5/4 Lineup Tuesday & Nady
Xavier Nady started in right field Tuesday night for the Cubs in the series opener against the Pirates. Lou Piniella is trying to rotate five outfielders in three spots and said he tries to tell the players who is starting on which day.
“We communicate fairly well,” Piniella said. “Sometimes the timing isn’t right.”
Has he had a few players lobby for more playing time?
“I’ve had a few players come in,” Piniella said. “It’s nice to visit. They want to play, what can I say? I find that positive.”
The lineup Tuesday is:
SS Theriot
2B Baker
1B Lee
CF Byrd
3B Ramirez
LF Soriano
RF Nady
C Soto
P Dempster
– Carrie Muskat
mlblogsmuskat1
A. Ramirez is killing the team and i would rather see him on the bench. Hitting .149 and batting 5th…what a joke. Pop out to the catcher to end the game just shows you how off he is. If this was Soriano people would be killing him. Ramirez has lost more games for the Cubs this year than Soriano has. Its not early anymore. Time to sit Ramirez until he learns what a strike and ball is again.
You don’t get your swing back sitting on the bench and he’s more than earned the time he needs to figure it out and he’s a great 3rd baseman so lay off! Give him some more time in the 6th slot to figure it out. He’ll snap out of this soon enough and in the mean time the rest of the team needs to carry him…that’s why it’s a team game. Benching him for long periods of time will only hurt the team over the long haul. If they Cubs are going to succeed it will be with Aramis hitting in the cleanup role and getting 100 RBIs and 30 home runs. He’s worth the wait.
I agree with pman, there is no way Ram should be benched as he still brings good defense to the game unlike Soriano. Even while Soriano can be hot at the plate he at anytime during any game has a good chance of hurting us defensively. Also, it’s not like we have somebody waiting in the wings with Tracy as the only alternative I would much rather give Aram some time to recover. With Colvin ready to start every day it’s a dfferent story in left field. If Vitters was this years Colvin then there would be more of a issue.
Yes, Ramirez is hurting the team but I agree dropping him in the order and keeping him on the field is the better solution than benching him.