I honestly prefer a manager that will leave the lineup set day in and day out. Some managers tinker too much with a lineup and end up throwing everyone else out of whack. Now, I do think there is room to make a few moves, but Semien is not on that list. Could he use a day off here and there? Absolutely, but I think moving him out of the leadoff spot is one step too far. What I would consider doing is what I and many have talked about already, which is splitting up the three most strikeout prone hitters throughout lineup (who happen to be three of our best run producers).

Semien - R
Seager - L
Adolis - R
Lowe - L
Jung - R
Heim - S
Jankowski/Garver/Grossman
Duran - R
Leody - S

This would give us tremendous balance in the top 6 batters while splitting up the high K guys with players that take very professional at-bats. It would also not upset the apple cart with huge changes, and it gives someone like Duran a chance to continue to drive in runs with guys who can get on base in front of him.

Tksymm7 said:

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I honestly prefer a manager that will leave the lineup set day in and day out. Some managers tinker too much with a lineup and end up throwing everyone else out of whack. Now, I do think there is room to make a few moves, but Semien is not on that list. Could he use a day off here and there? Absolutely, but I think moving him out of the leadoff spot is one step too far. What I would consider doing is what I and many have talked about already, which is splitting up the three most strikeout prone hitters throughout lineup (who happen to be three of our best run producers).

Semien - R
Seager - L
Adolis - R
Lowe - L
Jung - R
Heim - S
Jankowski/Garver/Grossman
Duran - R
Leody - S

This would give us tremendous balance in the top 6 batters while splitting up the high K guys with players that take very professional at-bats. It would also not upset the apple cart with huge changes, and it gives someone like Duran a chance to continue to drive in runs with guys who can get on base in front of him.

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I don't think it needs to be "set". I think you need a core top of the lineup that is somewhat consistent. The bottom needs to be shuffled based on matchups. Leaving a struggling player in the lead off for every game is hurting the team.

If you want to save your brain cells I recommend staying away from the trash talk thread and the Astros thread.

Tksymm7 said:

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<snip>
What I would consider doing is what I and many have talked about already, which is splitting up the three most strikeout prone hitters throughout lineup (who happen to be three of our best run producers).

Semien - R
Seager - L
Adolis - R (93K)
Lowe - L (83K)
Jung - R (105K)
Heim - S
Jankowski/Garver/Grossman
Duran - R
Leody - S

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If that is your proposed lineup, all you've done is rotated the 3 in the same spots.

Regarding a set lineup... I prefer something more consistent and like the idea of letting players battle through it, so I wasn't really going against/for Bochy's approach, just observing. I liked the idea of telling Jung he was going to struggle but he'd remain there through the struggle.

% wise Duran is by far worse that Lowe. Say what you want about him, and I'll admit I'm not his biggest fan either, but he statistically has the second best chase and whiff %'s (only behind Semien).

It's not always just about striking out either, even though yes they are very undesired results. It's also about seeing pitches and working counts. Adolis, Jung and Duran do not excel at that any in way, shape or form. Lowe does, so if you switch him and Adolis, you are putting someone between them that is statistically guaranteed to have a better at-bat, and therefore you don't fly through some innings in 8 pitches with 2 k's back to back. JMO.

What's the latest on Martin Perez? Someone mentioned he might have something going on physically.

By bumping Heaney to today for Paternity leave and inserting Bradford, Dunning get the GS tomorrow, ultimately skipping Perez.

We have 15 games in the 18 days when play resumes.
7/14-16: v Cle (3)
7/17-19: v Tampa (3)
Day off
7/21-23: v LAD (3)
7:24-26: @ Hou (3)
Day off
7/28-30 @ SDP (3)
Day off
8/1-3 v CWS (3)

Really weird schedule where we start with 9 Home Games, then a bus ride to Houston. You could almost go with a 4-man rotation. OR... insert Bradford and go with a 6 man rotation the 1st two blocks.

What would y'all's reaction be if we made a huge prospect package for Ohtani but it was only a rental?

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What's the latest on Martin Perez? Someone mentioned he might have something going on physically.

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I seem to remember hearing that they wanted to give him some time off - said that because he pitched in the WBC he ramped up early and they thought there might be some fatigue. FWIW

Water Boy said:

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What would y'all's reaction be if we made a huge prospect package for Ohtani but it was only a rental?

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Absolutely not

rbtexan said:

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Quote:

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What's the latest on Martin Perez? Someone mentioned he might have something going on physically.

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I seem to remember hearing that they wanted to give him some time off - said that because he pitched in the WBC he ramped up early and they thought there might be some fatigue. FWIW

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I forgot the WBC.

I was hoping it is just fatigue... The July schedule is very favorable for the Rangers SP.

There's a lot of truth to this. Just about every team ever goes through a significant stretch of rough ball. That's where we are at right now. Our line drives are right at fielders and opposing batter's 70MPH exit velos are finding holes. It's part of the game.

At the same time, the team started so scorching hot that we should have seen the slow down coming. It was just so much fun winning (often winning by a lot), that we forgot that a slow down was inevitable.

Water Boy said:

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What would y'all's reaction be if we made a huge prospect package for Ohtani but it was only a rental?

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By huge... huge in terms of number but low quality maybe. huge in terms of quality? No.

Ohtani developed a blister in his last GS. Probably won't be much of an issue. But, getting Ohtani addresses the least necessary issues - Contact hitter and mid-rotation SP.

Do we NEED Ohtani? I don't know that he is a need as much as a want.

Will he improve the team? He will improve the team but not the areas we need the most improvement.

I think we have enough talent to get to the Playoffs, so we're not desperate for talent like some teams.

In the playoffs, you've got
WC series: 3 game series
AL DS: 2-2-1
AL CS: 2-3-2
WS: 2-3-2

Playoff SP you could get 2 GS in AL DS, but then maybe 2 or 3 GS for each of the CS and WS.

If Eovaldi is your #1, he gets maybe 5 GS
Your #2 may get 5 GS
Your #3 likely gets 4 GS

If Ohtani better than Gray?

Stats:
Eovaldi: 18GS, 2.83
Gray: 16GS, 3.29
Ohtani: 17GS, 3.32

Dunning: 11GS, 2.61 (19G)
Heaney: 16GS, 4.12

Ohtani also adds a Big Bat, but can you get that without all the prospects?
If we go for a SP... he needs to be better than Gray and Eovaldi.

If it were me making the decision, I'm not trading for Ohtani unless I'm 99.9% sure I can sign him long term. I think someone is going to greatly overpay (prospects) for a rental, unless you're the Dodgers or Yankees. If the Rangers are going to trade for a front line starter, I'd rather them go after someone like Corbin Burns or Sandy Alcantara (even those he's having a down year). Not a fan of going after Scherzer, his age (38) spooks me.

Although I would absolutely take Shohei as a pitcher over Jon Gray, it's much more of an argument if you dig into the numbers. Shohei has ridiculous swing and miss numbers. I'm talking best in the league type of stuff, however, he is prone to walking guys, piping balls and getting hit hard on occasion. Gray is much better in the latter two categories, but can't hold Shohei's jock in striking guys out.

On the other hand, I'm trading for Shohei the bat 10/10 times. What he's doing at the plate is legitimately historic and ridiculous. He'd walk into our lineup and be the best hitter easily, and give us a true power guy in the three hole. He would be unreal here from a hitting perspective. This is his batting baseball savant page. Simply unbelievable.

Scherzers $43M player option for 2024 doesn't scare you?

While I agree with the premise of your post. I wouldn't say he'd "easily" be the best hitter in our line up. Corey Seager's baseball Savant is damn near identical.

I say all of this fully expecting the Angels to hold onto him. Trading a player like Ohtani takes next level stones that I'm not sure anyone has. He's too valuable even in the short term.

I'm with rbtexan on trading for a pitcher who's younger, even if you have to resign then. Scherzer's age scares me, and that cap hit is ungodly. I know it would hold us over until deGrom got back, but wow 43 million is a massive pill to swallow. Plus the Mets are playing well right now.

Except for the fact that he has 31 homers and 68 RBIs at the All-star break.

Tksymm7 said:

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Except for the fact that he has 31 homers and 68 RBIs at the All-star break.

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Didn't know homers and RBIs were everything. Garcia has the most home runs and RBIs on our team. Is he our best hitter?

Seager has a higher OPS, batting average, OBP and OPS+. That tells pretty much everyone that he's been a better hitter.

That's fair. Maybe he wouldn't be the best hitter by a mile, poor descriptor on my part. But he would be the best hitter because he is the best hitter in the league.

Tksymm7 said:

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That's fair. Maybe he wouldn't be the best hitter by a mile, poor descriptor on my part. But he would be the best hitter because he is the best hitter in the league.

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Just because you say it doesn't mean it's true. All the stats point towards Seager having the slightly better year. Had he not missed a month he'd have more RBIs. The only thing Shohei is better at is power.

Exactly how I was hoping this game would start.

Nice start from Heaney. Looks like the time off did him well.

My goodness Heaney sucks

Heaney throwing up some BP for the Nats.

First 4 hitters not even close to an out.

Wtf Heaney. Hopefully the bats came to play today.

Its a new tactic. Let everyone think they are going to hit a HR in the 1st inning, and then shut them down.

Maybe this will be a huge comeback like Sunday?