Broken Bat - Help: Input on Splitting Lineups

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Post ID	Date & Time	Game Date

#80244	02/17/2021 5:43:29 pm	Apr 3rd, 2049
JV-Tosshin Joined: 11/11/2020 Posts: 297 Biloxi Thresher Sharks V.15	Been flip-flopping a whole lot on this for a couple days now, so thought I'd ask the hivemind: If y'all'd take a look at my situation at C and SS, what would be your suggestions as for who to put there? Would y'all split for LHP/RHP? Currently I have stuck with my lineup from last season of Villa and Centeno. Villa is on paper a bad hitter with a surprising last season knack against LHPs, and he had a great CS rate, while Centeno hit atrociously all season but was quite an okay defensive shortstop. Villa is usually replaced late in games by Norris, who is a decent enough replacement, but I'm not convinced he's a starter yet. Now I have recent acquisiton de Luna to add competition on both C and SS, and what I'm unsure about is which of the below i should do: 1: Replace Villa at C. Villa is slightly stronger on defense, but de Luna might be worth a slight step down for the offense. 2: Replace Centeno at SS. de Luna's weak fielding worries me there, but I'd like to have someone who can hit above 0.200, tbh. 3: Moving Villa to SS and putting in de Luna as C, losing Centeno. Villa is overall better at defense than de Luna, so this might be the better way to utilise both as hitters at the expense of Centeno. 4: Staying with the current lineup and having de Luna as a late game pinch hitter. Or, 5: Splitting the lineup for LHP and RHP between two of the above. I think I might be overthinking this, looking at this whole post, but I've overthunk it to the point where I feel like I would love some input on it. I feel like if I could just work out those 2 positions, I'd have an absolutely killer lineup of batting for my division.

#80255	02/18/2021 6:11:06 pm	Apr 7th, 2049
Rock777 Joined: 09/21/2014 Posts: 9599 Haverhill Halflings III.1	If you aren't giving much playing time to Norris, I'd be tempted to put him back in AAA. He is still growing, and it won't help if he is on the bench all the time. Great Arm on Norris, but pedestrian numbers when he was in AAA. Great if you can continue on last year's major league clip, but he'll improve with more experience at Catcher, which he might get in AAA. Villa has a similar situation, where he is not performing to his Arm rating likely due to lack of experience. It might make sense to use Norris just because you'll get a better ROI on the experience given the age difference. Given their relative strengths, I might Platoon Villa against Lefties, and play Norris against Righties. I'm not convinced Villa is a stronger SS than De Luna. His lack of experience will hurt. They both seem to be fielding around .920 which isn't very good. I'm also not convinced De Luna is a better hitter. He hits the ball up, so he does get some HRs, but so does Villa. De Luna's lack of BC can be somewhat devastating. Certainly better than Villa against RHP. Right now Centeno is pretty hot. So its easy to leave him in. I would probably leave him in anyhow. The deference in defensive capability is huge, and SS is the most important defensive position. It would really help to have a better backup SS option. I don't think anyone other than Centeno can really play the position. I see two possible routes. SS (vL) - Centeno SS (vR) - Centeno C (vL) - Villa C (vR) Norris / De Luna De Luna probably has an edge on hitting (right now), but I don't see a lot of upside. I don't think is CS% is as good as he has shown in the majors. Look at his minor league numbers. His major league stats are inflated due to low numbers. Norris is a better investment and a better defensive Catcher. He'll never be a great hitter, and he certainly won't hit a lot of HRs. But he could become decent defensively. I'd either start him against Righties, or put him back in AAA. End of the day, I would look for upgrades at both of these positions. EDIT: Actually Naranjo can play SS, so you do have a backup. Still not the best due to lack of experience, but more solid than anyone else. Of course then you need someone else to play 2B... One more middle infielder would be helpful. Kooz is a great hitter, but not really a 2B. Updated Thursday, February 18 2021 @ 6:16:31 pm PST

#80266	02/19/2021 9:08:15 am	Apr 7th, 2049
JV-Tosshin Joined: 11/11/2020 Posts: 297 Biloxi Thresher Sharks V.15	I agree yeah, that atm, with Centeno starting as hot as he has, I'm inclined to keep him in and hope he can keep above .200 this season. I can also only agree on my 2B situation, where until mid-last season, I had no one. Kooz led the league in errors from there, naturally, but has been improving and is picking up the craft, so hopeful of making that work. Mostly because he is such a good hitter and I really want him in there, but 2B was the only spot to put him in. I'm gonna go ahead and give a try with Norris against RHP, I think, and see how it goes, and if that's not working, I'll give him a bit of time in AAA. Thanks for the input.