Written by Ken Rosenthal at FoxSports.com
Nationals manager Dusty Baker looks at Trea Turner and sees Rickey Henderson.
And to paraphrase Rickey, “Rickey hits leadoff. Rickey doesn’t hit second
A ridiculous comp? Perhaps. But Baker, who normally is not given to excessive praise, believes that Turner’s speed-power package could make him the most impactful leadoff man since Henderson.
So, on Monday night, the manager returned Turner to the leadoff spot, with Adam Eaton batting second. Turner, who returned from a hamstring injury Friday, hit second the previous two games.
Statistical analysts generally do not place much weight on a batting order, but the Nats’ choice actually is more complex than it appears.
The team, by batting Eaton first and Turner second, can avoid using three straight left-handed hitters in the 2-3-4 spots – Eaton, Bryce Harper and Daniel Murphy.
Turner, a right-handed hitter, would break up the lefties if he bats second. The downside is that hitting him in front of Harper would limit his ability to run – and remember, Turner was 33-for-39 in stolen-base attempts last season in just 73 games.
The revival of Ryan Zimmerman could help alleviate the issue; Zimmerman, a right-handed hitter, twice batted cleanup over the weekend, between Harper and Murphy.
Then again, Murphy is still a better choice than Zimmerman at cleanup against right-handed pitchers, even if it leaves the Nats more susceptible to left-handed relievers (the best of whom, by the way, are all in the AL).
Dropping Eaton to the sixth or seventh spot is another option, giving the Nats speed near the bottom as well as at the top of the order. But such a move would take Eaton out of his comfort zone – 98 percent of his 2,350 career plate appearances have come in the first or second spots, 89 percent in the first.
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