Where does Young fit in the batting order?

Over the last two seasons, Michael Young regularly batted in the middle of the order for the Rangers. But with the Phillies, he’s likely to move back to the No. 2 hole, where he’s hit more than anywhere else in his career.

The Phillies’ offseason should be far from finished (could Josh Hamilton be coming to town?), and even Charlie Manuel recognizes whether or not the club makes a move for a corner outfielder will determine where his newest pieces fit in his lineup.

“I could sit there and go over lineups all I want to. But when it gets down to it, who we have on the corners in the outfield will dictate where our lineup falls,” Manuel told reporters, including the Philadelphia Inquirer's Matt Gelb, Monday at Citizens Bank Park.

But it’s still worth examining where the new guys could fit in now. Today, we’ll look at Michael Young. In Texas, the seven-time All-Star hit fifth or sixth in 80 percent of his starts last year, but over the course of his career, he’s batted second more than anywhere else — and that’s likely where Manuel will slot him.

Jimmy Rollins should lead off again, barring an unforeseen shift in Manuel’s philosophy on how best to use the shortstop. Chase Utley and Ryan Howard, both left-handed bats, should regularly hit third and fourth again as well. Since 2010, Utley has hit in the No. 3 hole in 92 percent of the games he’s started, and Howard has batted nothing but cleanup over that span.

However, Young — a right-handed bat — could provoke Manuel to split up the lefty-lefty duo he’s been so reluctant to break up in the past. The third baseman has batted third often throughout his career, including 14 times last season and 30 times in 2011.

The more likely scenario, though, is to slot Young second between Rollins and Utley. He hits for average and doesn’t strike out often — he went down swinging just once every 9.3 plate appearances last year. But he also doesn’t generate a tremendous amount of power — his home run total has dipped in each of the past four seasons, to a career-low eight in 2012.

As the roster stands now, where would you hit Young?

Comments

[lorecore]

awh: rough estimate, i'd say at least half of that list is both cheaper than Blanton and have the upside to put up an ERA+ above 85, which is all Blanton can do for the last 3 years.

[ColonelTom]

I wonder if we could get Javier Vazquez out of retirement. He's pitching this winter, and he's only a year removed from a very solid season (13-11, 3.69 ERA) with the Marlins.

Carlos Zambrano's another option I haven't heard mentioned. He showed flashes of brilliance early last year before falling apart as the season went on and his relationship with Guillen deteriorated.

Both Vazquez and Zambrano have the added bonus of being good-hitting pitchers, which would be nice if Revere were to bat ninth:

Vazquez: .204/.237/.241
Zambrano: .238/.248/.388

[nokwurst]

I'm not so sure Revere shouldn't bat 8th, specifically b/c of his speed.

It's driven me nuts the past 5yrs how many times a Phillies pitcher tried to bunt (badly), and the slow-running 8-hole hitter was thrown out at 2B.

I understand you want to turn the lineup over, so then you just don't run Revere w/ 2 outs.

[nokwurst]

Ryan: but a guy coming off an injury is definitely not "low-risk."

Low-risk means you're pretty sure he's going to deliver the expected results: in this case, a high reward. Those guys are far & few between, and they sure ain't cheap.

[lorecore]

nok: disagree. "low risk" generally refers to the resources it takes to acquire, i.e. cheap

[fumphis]

No, low-risk in this case means you aren't on the hook for big money/years if he fails. Think Juan Pierre last year (or Chad Qualls...)

[pblunts]

TR Sullivan (Rangers MLB.com writer) tweet moments ago:

My sources tell me that Josh Hamilton is heavily leaning towards signing with the #Phillies. #Rangers appear out of the mix.

[ColonelTom]

lorecore - no, I didn't take Rollins' splits into account. Yikes. That certainly makes the argument stronger for Nick Swisher and his career .402 OBP vs. LHP.

[Iceman]

nokwurst- I had the same thought as you when I first read 'low risk, high reward.' It's poorly worded. To me, on its face, it means a higher-tier starter like Jackson or Dempster.

At first I didn't read the entire quote, and he had qualified that statement by saying 'someone coming off an injury' or something like that. Which would mean that 'low-risk' means low-risk financially- if it doesn't work out, it won't cost the team much money.

If he wanted to be clearer, he should've said 'low-cost, high-reward.' Because low risk means (to me), like you said, a consistently very good pitcher that won't be a regretful investment.

[awh: Founder, JRoll in the 6-hole Club]

blunts, if Hamilton comes to Philly, expect an "extremely" low risk pitcher.

[Ryan]

That's a fake Sullivan account

[Fatalotti]

Give me John Lannan. 28 years old, and league average production. Other than the fact that he looks like something from a horror movie, he's not a bad pitcher.

[pblunts]

@Ryan Just realized. People are sad. Should have checked.

[nokwurst]

Hmmm, as long as it's a non-guaranteed deal, I guess "low-risk" could be defined that way, in a sports environment.

I'm used to thinking along an accounting reg definition, where probability of return is an overriding factor.

[Fatalotti]

Rangers aren't out the mix until he signs somewhere else, since they have the ability to match any offer he gets. I don't see why he doesn't end up back in Texas. They are out of options.

Give me Swisher already.

[Iceman]

That was a fake tweet, btw.

[jbird]

What's the point of running a fake twitter account that isn't even funny, like Old Hoss Radbourn is.

[GTown_Dave]

Fatalotti: He'd throw at his new teammates out of habit & wind up injuring one or more of them. Not worth the risk.

[awh: Founder, JRoll in the 6-hole Club]

Has anybody considered this?

Ben N S at mlbtr said in his live chat today that the Nats amy move Morse if LaRoche re-signs in WAS.

Is that what the Phils are waiting for - a chance to go after Morse?

[Bedrosian's Beard]

I doubt they would trade Morse to the Phillies.

[Cyclic]

Doubt they'd move him within the division.

[Cyclic]

Ben also said he'd rather have Hamilton for 4/100 than Swisher for 4/60.

Don't know about that.

[Iceman]

See if Rizzo the Rat will still do a Brown-for-Morse deal.

[Mike G]

I can't see any way Rizzo would give the Phillies exactly what they need. A righthanded outfielder with power.

[ColonelTom]

Rizzo might trade us Werth.

[awh: Founder, JRoll in the 6-hole Club]

Even though they say he's off the market, I wonder if ARI would take pitching prospects and Brown for JUpton?

[awh: Founder, JRoll in the 6-hole Club]

My lineup would be:

Rollins (because CM won't pencil #6 where he belongs)
Utley
Upton RF
Howard
Chooch
Ruf/Nix/RFD LF
Young
P
Revere

[jbird]

awh: After trading away the #2 best pitching prospect in baseball for Didi Gra-whatshisface? What a terrible trade for them. At least the Royals got a #2-level starter when they gave away their MLB top-10 prospect.

[ColonelTom]

Brown wouldn't be an upgrade over Gerardo Parra, who is currently on their bench behind Kubel, Eaton, and Upton. If they deal Upton, they want a young 3B in return. They're more likely to deal Kubel in a lesser deal.

[jbird]

Speaking of Old Hoss Radbourn, his tweets on ESPN's top 100 off all time are quite amusing.

[fumphis]

AWH, it does crack me up that you put Rollins at #1 in a nod to Charlie's habits, despite your founding of the J6 Club; but then you put the pitcher 8th, which is far more of a taboo for CM than moving Rollins down. That said, I like the lineup, except I'd go with Swisher over Upton.

[lorecore]

I think we should trade $5M to the dbacks for $100M.

[Iceman]

Yeah, after seeing what Kevin Towers did for the A's and the Indians, it's worth a shot to try to fleece him.

[GTown_Dave]

I think we should trade $5M to the dbacks for $100M.

That sounds good in theory, but r00b would probably do something stupid like throw in the entire farm system.

[PhxPhilly]

I think the key to the lineup is getting as many guys on base for Howard. He is the run producer and tremendously better with men on.

That is still why I wanted Youkilis even for an overpay and with the risk since I think he profiles excellently at #3.

Agree with a few prior posts for 'everyday' lineup:
Brown, Utley, Ruiz, Howard, Rollins, NixBerry, Young, Pitcher, Revere.

Manuels:
Rollins, Young, Utley, Howard, NixBerry, Brown, Kratz, Revere, Pitcher

[pb]

stick with the platoon's in the corners sign a starter and a reliever, can always trade for an OF bat at some point Cuddyer, etc

Just let Brown sit in LF or RF as the starter. The guy is never going to develop if they keep staggering his play.