Alex Rios, cleanup and inexplicable managing

Technically, Ozzie Guillen did give an explanation as to why the worst hitter in baseball has been batting cleanup lately. But it wasn't a good one.

“Dayan Viciedo is not a cleanup hitter right now,” said Guillen, straightfaced. “Let the boys with more experience, more salary handle that.” -- CSNChicago, Aug. 30

“He swung the bat pretty good in the dugout, better than at the plate. He was connecting very hard,” Guillen said. -- CSNChicago, Aug. 31

Both of those quotes are in reference to Alex Rios. The first is Guillen's explanation as to why Viciedo isn't hitting cleanup instead of Rios, the second is in reference to Rios' dugout Wednesday outburst that saw him take a few hacks at the bat rack.

There's so much wrong with both of them.

I understand Guillen's desire to protect Viciedo in the lineup. That makes at least a little bit of sense. But to not put Alejandro De Aza -- who, for some similarly inexplicable reason, didn't start Wednesday -- Alexei Ramirez, hell, even Brent Lillibridge instead of Rios in the cleanup spot is a preposterous.

Rios is the worst hitter in baseball. Worse than Adam Dunn, worse than Brent Morel, worse than a whole slew of guys you don't want to hear about. And that Guillen is cognizant of Rios' ineptitute -- as shown by the second quote -- makes his decision to bat Rios fourth in his last nine starts even more ridiculous.

Sure, the White Sox are 6-3 when Rios starts and bats cleanup over those nine games. But in those nine games, Rios is 10-41 with no walks and seven strikeouts.

Guillen did the right thing when he removed Dunn not only from the cleanup spot but also from the lineup completely. But he's done the completely wrong thing by replacing Dunn with Rios in the lineup.\

Usually, my arguments with Guillen's lineup construction revolve around a point of contention I have with most other baseball managers, and that's wasting the No. 2 spot on a player who can "do the little things," i.e. not hit very well, but can bunt and hit the ball to the right side to advance a runner.

This is a completely different animal. No sane manager in baseball would bat his worst hitter, the worst hitter in the game, fourth when they're trying to close a five, now six-game deficit. Having a cleanup hitter who can hit isn't a market inefficiency like a good No. 2 hitter. Having a cleanup hitter who can't hit is, instead, generally a recipe for disaster.

That disaster has yet to hit, but if the Sox want to start off their crucial series with Detroit with a big win over presumptive Cy Young winner Justin Verlander, Rios won't be hitting fourth.

---

One move I won't sharply criticize Guillen for is his decision to pinch-hit Dunn for Lillibridge in Wednesday's game. It was the baseball equivalent this classic scene from the Simpsons:

Krusty's accountant: Let me get this straight. You took all the money you made franchising your name and bet it against the Harlem Globetrotters?
Krusty: I thought the Generals were due!

Maybe it's not the impossible odds of that, but the odds were still very slim. But the reward -- a game-tying three-run homer -- could've been huge.

The better example, I guess, would be to hit on 20 in a game of blackjack. But that's less funny.

Did it work out? Of course not -- Nathan blew a couple of high fastballs by Dunn, who hasn't had a chance to hit that pitch all year. He had one good pitch to hit, a center-cut fastball, that he fouled back to the screen. Once that pitch wasn't clobbered for a homer, the at-bat was basically over.

I'm not saying I like the move, but I at least somewhat respect it. Had it worked, and had the legendary Bill Raftery been announcing the game, it would've been "MAJOR! ONIONS!"

So, discussion topic: did you hate the Lillibridge-for-Dunn swap? Was it actually worse than batting Rios cleanup? I'm curious if I'm the only one who isn't armed with a pitchfork and/or torch over the Dunn pinch-hitting business.

Comments

[Mike]

I like the Krusty reference, but I was SURE you were going to go to the well for Mr. Burns pinch hitting Homer Simpson for Darryl Strawberry!!

[JJ -- White Sox Beerleaguer]

Yeah, but that actually worked!

[Mike]

Haha, great point. I didn't even think about that!

[Kevin]

JJ, I have a pitchfork in one hand and a torch in the other. If I lived in Chicago I'd be happy to lead an angry mob straight to Ozzie's office. It's now seven hours since the game ended, and my blood pressure still hasn't returned to normal. After that string of pinch-hitters the least he could have done was to put in Donny Lucy for Rios in the bottom of the 9th.

I agree that nothing has been more stupid than batting Rios cleanup. Was that decision more painful than pinch-hitting Dunn for Thrillibridge? Only marginally: like having your foot run over by a Mack truck every morning is marginally more painful than having a knitting needle thrust into your eye just once.

You know he's intentionally flaunting Kenny's mistakes--whether to mock Kenny or to get himself canned, I couldn't say. But the effect is that he is undermining this team and causing it to lose. For that, Ozzie must be fired. That f--king jackass.

[JJ -- White Sox Beerleaguer]

^^^That's the kind of response about 90 percent of the fanbase has had. I totally get it. And it doesn't seem to take much of a thinker to figure out the chances are ever-increasing this'll be Ozziels final month as manager of the White Sox.

[Buford]

2011 HR's
Lillibridge -12
Dunn -11

vs. Nathan
Lillibridge 1-1 (HR)
Dunn 0-2 (1 SO)

Plus Dunn has not played in a few days and was pinch-hitting which he has done infrequently. Coming in cold off the bench as a PH is probably not putting him in the best situation to succeed.

Which is worse Dunn for Lillibridge or Rios cleanup ?

Anytime Dunn or Rios are at the plate it's either death by hanging or firing squad.

Also, I wonder if Guillen makes these counterintuitive decisions just to satisfy his ego attempting to prove his superiority by taking big risks. If it works, then he expects praise for his out-of-the-box risk-taking. If not, then he can rationalize it away with his "I have faith in my players, etc." BS.

But this will all end as I expect Guillen to be Florida's manager next year. In fact, about a month ago, Gammons said Guillen to Florida was a done deal but nothing from Gammons since then...or anyone following up with Gammons. Curious

[Kevin]

Lillibridge now has 13 homers, not 12. In only 177 AB. Dunn's 11 have come in 368 AB. Lilli homers about once every 13 at-bats. Dunn has homered about once every 33 at-bats. By comparison Curtis Granderson's 38 homers have also come about once every 13 at-bats.

Just consider the possibilities for the White Sox this year had Lillibridge been given all of Dunn's at-bats. Not saying he's a latent Granderson; just that if he'd been given a chance to play every day he'd probably have well over 30 homers this year...

[Mike]

To answer your question, I am more outraged by Ozzie's Dunn/Lillibridge swap than Rios batting 4th, though both are egregious offenses.

[Cherann23]

both moves were egregious to me. though, i probably hate the rios at 4 worse. the fact that de aza didn't start because he's a lefty and diamond is a lefty annoyed me to no end.

i understand the beliefs of lefties not hitting lefty pitching well, but imo, if you don't give a lefty the chance to learn to hit it (because, let's face it, every manager tends to sit his lefties when facing lefty pitching), they are never going to learn to hit it. sometimes, i think lefties are coddled too much in this aspect of the game. sure you see it with righties, but not nearly as much.

[JJ -- White Sox Beerleaguer]

Kevin -- I still am skeptical of the notion Lillibridge could sustain this production as a starter. What I would expect is a few peaks with some low valleys and little in between. In other words, maybe two weeks where he's on fire and then three where he struggles to hit better than a one-armed Alex Rios. His swing still has a lot of holes in it, and with more exposure, I would imagine those holes would be more readily identified in scouting reports.

That being said, he probably would be better than Dunn. I'm not sure that means he'd be good enough to get the Sox into the playoffs, but even if he was a replacement-level hitter that's a two-win difference.

And Cheryl, you're absolutely right about the "lefties being coddled" thing. While it's true most lefties have worse splits against fellow lefties, it's no reason to bench a guy like De Aza who's on fire and start Rios.

[Kevin]

I think your right about Brent's streakiness: we've certainly seen it this year! But we should be riding the hot bats as long as they're hot--and right now he is. I'd put him in center, De Aza in right, and Viciedo at DH. Thanks for your great analyses--love your column!