Thoughts on dropping Burley down in the order vs lefties?

[ScotchMIrish]

Once he’s ready Joshua Baez will be a helpful player to a team that has a number of players that struggle vs LHP. Baez has hit over .300 with an OPS over 1.000 the last 2 years vs LHP.

vs LHP
Wetherholt: .185/.324/.296
Burleson: .218/.241/.291
Gorman: .208/.286/.250
Church: .333/.344/.367 ***not bad***


Ironically VS2 is our best LH batter vs LHP with a .343/.368/.429 batting line

Historically 25-27 % of plate appearance are vs lhp. It's good to have a bench player or two who can hit lhp but not a primary concern when constructing a roster.

That's an interesting stat. I was wondering about that. Until Burleson imoroves against LHP, I wouldn't be opposed to him batting #6 in the lineup vs LHP. But in order for that to make sense, they'd need at least one more really productive hitter vs LHP to put at 2 through 5. Maybe two.

The only downside to that is if the game is close in the late innings you likely have a rhp in the game and Burleson batting 6th.

[Shady]

Once he’s ready Joshua Baez will be a helpful player to a team that has a number of players that struggle vs LHP. Baez has hit over .300 with an OPS over 1.000 the last 2 years vs LHP.

vs LHP
Wetherholt: .185/.324/.296
Burleson: .218/.241/.291
Gorman: .208/.286/.250
Church: .333/.344/.367 ***not bad***


Ironically VS2 is our best LH batter vs LHP with a .343/.368/.429 batting line

Historically 25-27 % of plate appearance are vs lhp. It's good to have a bench player or two who can hit lhp but not a primary concern when constructing a roster.

That's an interesting stat. I was wondering about that. Until Burleson imoroves against LHP, I wouldn't be opposed to him batting #6 in the lineup vs LHP. But in order for that to make sense, they'd need at least one more really productive hitter vs LHP to put at 2 through 5. Maybe two.

The only downside to that is if the game is close in the late innings you likely have a rhp in the game and Burleson batting 6th.

And very possibly vs a RH reliever. That may be why Burleson continues to bat 4 or 3 in the lineup even with a LH starting pitcher.

[kscardsfan]

If's and buts. Need a platoon partner. Can't have a 3-4 hole hitter that can't hit lefties at all. Better yet trade at deadline.

[Shady]

If's and buts. Need a platoon partner. Can't have a 3-4 hole hitter that can't hit lefties at all. Better yet trade at deadline.

Get real ! That's nuttytalk. Burleson could very well get 90 RBIs this season. It would be nice for him to hit more home runs in the 3-4 spots in the lineup.

[ScotchMIrish]

Once he’s ready Joshua Baez will be a helpful player to a team that has a number of players that struggle vs LHP. Baez has hit over .300 with an OPS over 1.000 the last 2 years vs LHP.

vs LHP
Wetherholt: .185/.324/.296
Burleson: .218/.241/.291
Gorman: .208/.286/.250
Church: .333/.344/.367 ***not bad***


Ironically VS2 is our best LH batter vs LHP with a .343/.368/.429 batting line

Historically 25-27 % of plate appearance are vs lhp. It's good to have a bench player or two who can hit lhp but not a primary concern when constructing a roster.

That's an interesting stat. I was wondering about that. Until Burleson imoroves against LHP, I wouldn't be opposed to him batting #6 in the lineup vs LHP. But in order for that to make sense, they'd need at least one more really productive hitter vs LHP to put at 2 through 5. Maybe two.

The only downside to that is if the game is close in the late innings you likely have a rhp in the game and Burleson batting 6th.

And very possibly vs a RH reliever. That may be why Burleson continues to bat 4 or 3 in the lineup even with a LH starting pitcher.

Correct. I don't have an answer to the question but I'd say if it's a high level LHP starting pitcher who is likely to go 7 innings or more then drop Burleson but if it's a standard (for 2026 era DH baseball) who will go 5 innings then I'd be inclined to leave him where he normally bats unless there is a really good option to replace him.