Tweak near top is early success

Crawford, Young test new 2-3 order with run on first try.

By MARC TOPKIN
Published March 7, 2007

ST. PETERSBURG - The Devil Rays expect rookie Delmon Young to be a big hit. Actually, they expect him to get so many big hits they are willing to move Carl Crawford up to second in their lineup so Young can bat in the prized No. 3 spot.

The idea is to maximize run production by taking advantage of Crawford's speed and on-base percentage while benefiting from Young's situational hitting skills.

"We'll see if we can utilize Carl as a table-setter for Delmon," manager Joe Maddon said. "I do believe that Delmon has a knack for RBIs. Not that Carl doesn't, but I just think Delmon is one of those guys that can be a real high-end RBI guy because of his ability to use the whole field. He can get singles. He fights off pitches and they fall in. I just think this young man is going to develop a real high-end RBI mentality. So for now and in the future, I think it's something we need to look at."

It certainly looked good when they tried it for the first time Tuesday. Crawford was hit by a pitch in the first inning against Cincinnati and, with Young taking, swiped second on the next pitch. Young then worked the count full and punched a ball into leftfield, giving the Rays a 1-0 lead.

"The test drive was nice," Maddon said. "I liked it. Overall I think you saw better at-bats from a conceptual perspective from Delmon today in regard to working counts."

That's vital because the biggest concern about Young, 21, might be his lack of selectivity. He walked once in 131 plate appearances during his 30-game trial last season. More stunning, he swung at 68.7 percent of the pitches he saw, which STATS Inc. said is the highest percentage in the last 10 years.

"I think he gets it," Maddon said. "Delmon's very bright. You want to be able to permit Carl to get into scoring position; that's part of the gig if you're an RBI guy and have this kind of force hitting in front of you. Part of your at-bats would be to allow him time to get to second base to make it easier to drive him in. That's part of the concept."

Crawford was excited to move into the No. 3 slot in August but said he didn't mind shifting back to second, where he has been most successful. His speed game plays in any of the top three spots, and he figures Maddon must have good reasons. But, with three AL steals titles, he does have concerns about Young allowing him the chance to keep running.

"I think the ideal situation is they want me to hit second and Delmon third so we might as well start that process," Crawford said. "They were a little worried about that because of the way Delmon free swings a lot, but I guess it's worth a try. ... He really wants to hit third; you don't want them to switch you back, so you're going to have to change something. ... There definitely has to be a happy balance. If not, I'm going to be asking to get back in that leadoff spot. I have to be able to play my game."

Young, willing to hit anywhere but admittedly most comfortable in the No. 3 spot, said that shouldn't be a problem.

"I'll let them run," he said. "You can look at the guys who batted in front of me in the minor leagues; they always got their stolen bases. I let the people run; it's just when they're not running more than likely I'll take a hack."

With a top three of Rocco Baldelli, Crawford and Young, the Rays could reap several other benefits: a righty-lefty-righty alignment makes it tougher for opponents to match up relievers; better pitches for Young to hit since he'll be batting more often with men on base; more value from Crawford's higher on-base percentage since he'll be ahead of Young.

If it all goes as planned, Maddon said Young could put up some big numbers.

"He's going to get his RBIs through home runs and singles," Maddon said. "Some guys primarily get them through the long balls, but he works it both ways. And I think that's why he's going to go 100-plus."

Marc Topkin can be reached at topkin@sptimes.com or 727 893-8801.

Fast Facts:

Second take

LF Carl Crawford has been most successful when hitting second. A look at his career numbers in the top three spots:

Avg. G AB H 2B 3B HR SB/CS OPS

Hitting No. 1 .289 359 1,562 451 55 37 25 140/29 .742

Hitting No. 2 .308 197 812 250 41 20 23 58/13 .834

Hitting No. 3 .282 58 220 62 8 4 3 24/1 .711

Source: STATS Inc.

Lining up

If the Rays stick with their latest plan, their regular lineup could look like this:

Rocco Baldelli, cf

Carl Crawford, lf

Delmon Young, rf

Ty Wigginton, 1b

Greg Norton, dh

Jorge Cantu, 2b

Akinori Iwamura, 3b

Dioner Navarro, c

Ben Zobrist, 2b

[Last modified March 7, 2007, 00:15:24]