Leading Off for the Atlanta Braves

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May 17, 2016; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Atlanta Braves center fielder Mallex Smith (17) hits a two run home run against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the third inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports /

Leading Off for the Atlanta Braves – Not Mallex Smith

It’s about game time and the lineup has Ender Inciarte leading off and Mallex Smith batting ninth, something that’s sure to upset Smith’s ardent fans. After all, Smith’s been touted as our future leadoff man since he arrived from San Diego as a piece in the Justin Upton trade.

Smith has all the tools of a traditional leadoff man, speed, the ability to steal a base and throughout his minor league career he carried the requisite high OBP to make the latter skill something opposing pitchers had to pay attention to.

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The Injury to Inciarte five days into the season brought Smith to the majors and exhibiting the strategic thinking that cost him his job, then skipper Fredi Gonzalez immediately slipped him into the leadoff spot. To say Smith struggled is understating how bad it was for the young man; in 16 PA as leadoff man he posted a .071/.188/.071/.259 line.

At that point Gonzalez started moving him around the lineup and reinstated Nick Markakis into the leadoff slot. Eventually Gonzalez stumbled on something that worked; he slotted the pitcher into the eighth spot and had Smith hit ninth.

Putting a player with the characteristics is common practice in the AL but batting the pitcher eighth in the NL however is something made popular by Tony La Russa who did it in order to get Mark McGwire more PA with runners on base.

In general there’s no advantaged to using that technique in the NL but in special situations – like having Madison Bumgarner or Noah Syndergaard in the lineup – it can offer an advantage. The Braves roster creates one of those special situations.

Next: Roster issues

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