Who’s the Odd Man Out?

Boston’s rolling right now, but their momentum could be quickly derailed when the venue shifts to Colorado for the next three games if Terry Francona benches the wrong guy.  There’s no clear cut answer here.  Do you bench the player that is in the process of piecing together a postseason for the ages because he’s a defensive liability?  Or do you sit one of the guys that is solid everywhere, but spectacular nowhere?  These are the questions that Tito is going to have to ask himself over the next two days prior to filling out the line-up card.  The wrong decision could knock Boston off the tracks.

There would be no discussion here if David Ortiz was a little more mobile.  Compound that with the fact that is suffering from a knee injury, and this discussion might already be over.  Regardless of this, how do you omit his bat from the line-up?  I don’t think you can without hurting the team, what Francona has to figure out is if his bat outweighs his glove over the course of 9 innings.  He could always leave him on the bench early in games and insert him in later innings if they need an offensive spark, or start him and remove him late for a better glove.

Ortiz picked up 48 innings at first base this season through interleague play (with Lowell and Youks splitting time at third), posting a perfect fielding percentage, but this might be an opportune time to give him some rest with a game to spend (if there is such a thing in the World Series).  In the 2004 World Series they chose to start Ortiz at first and he made a game saving play on a cross diamond throw to nail Jeff Suppan at third, so he has shown some ability in the past.

Then again, in 2004 the decision was either sit Kevin Millar or Ortiz, this year it isn’t that simple.  Kevin Youkilis’ versatility makes the decision a lot harder.  With the ability to play four positions the possibilities are basically limitless.  Before JD Drew started hitting the best move would have been placing him on the bench with Youkilis moving to right to open up a spot.  With a tough lefty in Jeff Francis taking the mound in game five this is a possibility.  If Francona decides to keep Youkilis and Ortiz in the line-up the most likely scenario would be a shift to third, but if he wants optimize his offensive pop and get creative the options exist.

It’s almost certain that this will never play out, but it could so we’ll discuss it.  It’s clear that Julio Lugo is the weakest offensive player on this team, so we place him on the bench and shift Dustin Pedroia to short, where he has played most of his career.  Then Youkilis slides over to second, where he has logged nine career games, to clear a place for Ortiz at first.  Offensively it’s brilliant, but who knows how mobile Youkillis really is at second, and with Ortiz at first, he would have to have Superman-type range.  This has actually been discussed on talk radio, and even though it is borderline ridiculous, and something you would probably only do in a video-game, it is interesting.

Even though he is the most versatile player on the roster, in my opinion, if someone has to sit it should be Youkilis.  He struggled through the middle of the season, and even though it seems that he is back to form, Ortiz and Lowell are invaluable assets in the line-up.  Defensively I don’t think you can remove Lowell either.  With strong right handed pull hitters like Holliday, Atkins, and Torrealba in the Rockies’ line-up you can’t afford to have someone less experienced at the hot corner.  I don’t want to minimize the importance of first either, Helton, Hawpe and Matsui are nothing to overlook, but I think that Ortiz has to get the nod here due to his offensive prowess.  Pedroia has decent range and can over compensate a bit for his mobility. 

Either way you have to sacrifice something, so with Ortiz and Lowell you get the most out of your line-up.  If this is the case, the question you now have to ask is who hits second?  Do you move Drew up or Ellsbury?  The questions are endless, the possibilities limitless, I guess we’ll find out this, and more, in Colorado.