Reds' leadoff hitters have a league worst .237 OBP, but John Fay of The Cincinnati Enquirer reports that any help is going to have to come from within for the time being.
“I don’t think we have anyone in the minors capable of the filling that role,” said GM Walt Jocketty. “And, frankly, there’s no one available in trade right now. I think we’re going to try to fix it internally. We may be able to do something in trade later.
Drew Stubbs has served as the primary leadoff hitter this year, but his batting line sits at just .174/.267/.283, though he has stolen seven bases in eight tries. Chris Dickerson has also spent some time hitting leadoff, but he's been even worse with the stick: .205/.222/.273.
The Reds are set all around the infield, so if they did pursue a trade for leadoff type down the road, they would have to look at an outfielder. Scott Podsednik could make some sense if the Royals are willing to move him, ditto Coco Crisp and the A's (when he gets healthy). That's just me speculating, though.
Outta those two i want crisp cause he is just as fast annd is better in the field if he proves healthy
they probably should consider Brandon Phillips in the leadoff spot as he has a slight clue as to get on base. Of course, Dusty doesn’t understand that getting on base matter. he just thinks that the leadoff guy has to have a lot of speed. He hasn’t figured out that you can’t steal first base.
But as you noted, Phillips only has a slight clue.
He has a career OBP of .313 and it’s never been higher than .331 over a full season. He has the speed to play at the top of the order, but not the plate discipline. It makes sense to keep him lower in the order to take advantage of his power, I would argue. Although he appears to be taking some legitimate strides towards being a more patient hitter.
I tried to qualify it, though apparently its worse than I thought, but the reality is that they don’t have a ton of options and aren’t going to stick Votto there.
Honestly, I’d like to see the Reds do the ballsy thing: put Hanigan in the leadoff spot.
He’s off to a hot start this season and he has a career OBP of .375 in 450 PA. He’s obviously not fast and his power is distinctly below average, but as you said, this is a team that could desperately use guys that can get on base at the top of the order. Replacing Stubbs’ speed with Hanigan’s slow-footedness would definitely hurt, but the OBP advantages would seemingly infinitely outweigh that.
I wonder if the A’s could trade Crisp before he plays a game for them, that would be hilarious.
I’d love to have Crisp or Podsednik compared to these losers.
I wouldn’t mind if the Royals traded Pods. Hes tearing it up right now and its still early in the season so he would probably fetch a decent prospect or two. If the Reds think they can compete then why not?
While they’re at it, maybe they could deal Guillen too and save a little money.
Either way, they need to make room for Alex Gordon and Kila Ka’aihue, who should be the LF and DH, respectively. That is, if the Royals are committed to moving Gordon off third and further screwing up his development. Clearly they believe that Moustakas is the future, but moving Gordon off third seriously hurts his value.
I doubt the Reds or any of his former employers would want Guillen back.
“Reds Unlikely To Trade For Leadoff Hitter”
I am shocked. I mean, of course the .267 OBP and .283 SLG is generally exactly what Dusty looks for in his leadoff man, but Stubbs is walking waaaay too much for Dusty’s liking…
Is he thinking there is no need for a trade because they always have Dickson and Nix available for leadoff if Stubbs keeps clogging the bases like that?
At least unlike with Tavares, there’s a chance these guys will hit in the future.
Brandon Phillips is not a cleanup hitter, so what is it going to hurt to put him in the leadoff spot and let hime try to get on base, He can steal some bases and usually puts the ball in play, can’t be any worse than drew stubbs!!!
Brandon Phillips is not a cleanup hitter, so what is it going to hurt to put him in the leadoff spot and let hime try to get on base, He can steal some bases and usually puts the ball in play, can’t be any worse than drew stubbs!!!
I agree that Crisp may be on the block soon after returning but I wouldn’t doubt if they traded Rajai Davis too. I sure hope not but nothing Billy does surprises me anymore.
i was just looking at this myself thinking if we had someone at the top of the order we could actually contend and while a about 6- 7 names poped up = must of them such as andrew mcclutchen wont be made available – however two names that i think will be are indeed scott pod and grady seizemore – he’d look awful good on the other side of OHIO