I'm just curious what some of you think about Ellsbury hitting further down in the order. He's been a lot more productive in the 7th and 8th spots in the order, hitting a combined .404, getting on base in almost half his plate appearances, and slugging well over .500. Should the Red Sox leave him there, or try to move him back to the top of the order and see if his .400+ on base percentage translates to the leadoff spot.
I would leave him there personally. He makes things happen from the bottom of the order and that's important too. I wouldn't mess with what works.
i agree to leave him there just because he has been so productive and you dont want to chance messing things up
He has been good down there it helps the 8 and 9 guys out too when Jacoby is on base. Also i think pedroia can be more himself leading off
Ellsbury and Green at 8-9 are about as good as it gets
Since Ellsbury went down in the order a few things have changed. The SP approach for one. With Ellsbury at the top of the order he had Pedroia/Youk/Bay(some combo). Add that with his speed and if Ellsbury got on, it was likely to lead to a run. Thats why SP got aggressive with Ellsbury, and made him swing. They threw him a lot of strikes, as a result his OBP suffered. Because it was either going to be a hit or an out.
Now that he is down in the order and the hitters behind him don't look so scary, pitchers seem to be pitching him a little normal. Which has allowed him to get deeper into counts, and also draw more walks. Maybe the increase of pitches he's seeing has helped make his overall PA better.
I imagine you never thought you'd be saying that back in April.Originally Posted by BoSox21;423469;
Ellsbury not so much, I expected him to hover around .300/.350 this year but with Green, I never thought he'd still be this effective with the bat (and now with the glove) going into July. BTW, any idea when the last Sox player hit two triples in a game was?
They actually said during the broadcast that it was, of all people, David Ortiz in '04. I guess he really found the gaps that night
Yup, just looked it up. He did it on July 22nd, 2004 in the first game of a doubleheader against Baltimore, two days before the brawl/Mueller walkoff game against NY. He must've dropped it into the triangle twice. He hit 3 triples all year in '04 too.
Wow I totally remember that game.
I've been stressing the fact that the way pitches work Ellsbury when he's batting first negatively affects his ability to draw walks, and his production batting 7th in the order justifies my theory.
WAR is good for something.
I wuv myself.
Hey, i got called out for saying that.
Now don't you dare interfere with my delicious "lol im rite" time, ya filthy canadian.
WAR is good for something.
pffft, go spend more time building a case for that guy who bashed the other guy over the head with a coconut
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