Terry Francona Learns to Manage a Lineup

by user Tylersalt

Ladies and Gentlemen, your new Red Sox leadoff hitter!

In a stunning move of managerial excellence </sarcasm>, Boston Red Sox manager Terry Francona shook up his lineup yesterday, moving disappointing shortstop Julio Lugo to the ninth spot and moving up red-hot rookie Dustin Pedroia to leadoff. Pedroia was followed by Kevin Youkilis and David Ortiz in the lineup, while the 7-8-9 spots were the equally disappointing Coco Crisp, Doug Mirabelli (Tim Wakefield was pitching), and the aforementioned Lugo. Said Francona, "Earlier in the year, we tried to protect him a little bit... We don't want to overwhelm guys and give them more than they're ready to handle. I think he's proven he's going to get on base." Pedroia is hitting .404 (38-for-94) in his last 29 games [1].

Personally, I think it's about time. Lugo is tied for the worst leadoff OBP in the American League with Rocco Baldelli, who I'm not sure is even hitting leadoff anymore. (Manny?) Pedroia is a heck of a player and I'd love to see him as a fixture at second base and near the top of the Red Sox lineup for years to come.

Question for the masses: Does your favorite team's manager have a boneheaded lineup fixation that he needs to fix? Any inspired lineup shifts that you'd like to suggest?

Sources: 1: http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2007/06/13/lugo_a_flop_so_hes_flipped_with_pedroia/

EDIT: A bit of a caveat here, as in Wednesday's game Francona wanted to get Alex Cora some playing time, so he sat Pedroia and put Coco Crisp -- the only hitter on the team worse than Lugo -- in the leadoff spot. Cora can play short, so I'm a little confused.

JuTMSY4Legend

899 days ago

Score 2

Well, I've got lots to say on this...

1) Francoma is awful and its about time sox fans realize this...I saw him in philly for years and said the same thing...you come to the AL, where you don't have to manage and you think he's god...no...he sucks

2) Why is this is question, why between pedroia and lugo...hellooooo...last i heard Kevin Youkilis was batting .335 with a .421 OBP...and he batted leadoff last year incredibly effectively (.381 OBP with 100 runs)...just put him back, how is this even a decision...

3) As a phillies fan, I've often seen Charlie Manuel being yelled at for where he positions burrell and D21Dubs and I have argued about where to put him (stats suggest leadoff?!), however the reason he's constantly put in the 5th spot this year (and 4th, to some degree in years past) is because of his "reputation" to be a Home run hitter and drive men in...well management, because of the 13 mil burrell's making, wants him to bat 5 and that just doesn't make sense...since manuel manned up and moved him to 6, the phils have played pretty well...I know Aaron Rowand isn't the ideal 5 hitter, but beggers can't be choosers and the proof is in the pudding.

4) I've seen some bad lineups, but you gotta give props for Willie Randolph sticking with Reyes now...its paid off compared to years earlier when a free swinging reyes didn't seem like such a good choose even though he was basically in scoring position if he got on base (the key being, if he did)

Permalink | Reply

TylersaltAll-Star

899 days ago

Score 2

Francona's actually done a decent job of managing the bullpen this year, solidifying a problem area from the past -- he's had to, given the restrictions that the organization has put on Jonathan Papelbon's workload coming off of his injury last year. Plus, the way that the Boston organization is run (along with Oakland and, to a lesser extent, Toronto -- the Moneyball franchises), the manager really is increasingly irrelevant.

Permalink

Willf123JV Squad

899 days ago

Score 1

Once Orlando was not resigned it started this carousel of shortstops Renteria, Gonzales, Lugo.

Permalink | Reply

Willf123JV Squad

899 days ago

Score 1

Replacing a guy who has a .274 OPB with one with a .395 OBP makes sense to me.

Permalink | Reply

JuTMSY4Legend

899 days ago

Score 1

how about a guy with a .421 OBP?

Permalink

TylersaltAll-Star

899 days ago

Score 1

Ju -- I guess the idea is that Youk's power has continued to develop as well, so he's better suited to be in the second spot so that he can get on base and produce runs. He'll also see a bunch of good pitches hitting in front of Papi and Manny, so his power comes in handy there. Pedroia has never really been seen as much of a run producer -- he's more of a doubles-type hitter.

Permalink

TylersaltAll-Star

899 days ago

Score 1

The only other argument I can think of between the two is that Youkilis has been determined to be faster via a long-standing internal rivalry and competition. His inside the park homer a few weeks ago really settled that once and for all.

Permalink

PeanMajor Leaguer

899 days ago

Score 0

Anyone think Pedroia looks like Pheobe's brother Frank in "Friends"?

Permalink | Reply

ChristofMVP

899 days ago

Score 1

The fact that Francona has a World Series ring from managing still baffles me.

Permalink | Reply

Tyrone BriggsHall of Famer

899 days ago

Score 1

Yes, yes I'm sure Red Sox Nation pines for the good ole days with Grady Little.

Permalink

JuTMSY4Legend

899 days ago

Score 2

I defend grady little every time this comes up...francona got the keys to a retooled ferari...a sox team that was better than the one little had...Little did what anyone would have done...he left his best pitcher in during the biggest moment...its dumb that red sox fans blame him so much...blame pedro, he threw it...blame wakefield, he gave one up to boone...blame anyone who didn't help them score a run after the blow up...come on...

Permalink

Bball3345Draft Pick

899 days ago

Score 1

Well, for the Pirates, Jim Tracy always likes to start off the year hitting Chris Duffy leadoff, followed by Jack Wilson before figuring out neither of them can hit. It would be awesome if it didn't take him so long to figure this out.

Permalink | Reply

KelsdadAll-Star

899 days ago

Score 1

Francona's a good manager. At least he's not Fuck Showalter.

Permalink | Reply

RomiezzoLegend

896 days ago

Score 0

Terry Francona is finally learning how to manage a team. He's gaining experience which is why the Red Sox are doing so hot right now. In every game I've watched, except for about 1 or 2 of them, Terry Francona has made every right decision. I think he is definitely learning something. I remember when he used to leave a starter in forever, have him allow 6 runs in an inning, and THEN take him out. In my opinion, the only reason why the Red Sox won the World Series last year was because of the passion and the talent of the team, not because of managerial decisions. The first person who commented was right, he's not a god, but he's learning to develop his managerial skills. Sure, he did bad with Philadelphia, but that is only because he manage a team at the time. That's all, and that's my opinion...

Permalink | Reply