Rays/MLB

Who's up?

Joe Maddon loves his Rays' offensive potential; now comes the task of figuring out how best to line it up.

By MARC TOPKIN
Published March 14, 2006

	Times staff writer Marc Topkin offers his educated guess on the Rays' starting lineup, one that seems to meet their manager's goals.
	[Getty Images]
	No. 1: Julio Lugo (SS). Rays were 29-26 when he led off, 38-69 otherwise.
	No. 2: Carl Crawford (LF). Hit .327 in No. 2 spot, .284 elsewhere in lineup.
	No. 3: Jorge Cantu (2B). Drove in big-league best 21.1 percent of runners.
	No. 4: Aubrey Huff (3B). Averages over past three years: .290, 25 HRs, 101 RBIs.
	No. 5: Jonny Gomes (DH). Combines power (HR/16.57 at-bats) and on-base pct.
	No. 6: Rocco Baldelli (CF). Eases way back into lineup after missing '05 season.
	No. 7: Travis Lee (1B). 24 RBIs in final 33 games shows potential is there.
	No. 8: Toby Hall (C). Led Rays with .321 avg. with runners on; had 99 singles.
	No. 9: Joey Gathright (RF). Blazing speed pressures defense with top of lineup looming.

WINTER HAVEN - Joe Maddon knows what he likes and likes what he knows.

And after three full weeks of watching the Devil Rays - his Devil Rays - show the kind of diverse and dynamic offensive skills he anticipated, the new manager is balancing his theories and their realities to try to come up with the best combinations to fill up the lineup card.

He has played with four or five versions in his head, usually while on his daily postworkout bike ride, but in the next week to 10 days is likely to settle on, or at least come close to, exactly how he wants to align things.

"There are so many options," Maddon said. "We have really versatile offensive players. We really do. This is a very exciting group in all permutations."

There are some important elements that Maddon doesn't know yet, such as whether Aubrey Huff will play third, which could open a spot for Joey Gathright; whether Rocco Baldelli will be healthy enough to play centerfield much or at all, or if he will need to be primarily the DH; and what is the best way to use Jorge Cantu, who has been away for several weeks playing at the World Baseball Classic.

But there are certain things Maddon does know, and those preferences will be key factors in determining who hits where.

Maddon believes in using the same lineup on most days. He believes in a motion offense that features aggressive baserunning. He believes in alternating right- and left-handed hitters. He believes in putting his speed at the top and the bottom, and bunching the less fleet somewhere in the middle. He believes in percentages, such as placing high on-base percentage hitters ahead of high RBI guys, and base-stealers in front of good situational hitters. He believes in good execution throughout the lineup. He believes a good No.9 hitter is important. He believes in balance.

"I look at the lineup as a circle," Maddon said.

The idea, he said, is to make the batting order flow: the top guys get on, the middle guys knock them in, the bottom guys get it started again, and it turns over seamlessly.

As the Angels' bench coach last season, he was troubled by a noticeable lack of flow in their lineup. Their top four hitters were doing the job, but the next three were not, and adjustments had to be made.

"This group here, I think there's a nice flow to it," Maddon said. "And it can flow a couple different ways.

"The balance of right and left is there. The balance of speed and power is there. The balance of situational hitters is there. So there's all these different aspects of this group, as a group, that can be tinkered with in a good way."

For example:

He might use Julio Lugo to lead off and Carl Crawford second with Gathright ninth, or he could lead Gathright off, use Lugo second and drop Crawford into more of an RBI position.

With the lefty swinging Huff in the cleanup spot, he has to decide whether to have right-handers Cantu third and Jonny Gomes fifth or the other way around.

Though he likes alternating right- and left-handers, he might put the right-handed Baldelli sixth (behind Gomes or Cantu) so slower runners Travis Lee and Toby Hall hit back to back.

He also insists there is so much depth and variety to the Rays' offensive skills that he could put the lineup together one way one day, then literally flip it and feel just as good about it the next.

"One through nine, then nine through one," he said.

Maddon prefers a "static" lineup so the players get comfortable with their roles and each other.

But he is also determined to maximize whatever advantages he has. That could mean stacking the left-handed hitters if a team doesn't have an effective left-handed reliever, or making even more of an effort to alternate lefties and righties if it does, knowing the opposing manager may be tempted to leave the lefty in to face several batters.

"It's a balance type thing," Maddon said. "Maybe you force a lefty to pitch to a righty, and maybe they're not very good against righties."

The Rays players have heard enough of Maddon's theories that they are intrigued to see what he comes up with.

"He's just got so many options, it's kind of like a problem, but it's a good problem to have," Crawford said. "I think he's just trying to get a feel for who can handle what and how he might want to attack certain kind of pitchers. There's all these scenarios he has, because you know Joe, he's always thinking about something."

Always.

[Last modified March 14, 2006, 00:54:19]