Projecting The 2010 Red Sox Lineup: The 6 Spot

You could put someone like Youk, with no noticeable L/R splits next to another righty, but JD and Ortiz next to each other is just begging for trouble late in games.

Plus Beltre is the man.

So I put Beltre as the pic. Hmm.

And I still think it should be Drew… But the more I come back to the thread and see Beltre at the top… Perhaps I made a mistake :)

I like Drew and his OBP as high in the lineup as possible, but I agree that back-to-back lefties isn’t ideal. Especially late.

I expect Beltre to be good now that he’s out of Safeco, and that actually makes me like Drew ahead of him even more… but Drew would be stuck behind the slower Ortiz…

see… tricky.

At least for right now, I think Beltre should be batting 8th. I know he was hurt last year, but I can’t ignore that offensive dropoff, I think until we know what he can do he should be slotted in 8th. So Cam or Drewski should be going 6th, depending on if you want the lefty/righty thing.

Sad JD slipped this low also, but he can surely anchor the bottom third of the lineup. Thats what happens when you have a deep ballclub. Great players like Drew get pushed to the back unfortunately. I think Drew should bat 5th, but then Ortiz can’t slip to 7, that would potentially end his career. In Boston anyway.

Tangent aside, Beltre is the obvious choice here.

And he’s going to kill momentum too frequently this high in the order. It’s gotta be Drew. If you don’t like Drew here, then flip-flop with V-Mart, who really shouldn’t be the #3, in my opinion.

Beltre or Cameron?

Whoever the answer is put in 6th and have the other at 8 with Drew in the middle.

Either way. This lineup is going to be good. Better than people think. (Outside of OTM of course)

Poll closes at noon on Friday. Good luck!

We put Rondo at SS and let him hit cleanup and call it a day. That guy is a menace.

the whole “LRLRLRL” line up in regards to batting, but with Beltre being a free swinger and all, I’m thinking Drew. But then again, at the same time, having Drew behind Beltre may just force pitchers to throw something “meaty” at Beltre for him to hit.

In looking at it in now, Beltre seems like the more logical choice here with Drew batting 7th, Cam at 8th, and Scooter at 9th.

Throwing Drew that low in the order screws with the opposing manager because as much as fans lambaste his performance (and that’s really only due to his contract, something ownership and Theo negotiated with Boras), he’s still a power and OBP threat that one won’t find that low in the order.

Unless he drives in less runs than Drew, why shouldn’t he be in the 3-hole? Seeing as how the 3-4 hitters are supposed to drive guys in based upon this “lineup,” it doesn’t make sense for V-Mart to be down in the order.

I can understand he’s a switch hitter and such, but compared to his ability to drive in runs, I’d say that’s small.