i was just curious about the whole lineup protection deal in baseball. like having a hitter hit behind a very good player. example being chris duncan hitting behind albert pujols. why is that a good thing for duncan?
2007-04-21 06:30:14 · 6 answers · asked by bricox171 3 in Sports ➔ Baseball
Lineup protection is like this.....if you have like for instance last night the yankees with abreu and arod on deck...who would you rather pitch to?
abreu because arod is the better hitter so abreu will see better pitches to hit because they dont want it to get to arod.....for instance...jason bay has no one behind him so the pitcher could walk him every time and not worry about him getting hurt with the next batter
2007-04-21 06:40:41 · answer #1 · answered by yanks_win2003 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
When you are hitting in front of or directly behind a superstar hitter teams will try to pitch around the star and pitch more aggressivly to you. For instance like your example, if they walk Pujols then they have to attack Duncan (meaning no nibling around the edges of the plate) because they dont want Pujols to move into scoring position because they pitch around Duncan as well. So Duncan likely see's fastballs early and can step to the plate pretty much knowing what the pitcher has to do and can gear for a particular pitch in a particular spot and take aggressive cuts at those pitches. Without Pujols being on base the other team knows Duncan is vulnerable to breaking balls and that is exactly how they will pitch him. Bottom line is they have to throw him pitches he is better at hitting if he has the protection of a Pujols sitting on first (often because they wouldnt pitch to him and walk him....teams want to take their chances with Duncan, not Pujols)..
2007-04-21 13:47:59 · answer #2 · answered by viphockey4 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Having Duncan hit in front of Pujols, means that he will get more pitches to hit. Pitchers do not want to walk the guy batting in front of a superstar hitter like Pujols, so they tend to challenge him instead. Duncan gets to see many more fastballs as opposed to breaking balls that have a higher tendency to be thrown out of the strike zone. Duncan being a good fastball hitter can look for a fastball and he will usually get it.
This is why Duncan is batting in the number 2 spot in the batting order right in front of Pujols.
2007-04-21 13:43:03 · answer #3 · answered by brewcards 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
actually duncan is hitting in front of pujols. but, to answer your question the good thing about hitting behind a great hitter such as pujols, bonds, etc. is you are almost always going to have rbi opportunities. Lots of times the big hitters will rattle the pitchers by hitting them hard or making the pitcher change his game and throw 4 out of the zone so it takes the pitcher out of his groove.
2007-04-21 13:42:43 · answer #4 · answered by DANNY A 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because sometimes, like when there's a man on second and third and two out, the pitcher can walk, in your case, Pujols, and would have to pitch to duncan. So, the pitcher has to decide if he wants to pitch to duncan or Pujols.
2007-04-21 13:38:40 · answer #5 · answered by Tom 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Its good for the guy hitting behind him because it means ther is a bettter chance that he will hit with someone on base. It increases RBI opportunities for them and if they walk the man ahead of him enough can also increase the number of at bats he gets throughout the season. The ultimate example is hitting behind Barry Bonds, but it works for a number of other players as well.
2007-04-21 13:42:54 · answer #6 · answered by ajn4664_ksu 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋