rangers, check out Baseball Time in Arlington.)

Date

Wed 04/12/06, 6:53 am EST

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Awrigh01All-Star

1343 days ago

Score -2

I think Wilky is turning out to be a big ol'texas flop.

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ASwaffAll-American

1343 days ago

Score 0

He's a flop early on, but I'm still really optimistic, especially if he can recover from his shoulder injury without going on the DL. He's still a good clubhouse presense, and he's still a good defensive outfielder. And I've said time and time again that I think his bat will come around as he adjusts to AL pitching. But for now, he definitely doesn't need to be in the leadoff spot. That's all I'm saying.

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Davis21wylieMVP

1343 days ago

Score -1

Managerial moves like this only serve to reinforce the myth that lineup order makes any difference... Unless you have Jose Reyes batting leadoff. Then it makes a difference.

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Bball3345Draft Pick

1343 days ago

Score 0

Great Adrian Brown and his career .327 OBP, Great Move Bucky... How can you call Wilkerson a flop after 40 ABs? Do the other 2000+ ABs in his career with a .360+ OBP not count after nine games?

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ASwaffAll-American

1343 days ago

Score -3

Well, if you read what Buck said about the move, it makes sense. Not everything can be based on statistics. He thinks the move will help take some pressure of Wilkerson. Maybe it will help him to not press so much at the plate. Sometimes it's not always about having the guys with the best bats at the top of the lineup, it's putting players where they will best serve the team.

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Bball3345Draft Pick

1343 days ago

Score -1

So it is a good idea to have someone who rarely gets on base to lead off the game and get more ABs than anyone else on the team?

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ASwaffAll-American

1342 days ago

Score -2

Who else would you have batting leadoff? You keep talking about career numbers, but those don't help you this season. You have to look at this season, and this season, Brown has a .294 OBP and Wilkerson has a .200 OBP. So stop reaming Buck because of Wilkerson's 2 year-old numbers. You have to go on the present, not the past. Besides, it was only one game. It's not to say Wilkerson won't end up in the leadoff spot again. You make adjustments as necessary. Right now, it was the smart move to make. You can't have the MLB's strikeout leader with his .200 OBP batting leadoff.

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Bball3345Draft Pick

1342 days ago

Score 1

I would have Wilkerson batting leadoff. You have to go on the present not the past? So Chris Shelton is a better player right now than Albert Pujols. No, because what a person has done in the past dictates, for the most part, what they will do in the future. It does not make sense to throw out what Wilkerson has done his entire career and go with a guy who has been light years behind him in production. The season is barely a week old and already you are using these numbers to determine a player's true skill. By the way, using Brown's current .294 OBP as a defense for him batting leadoff isn't real effective.

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ASwaffAll-American

1342 days ago

Score -2

The Shelton/Pujols comparison is stupid. I didn't mean from a comparison standpoint, I meant from a coaching standpoint. From a coaching standpoint, you have to put people in the places in the lineup where they will be most effective. Moving Wilkerson to 7th wasn't a slap to the face. He wasn't hitting in the 1 spot, so Showalter is trying to find a way for the lineup to be more successful as a whole. You can't keep a guy that's striking out that much in the leadoff spot and just pray he start hitting eventually. I applaud Showalter being proactive and dealing with the situation before Wilkerson became a total villain in Anaheim for coming in and totally sucking it up in the leadoff spot.

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Bball3345Draft Pick

1342 days ago

Score 0

What is to say Brown will start hitting in the leadoff spot since he clearly isn't all that hot right now either? All I am saying is Wilkerson is the best leadoff hitter the Rangers have; thus, he should be in the leadoff spot. It is way too early to panic, declare Wilkerson a failure, and drop him to the bottom of the lineup when his replacement has been just as cold. The difference between Wilkerson and Brown is that Brown's bad statistics are more in-line with his past than Wilkerson's current stats. So odds are, Wilkerson will be a better hitter than Brown from here on out and the team would benefit most from having him hit leadoff.

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Davis21wylieMVP

1342 days ago

Score 1

"You keep talking about career numbers, but those don't help you this season. You have to look at this season... So stop reaming Buck because of Wilkerson's 2 year-old numbers. You have to go on the present, not the past." Um, do you have any concept of probability theory at all? Wilkerson's played in 10 games -- about 45 plate appearances -- so far in 2006. I can tell you definitively that the .200 OBP you allude to is not reflective of Wilkerson's ability in the least. Wilkerson's had OBP's of .380, .374, and .351 over the last three years; what's more, that .351 mark a year ago is most likely a low outlier -- as in, he'll probably post a higher OBP in 2006 over the full season, especially in Arlington. The odds of a career .363 OBP guy suddenly becoming a .200 one are astronomical, unless you're talking about extremely small sample sizes for the career numbers (Wilky's got 2309 career AB's, so nope), or a really old player (Wilkerson's 29, at the tail end of what should be his prime, so nope again). It's called variance. Randomness. It's called sample size. I suppose you also think Reed Johnson's going to hit .533 on the season? Please.

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Bball3345Draft Pick

1342 days ago

Score 1

Davis I wish I could vote more than once for your comment

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ASwaffAll-American

1342 days ago

Score -1

I know it's not reflective of his ability. And the move to the bottom of the lineup isn't a panic move at all. Y'all aren't hearing me. The move of Brown to the top of the lineup lasted one game. The next day, Gary Matthews was batting leadoff. I don't think that anyone believes either of them will be our leadoff hitter for the entire season. Moving Wilkerson down was a temporary move until he gets healthy, finds his comfort zone and starts hitting again. That's all. I'm not saying Brown is the kind of leadoff hitter they need, and neither is Matthews. Long term, I'd much rather have Wilkerson batting leadoff. But I think he needs to find his comfort zone first, and hopefully taking some of the pressure off by dropping him in the lineup will accomplish that. I'm not reaming Wilkerson, I like the guy. I'm just saying that, for right now, he's obviously uncomfortable and trying to adjust to a new league. Hopefully this move will take some pressure off and help him adjust so he can move back up in the order.

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ASwaffAll-American

1342 days ago

Score -1

I also gotta say I understand sample size. I know that Wilkerson is better than Brown, and that he's better equipped for the leadoff spot. But right now, due to injury and being in a new league, he's not getting the job done. Just for right now. I believe he will in time, but for now he needed to be moved to a spot in the lineup where he'll help the team more, and that's in the 7th spot. Just for right now.

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Bball3345Draft Pick

1341 days ago

Score 0

Now I see a little better where you're coming from. Still, there are a few questions for me. Is it more likely for him to regain his stroke lower in the order? Probably not. Are Matthews Jr. and Adrian Brown that much of an upgrade even over the struggling Wilkerson? A small upgrade but they are more likely to have a ten game stretch with a .200 OBP then Wilkerson. Will moving him down hurt his confidence? I have no clue. So maybe it was a good move to temporarily drop him but then again I am still not sure.

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