2017 Lineup

[patriots111]

Eaton CF, Turner SS, Harper RF, Rendon 3B, Murphy 2B, Werth LF, Zimmerman 1B, Norris C, Pitcher........................Thoughts

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Eaton CF, Turner SS, Harper RF, Rendon 3B, Murphy 2B, Werth LF, Zimmerman 1B, Norris C, Pitcher........................Thoughts

Welcome.  Feel free to post as little or as much about yourself in the Welcome New Members Thread that is stickied either in the Clubhouse or the Red Loft.  How long have you followed the Nats?  Is that Patriots local college or the pro football team?

Your thinking is close to mine on the line up.  I'm not convinced Norris will be every day until I see him hit righties.  I suspect Lobaton will play more than he has (not counting the times he played when Ramos was down).   Lobie will be Gio's caddy I think and it would not surprise if one of the top guys throws to him as well.  I like splitting the lefties hitters, but I might prefer Murphy 3d.  I kind of think Murphy's contact right after the two top of the order fast guys will lead to more runs.  You don't need the speed to score if Harper is homering, and slotting him after Murphy and Rendon should get him guys on, too.  Also, I think Harper's BB skill probably gets him walked more than Murphy, and a lot of times walks are somewhat wasted out of a #3 hitter (#3s often come up with 2 outs; #4 overall tends to leadoff more innings than any other order slot except #1). 

Welcome again!

[imref]

Maybe Eaton and Turner flip-flop against L/R if Turner struggles against RHP, but last year Turner was .348 / .378 against RHP versus .317 / .338 against LHP, so i'd imagine Turner leads off against everyone to start the year.

[blue911]

Eaton CF, Turner SS, Harper RF, Rendon 3B, Murphy 2B, Werth LF, Zimmerman 1B, Norris C, Pitcher........................Thoughts

That's a good line up.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

The google is wonky for me today and I'm having trouble looking at the baseball cube.  I'm curious if Turner has shown reverse splits in the minors.  I am a bit obsessive about splitting righties and lefties if the hitters are at all comparable. Definitely want to keep Murphy and Harper separated by Rendon if at all possible to avoid making it easy for the opposing manager to get > 1 out with his LOOGY.  Maybe it is less important with Eaton / Murphy or Eaton / Harper.

[HalfSmokes]

Eaton CF, Turner SS, Harper RF, Rendon 3B, Murphy 2B, Werth LF, Zimmerman 1B, Norris C, Pitcher........................Thoughts

Assuming health, that could be the best lineup in the nl

[Natsinpwc]

Assuming health, that could be the best lineup in the nl

Cubs are still better. Maybe if Haroer comes close to his 2015 season and Murphy repeats 2016. Those are not likely though.

[Slateman]

Cubs are still better. Maybe if Haroer comes close to his 2015 season and Murphy repeats 2016. Those are not likely though.

Cubs are losing Fowler and Soler. Might not be as good next season.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Cubs are losing Fowler and Soler. Might not be as good next season.

there's a reason they call the study of faith "Theology."

[Slateman]

Lineup

Trea Turner - SS
Adam Eaton - CF
Daniel Murphy - 2B
Anthony Rendon - 3B
Bryce Harper - RF
Jayson Werth - LF
Ryan Zimmerman - 1B
Catcher - C
Pitcher - P

Turner either hits leadoff, or you drop him down to 8th. Eaton is a lot like Werth in that he looks at a lot pitches (Eaton Pitches Per Plate Appearance: 2016-3.77, 2015-4.03, 2014-3.89). Gives Turner chances to steal bases.

Neither Daniel Murphy nor Adam Eaton have issues with LHP, so I don't  mind hitting them back to back. Nice high OBP and good speed of Eaton will be useful for Murphy and Rendon's doubles.

Until Bryce Harper starts hitting like 2015, I see no reason for him to hit higher than 5th.

[Natsinpwc]

Cubs are losing Fowler and Soler. Might not be as good next season.

And Schwarber will be back.

[Ray D]

This is just my philosophy - if you have two guys equal candidates for leadoff, one left and one right, I choose the righthander. Why? One, if he gets on first, and is a threat to steal, having a lefty batting second causes all sorts of havoc ... firstbaseman holding the runner, second baseman worrying about the steal, leaves a big hole on the right side.  Second, if  the lefty leads off there's no runner at first so he doesn't get that lefty advantage.

[WhiteWhale]

Lineup

Trea Turner - SS
Adam Eaton - CF
Daniel Murphy - 2B
Anthony Rendon - 3B
Bryce Harper - RF
Jayson Werth - LF
Ryan Zimmerman - 1B
Catcher - C
Pitcher - P

Turner either hits leadoff, or you drop him down to 8th. Eaton is a lot like Werth in that he looks at a lot pitches (Eaton Pitches Per Plate Appearance: 2016-3.77, 2015-4.03, 2014-3.89). Gives Turner chances to steal bases.

Neither Daniel Murphy nor Adam Eaton have issues with LHP, so I don't  mind hitting them back to back. Nice high OBP and good speed of Eaton will be useful for Murphy and Rendon's doubles.

Until Bryce Harper starts hitting like 2015, I see no reason for him to hit higher than 5th.

I'm good with this, also not worried about Eaton, Murphy back to back and as Ray D mentions, like a left at bat with a base stealers on.
This line up begs for a left handed guy that can play LF/1B to spell, platoon for Werth and Zim. Goodwin can't play 1B. Clint's not the type of bat I'm talking about. I'm talking about a guy good enough that against righties, he is in for one of the two.

I also think Loby will be the main catcher against righties.

[Truconfidence]

Only person i see that fits that mold is Brandon Moss. I dont think Josh Hamilton is fit mentally right now to try and sign. I do see one guy out there that I would want for our bench and thats our favorite guy Daniel Descalso because his ability like Drew to play every IF spot.

[madj55]

Only person i see that fits that mold is Brandon Moss. I dont think Josh Hamilton is fit mentally right now to try and sign. I do see one guy out there that I would want for our bench and thats our favorite guy Daniel Descalso because his ability like Drew to play every IF spot.

I just looked up Moss' splits and he's not that much of an improvement against righties over Werth/Zim.

[nfotiu]

Over 80% of games are started by RHP, I assume.  If you are good at hitting righties, then you are probably a good hitter, period and are starting somewhere. 

[WhiteWhale]

That's a fair point. I guess there isn't anyone who profiles all that much better than Clint that would want that role.

Post Edit - So Maybe it's two guys - Goodwin, and a middle IF that pushed Murphy to 1B. a Drew "type"

[WhiteWhale]

The goal there is to get some LH ab's out of those positions and rest Zim. It would be nice to do that without Danny being first man up.
If we don't trade him, I'm afraid that's how he will be viewed. They will use Trea's versatility to say that whom ever get's hurt, Danny is first up.

[CoryTheFormerExposFan]

CF Eaton
SS Turner
RF Harper
2B Murphy
3B Rendon
LF Werth
1B Zimmerman
C Norris/Lobaton (against lefties)

Eaton and Turner are both very capable leadoff guys.  Turner has a bit more pop I think and flipping him and Eaton prevents having 3 lefties batting in a row.  That makes it tougher to matchup bullpens against us late in games.  I expect Harper to bounce back and have a much better season.  Murphy will have a ridiculous amount of RBI opportunities batting behind those 3.  Will there be a higher combined OBP 1-3 for a cleanup guy to have in front of him in baseball?  Doubt it.

As long as Rendon is healthy, he can really hit.  Werth should be able to give good ABs and hit around .260 with a solid OBP and maybe 20 HR pop.  I'd love to see Goodwin emerge and be a cheap guy to give Werth plenty of rest through the year.  I know this won't be popular, but I think Zim is going to have a good bounce back year.  He's still just 32, and I think physically he holds up much better at 1B full-time.  He's a guy with a lot of pride and I think he's on a mission to produce, and being dropped to 7th will certainly motivate him.  There aren't many 7th hitters in the league who are a threat to get hot the way this guy can.

[rileyn]

This is just my philosophy - if you have two guys equal candidates for leadoff, one left and one right, I choose the righthander. Why? One, if he gets on first, and is a threat to steal, having a lefty batting second causes all sorts of havoc ... firstbaseman holding the runner, second baseman worrying about the steal, leaves a big hole on the right side.  Second, if  the lefty leads off there's no runner at first so he doesn't get that lefty advantage.

I've gone back and forth about the Eaton v. Turner leadoff thing, and this might be the most convincing argument to go with Turner.  I was leaning towards Eaton to break up the lefties in the order, and because I think Turner can be an MVP with Murphy batting behind him.  Speaking of Murphy, I like him batting 3rd.  Get him as many at bats as possible.  If Harper reverts back to his 2015 form, then bump him up to 3rd or 4th, but until I see that I go with:

Turner
Eaton
Murphy
Rendon
Harper
Werth
Zimm
Catcher

[CoryTheFormerExposFan]

I've gone back and forth about the Eaton v. Turner leadoff thing, and this might be the most convincing argument to go with Turner.  I was leaning towards Eaton to break up the lefties in the order, and because I think Turner can be an MVP with Murphy batting behind him.  Speaking of Murphy, I like him batting 3rd.  Get him as many at bats as possible.  If Harper reverts back to his 2015 form, then bump him up to 3rd or 4th, but until I see that I go with:

Turner
Eaton
Murphy
Rendon
Harper
Werth
Zimm
Catcher

I can't see Rendon batting cleanup and Harper batting 5th unless Rendon is red hot and Bryce tanks even more.  Murph and Harper are very likely batting 3/4 in whichever order.

[Ray D]

Turner
Eaton
Murphy
Rendon
Harper
Werth
Zimm
Catcher

When I saw you had Harper 5th, I thought, you're going to take a heap of abuse for that.  But I like it.

[CoryTheFormerExposFan]

When I saw you had Harper 5th, I thought, you're going to take a heap of abuse for that.  But I like it.

Other than breaking up lefty/righty, why do you like it?  Difference of opinion is great, but I'm not sure I see the reasoning and am curious. 

[rileyn]

Other than breaking up lefty/righty, why do you like it?  Difference of opinion is great, but I'm not sure I see the reasoning and am curious. 

Lefty/Righty break up is the biggest thing for me.  However, I have to see with my own two eyes that Harper is not going to be the same swing-miss-fall-off-balance-towards-first hitter that I saw in 2016.  If he bounces back, then you can move him up, but that really throws off the balanced lineup configuration.  As it stands today, I'm not ready to say he is a better hitter than Rendon.

[CoryTheFormerExposFan]

Lefty/Righty break up is the biggest thing for me.  However, I have to see with my own two eyes that Harper is not going to be the same swing-miss-fall-off-balance-towards-first hitter that I saw in 2016.  If he bounces back, then you can move him up, but that really throws off the balanced lineup configuration.  As it stands today, I'm not ready to say he is a better hitter than Rendon.

Even in a down year Harper had a .373 OBP and .814 OPS.  Rendon slashed .270/.345/.777

Harper is so good that even when he's struggling he's better than Rendon.