TheMilford wrote:"Lowell sits game 3, Youk to 3b "
This just doesn't make sense to me.
How would you work it? Youk came up as a 3b, out of Youk, Pap and Lowell, only Youk can switch positions without much of a drop off. (lowell could play 1b in a pinch and MAYBE SS in an absolute emergency)
Papi playoff OBP -
549
Youk playoff OBP - .
491
Lowell playoff OBP -
396
Papi playoff slugging
.806
Youk playoff slugging
.822
Lowell playoff slugging
.538
Obviously Youk has been a GG 1b so Tito being very conservative will most likely not move him to 3b.
But looking at those numbers, its really hard to sit either Papi or Youk if you want great offense. Clearly Papi is your weak link defensively although I think he went the entire WS last time w/ a %100 fielding rating
Youk and Papi are absolutely crushing the ball, and Papi is your team's biggest clutch performer.
If Lowell were 5 years younger and could play a decent SS the obvious sitting would be Lugo, despite his good game last night
its a clear advantage for COL playing 3 straight w/ no DH rules. AL teams often have multiple DH type players, where as NL almost always have PH players who can field multiple positions. NL teams usually have a couple of pitchers who can hit as well.
Given Papi's knee he may even sit 2 out of 3 games in COL, making the decision much easier for Tito
If you go w/ OBPS it brings lowell up a lil bit, but still demonstrates how Papi and Youk are killing pitchers in the playoffs
Papi playoff OBPS -
1.355
Youk playoff OBPS - .
1.313
Lowell playoff OBPS -
.934
The bottom 4 Sox 'regulars' are of course JD Drew, Crisp, Ellsbury and Lugo.
Many sox fans think youk can play RF and sit JD drew. If it were regular season it might happen, but asking youk to play RF in fenway just aint gonna happen. He could do it, but it would be slightly above Keven Millar type defense
