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Thu, May 21st 2009, 12:49
Utley, Ibanez settling into No. 2, 3 spots
Probably one of the worst questions to ask Phillies manager Charlie Manuel is if he has thought about his lineup.
Manuel always is thinking about his lineup.
He sits in his office and scribbles lineups. He goes home at night and scribbles lineups.
He probably dreams about lineups.
Manuel has had left fielder Raul Ibanez hit third the past five games, including Wednesday night’s game against the Reds at Great American Ball Park. Ibanez had been hitting sixth most of the season. The move made Manuel hit Chase Utley second instead of third and Shane Victorino hit sixth instead of second.
“We’ve got two of our highest on-base percentage guys hitting second and third,” Manuel said. “We’ve been hitting Raul fifth or sixth, but over the course of the game, he might get one more at-bat hitting third.”
It makes sense. Ibanez entered Wednesday hitting .350 with 13 home runs and 36 RBIs. He is tied for second in the Majors in homers, fifth in RBIs and first in slugging percentage (.699). He is the team’s hottest hitter.
Consider for a moment that each spot down in the lineup is worth 18 to 20 fewer plate appearances over the course of a year.
In other words, moving Ibanez from sixth to third would give him roughly an additional 60 plate appearances over a 162-game season.
Hitting Utley second instead of third gives him an additional 20 plate appearances.
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