Here’s a table I made for fun.
Tony Gwynn Jr. projected OBP | |
Bill James | .336 |
Chone | .340 |
ZIPS | .343 |
David Eckstein projected OBP | |
Bill James | .327 |
Chone | .324 |
ZIPS | .325 |
Even the people who think Eckstein deserves a starting gig mostly extol his ability to woo teammates into better playing. They shy away from discussion of his ability to create runs at the plate, so why is he batting before the team’s best hitter?
I usually don’t waste effort talking about batting order, the amount of time it gets discussed far outweighs its actual impact on the team. But batting Gwynn Jr. and Eckstein first and second exemplifies a poor approach to decision making. Can every second baseman since Mark Loretta truly meet some supposed criteria making them appropriate number 2 hitters? I feel the same about hitting Eckstein and Gwynn at the top of the order as I do about using leeches to cure diseases.
“People before me did it this way therefore I cannot be criticized for it.”
Oh yeah. Happy opening day. I could go for a California Burrito about now.