Atlanta Braves Freddie Freeman To Hit 9th In New Non-Conventional Lineup
By Jeff Schafer
Braves Drop Freddie In Lineup To Improve Consistency
In the book I’m currently reading by Alex Schrader, Taking Baseball To A New Level, he writes about developing new concepts to expand the game of baseball and how to improve the small things that would eventually turn into big success. His one idea that caught my eye may ultimately help the Atlanta Braves in 2017.
Schrader investigates the idea of hitting your best player down in the order to expand the depth of the lineup. Yes, it may seem a little crazy but Braves manager Brian Snitker may be buying into the idea.
When asked about this Snitker said the following…
"I believe in different ways to get runs across the plate. If I have to take away at-bats from Freddie Freeman, I will. It just makes sense to get the lineup rolling the second time through it. Usually you don’t score many runs in the first inning or the first time through the lineup. By putting Freeman last, he’ll spark Ender Inciarte and Dansby Swanson."
It could work, right?
So if you bat Freddie in the nine-hole, that would mean the pitcher is in the eight-spot. If the pitcher gets a hit, this theory could be even more prosperous. When Bartolo Colon is pitching, the percentage of the pitcher getting a hit climbs immensely.
This would be the lineup the Braves are thinking about going with on Opening Day.
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- Inciarte
- Swanson
- Matt Kemp
- Nick Markakis
- Brandon Phillips
- Adonis Garcia
- Tyler Flowers
- Pitcher
- Freeman
Freeman batted around .500 during the 2017 Spring Training and seems to be in mid-season form. Taking away swings from him would definitely be non-conventional and something many folks may not be onboard with out of the gate.
Next: Florida Fire Frogs 2017 Roster Prediction
Though this sounds like a horrible idea — I can’t think of a worse idea actually. I’m actually running out of words to type because of how bad this scenario would be. I’m sure you’ve figured this out many, many words ago, but if not, Happy April Fools Day!
Everything that was typed earlier was false, no book by fake Alex Schrader, that was not Snitker’s quote and Freddie is not batting ninth. He’s going to be batting third in the Braves lineup, right where he should be.