Predict Opening Day Lineup

[Sammy225]

I was trying to do this today and i am not sure how its going to be structured:

 

Travis 2nd

Donaldson 3rd

Smoak 1st

Grichuck RF

Morales DH

Martin C

Granderson LF

Pillar CF

Diaz SS

 

Happ

 

or

 

Granderson LF

Travis 2nd

Donaldson 3rd

Smoak 1st

Grichuck RF

Morales DH

Martin C

Pillar CF

Diaz SS

 

Happ P

[jays4life19]

I would say lineup 1 is more likely but I personally would flip Pillar and Diaz.

[AledmysDiaz]

It's gonna be

 

Granderson

Donaldson

Smoak

Martin

Morales

Travis

Grichuk

Pillar

Diaz

 

Gibby has batted Martin cleanup before and I think the team will try to keep the pressure off of Travis in the early going

[Dr. Dinger]

Donaldson has been pretty well locked in at #2 for awhile, so I'd expect him to stay there. Probably Granderson leading off and Smoak either 3rd or 4th, sandwiched by Morales and Grichuk in some order.

[devo]

Granderson

Donaldson

Smoak

Morales

Grichuk

Travis

Martin

Pillar

Diaz

[Sorrow]

Granderson

Donaldson

Smoak

Morales

Grichuck

Martin

Travis

Pillar

Diaz

[Jonn]

I hope they leave Donaldson hitting second. Sounds like they are going with Granderson, Travis and Donaldson followed by Smoak against righties and have Travis leadoff vs Lefties.

[The Cats Ass]

Pillar

Donaldson

Smoak

Martin

Morales

Granderson

Grichuk

Travis

Diaz

[Sammy225]

Pillar

Donaldson

Smoak

Martin

Morales

Granderson

Grichuk

Travis

Diaz

 

http://www.reactiongifs.com/r/fbsmsh.gif

[Spanky__99]

Just opening day right...

 

Grandy

Travis

JD

Smoak

Grichuk

Kendrys

Martin

Pillar

Diaz

 

Book it!

[Spanky__99]

I hope they leave Donaldson hitting second. Sounds like they are going with Granderson, Travis and Donaldson followed by Smoak against righties and have Travis leadoff vs Lefties.

 

Yup.

[bzapple]

Those posting Granderson as a leadoff hitter should remember that yes, while he is black, he is old and not very fast anymore. Let's get Gift Ngoepe up there.

[Spanky__99]

Those posting Granderson as a leadoff hitter should remember that yes, while he is black, he is old and not very fast anymore. Let's get Gift Ngoepe up there.

 

lol... seriously though Gibby pretty much said as much, Travis against Lefties and everyone else moves up, until Pearce gets in.

 

Damn 21 Hrs and 57 minutes to opening pitch.

[AledmysDiaz]

Those posting Granderson as a leadoff hitter should remember that yes, while he is black, he is old and not very fast anymore. Let's get Gift Ngoepe up there.

 

Lol funny post

 

All the young black guys were all left in the minors, in favor of old man Pearce.

[5ToolPhenom]

I'd do without Granderson in the lineup against Severino. I don't know if he has the bat speed to keep up with that kind of heat anymore.

[Orgfiller]

I'd do without Granderson in the lineup against Severino. I don't know if he has the bat speed to keep up with that kind of heat anymore.

 

He's been an above-average hitter for the past 4 seasons (not to mention in his whole career) and doesn't even strike out that much. I'll believe the declining bat speed when I see it and the numbers start to reflect that. I don't think his replacement (Pearce) would do much better in terms of bat speed, and he's a disaster in the field and not as good a baserunner as Granderson.

[5ToolPhenom]

That's true. I'm hoping Pearce can bounce back this year, but father time is unrelenting. I would have preferred Hernandez making the club. I think it he's earned it with his appearance late in the season last year and his fantastic spring-training. At least it's nice to have him waiting in the wings.

[5ToolPhenom]

It's easy to be clouded by Grandy's 211 AVG last year, but some of his advanced offensive stats are actually pretty good.

[Abomination]

I'd do without Granderson in the lineup against Severino. I don't know if he has the bat speed to keep up with that kind of heat anymore.

 

I'm not sure Pearce does either.

[5ToolPhenom]

Good call. My bad. I haven't really familiarized myself with the opening day roster yet. I suppose they're going with 4 outfielders? Not sure how I feel about a Grandy/Pearce/Pillar/Grichuk outfield. It certainly seems a little ordinary, on paper at least. I know Pillar is a fan favorite, but I'm not a very big fan of his bat to say the least.

 

It feels a little strange what with opening day starting so early this year.

[5ToolPhenom]

What do you folks make of Kevin Pillar? He's certainly a little overrated isn't he? His WAR has been on a pretty steady decline over the past 3 years and his defensive metrics seem to have taken a major hit last year. He's the kind of player that I don't think will age well into his 30's.

[Orgfiller]

What do you folks make of Kevin Pillar? He's certainly a little overrated isn't he? His WAR has been on a pretty steady decline over the past 3 years and his defensive metrics seem to have taken a major hit last year. He's the kind of player that I don't think will age well into his 30's.

 

Overrated might be a bit harsh but you definitely hit the nail on the head as to how most people view him. His bat has always left something to be desired, and during his bad stretches he's awful to watch as he just hacks away at every pitch no matter how far inside or outside in the dirt. It is scary and likely that as he keeps getting older he'll lose much of his value which is tied to his athleticism which makes him such a great defender. I wouldn't put a lot of stock into a single season of slightly worse defensive metrics, in which he still graded out quite superbly in comparison to his peers. The problem with a guy like Pillar is the league hasn't valued defense highly for a long time now, so you couldn't really move him at his peak value because the return wouldn't have justified it, he's a valuable guy to have on the team while he's young and athletic and his defense is great, but that all goes down south quickly when he stands on the wrong side of 30 and his defense sharply declines. Obviously you'd prefer a Trout or a Springer or a Blackmon over him but during his tenure with the team he's done a great job, much better than anyone could have hoped for from a 32nd round pick, with that said the team should be looking to replace him relatively soon, but with in-house options like Teoscar Hernandez and Anthony Alford there is some good potential without going the expensive route.

[Bobthe4th]

It's easy to be clouded by Grandy's 211 AVG last year, but some of his advanced offensive stats are actually pretty good.

 

Granderson had a pretty good year until he joined the Dodgers, where he was awful - which brought his overall stats down.

 

However, at 37 this could well be his last year in the game. With the AAA outfielders knocking on the door like Alford and Hernandez I’d be presently surprised if Granderson lasted the full year on the roster.

[Angrioter]

Granderson had a pretty good year until he joined the Dodgers, where he was awful - which brought his overall stats down.

 

However, at 37 this could well be his last year in the game. With the AAA outfielders knocking on the door like Alford and Hernandez I’d be presently surprised if Granderson lasted the full year on the roster.

 

Alford can't stay healthy, Pompey is dead and Hernandez kinda suxx

[Jimcanuck]

Alford can't stay healthy, Pompey is dead and Hernandez kinda suxx

 

holy pessimism lol

[5ToolPhenom]

Overrated might be a bit harsh but you definitely hit the nail on the head as to how most people view him. His bat has always left something to be desired, and during his bad stretches he's awful to watch as he just hacks away at every pitch no matter how far inside or outside in the dirt. It is scary and likely that as he keeps getting older he'll lose much of his value which is tied to his athleticism which makes him such a great defender. I wouldn't put a lot of stock into a single season of slightly worse defensive metrics, in which he still graded out quite superbly in comparison to his peers. The problem with a guy like Pillar is the league hasn't valued defense highly for a long time now, so you couldn't really move him at his peak value because the return wouldn't have justified it, he's a valuable guy to have on the team while he's young and athletic and his defense is great, but that all goes down south quickly when he stands on the wrong side of 30 and his defense sharply declines. Obviously you'd prefer a Trout or a Springer or a Blackmon over him but during his tenure with the team he's done a great job, much better than anyone could have hoped for from a 32nd round pick, with that said the team should be looking to replace him relatively soon, but with in-house options like Teoscar Hernandez and Anthony Alford there is some good potential without going the expensive route.

 

Excellently put. He has been a pleasant surprise. I initially didn't think he had the talent to be an everyday player, but he's had some really solid seasons.

[saskjayfan]

why have they not announced the roster decisions yet?

[5ToolPhenom]

why have they not announced the roster decisions yet?

 

I know eh? A little frustrating. A bunch of teams playing early games still haven't

[BTS]

why have they not announced the roster decisions yet?

 

I'm thinking they're waiting on the results of Tulo's appointment so they know if they should add him to the 60-day or 10-day. They probably prefer not to remove someone from the 40-man if he's going to the 60-day.

[fatcowxlive]

Ahhh love coming out of hibernation for the beautiful Opening Day! As far as lineups go, I would go with

 

Travis 2nd

Donaldson 3rd

Smoak 1st

Granderson LF

Grichuck RF

Morales DH

Martin C

Pillar CF

Diaz SS

 

But if we're talking about what's going to be the actual lineup, I think you hit the nail on the head with lineup #1