Who hits cleanup on this team?

[Monkeypaws]

Seems to me like Buxton and Correa will be top 3. I'd like a bopper in that 4 spot, and as near as I can tell, Miranda?

A Cruz-like cleanup would be awesome.

What are the Twins planning here?

[AlwaysinModeration]

Polanco 2B

Correa SS

Buxton CF

Gallo RF

Miranda 1B

Larnach DH

Farmer 3B

Kepler LF

Vazquez C

 

[Beast]

 Baldelli has shown he goes outside of the box with his lineups.  So, who really knows.

I’d prefer not to see Gallo in that spot.  Too much swing and miss.  We need to start capitalizing with RISP and moving back to “manufacturing” a few more runs.  I’ve seen enough RISP stranded last year, that should’ve been easy runs, to last a lifetime.  It felt like we set the league record for stranding guys on third with no outs.

The ideal lineup for me:  Buxton lead off, Correa second, Polanco third.  At that point, in a perfect world, it’s a healthy Kirilloff.  But, that may never happen.  If Kepler can turn things around, he’d another candidate.   But, that may never happen.  That basically leaves Miranda.  I’m not thrilled with that option.  Not sold on him yet.  But, that’s about all we have.

We just need better players.

[CRF]

That's a moving target. It'll probably change from game to game. 

[Heiny]

I agree that the lineup will change often and even have me shaking my head sometimes.  I hope when things settle out, we will see Larnach and Kirilloff in the 4 and 5 spots against RH pitching with Miranda and Vasquez in the 4 and 5 holes against Lefties.  But with Rocco's lineups, you never know.

[Richie the Rally Goat]

7 minutes ago, CRF said:

That's a moving target. It'll probably change from game to game. 

Agreed

I think Polanco and Gordon will get the most lead off plate appearances, but it’ll change a lot.

[Major League Ready]

It's easier to predict against LH pitching.  Farmer gets overlooked but he was fantastic against LH pitching last year with a wRC+ of 157 and his career wRC+ is 122 against LHP.  Vazquez has a career wRC+ of 130 against LH pitching.  Buxton/Correa/Polanco/Miranda/Vazquez and Farmer are the 6 best bats against LHP.  We should be pretty darn good against LHP.

The guys who can potentially fill that role against RH pitching have question marks.  If Kirilloff is healthy, he is probably the guy.  Larnach has the potential to hit there and the 2021 version of Gallo would work as well.  Miranda had a 110 wRC+ last year against RHP even with his horrific start to the season so he could hold down the job too.  By mid-season let's hope that Lewis or Julien or both are vying for middle of the order ABs.  

[Squirrel]

I think a lot of that depends on who we are facing. As most managers do, they look at the matchups and construct their lineups accordingly and Baldelli is no different. Perhaps a righty and lefty will emerge who will get that spot regularly, but I will have to see how things progress first.

[Nine of twelve]

There are numerous treatises online regarding optimal batting order. One school of thought says put the best 3 hitters in the 1, 2, and 4 positions. The next two go in 3 and 5. Then 6, 7, 8, and 9 with the worst hitter batting 9th. This is not exactly how old school thought dictates, but this strategy is alleged by several authors to get the most production out of a lineup. The challenge for a manager is to use any and all relevant information along with his intuition and baseball acumen to try to predict how his players are going to hit on a given day. That's why a batting order should not be set in stone.

[chpettit19]

3 hours ago, Beast said:

 Baldelli has shown he goes outside of the box with his lineups.  So, who really knows.

I’d prefer not to see Gallo in that spot.  Too much swing and miss.  We need to start capitalizing with RISP and moving back to “manufacturing” a few more runs.  I’ve seen enough RISP stranded last year, that should’ve been easy runs, to last a lifetime.  It felt like we set the league record for stranding guys on third with no outs.

The ideal lineup for me:  Buxton lead off, Correa second, Polanco third.  At that point, in a perfect world, it’s a healthy Kirilloff.  But, that may never happen.  If Kepler can turn things around, he’d another candidate.   But, that may never happen.  That basically leaves Miranda.  I’m not thrilled with that option.  Not sold on him yet.  But, that’s about all we have.

We just need better players.

If it makes you feel better, the Twins were 9th in baseball in scoring runners from 3B with less than 2 outs. 52.6%. League average was 50.9%. Their bigger problem was getting guys to 3B with less than 2 outs. They had that 287 times. League average was 299. They scored 151 runners from 3B with less than 2 outs, which was only 1 below the league average of 152. So when it came to driving those runs in they were pretty good at it, actually, but they just didn't get enough guys into that situation. The Dodgers only scored those guys at a 49.2% clip, but scored 185 runners that way because they had so many more (376) in the situation.

I agree a healthy Kirilloff performing the way it looks like he would when healthy is the ideal candidate. Miranda was one of their best bats with runners in scoring position last year so I'd be happy with him in the 5 spot behind Kirilloff. In a perfect world, where everyone is healthy, and producing close to their expected level, my lineup vs righties would be:
Buxton CF
Polanco 2B
Correa SS
Kirilloff 1B
Miranda 3B
Larnach DH
Gallo LF
Vazquez C
Kepler RF

Lineup vs lefties:
Buxton DH
Solano 1B
Correa SS
Farmer 2B
Miranda 3B
Gallo LF
Jeffers C
Kepler RF
Taylor CF

[Bigfork Twins Guy]

Maybe Wallner fits into the 4-hole if he makes the team.

[Ricky Vaughn]

Baldelli uses so many different lineups I don't know if one can be picked out. having said that I think Polanco will be in the four hole more than most.

[Rosterman]

I vote for Miranda, with Kiriloff batting fith. Gallo just is too much of a gamble at this point to not advance runners.

 

[Mike Sixel]

Largely unimportant, IMO, but if AK is healthy, he or Gallo (though I'd put Gallo 2nd) will against RHP, IMO. Farmer against LHP