May be kind of an out of ordinary lead off hitter, but you want your best hitter to get the most plate appearances in a game. Right now he is our best hitter, which is a whole different issue. Plus he has decent speed. I just don’t see anyone besides maybe Kam James that could be one, but James either isn’t very fast or doesn’t get good reads off of pitchers to be much of a threat on the bases.
Cumbest at Leadoff
- Thread starter Leeshouldveflanked
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Long time reader, first time poster..... Thank you for that take, I mentioned it to a few people last night that I think it would be worth a shot letting him lead off and they laughed in my face. So it was nice to see a like mind today. I do agree about the speed and also it could be a pretty decent intimidation factor when the lead off batter is a DE size.
James stole 20 bases in 23 attempts last year to lead the team.
I wonder sometimes if a few of you even watch the same games the rest of us do.
didn't see your post when i posted mine, but my thoughts exactly.
"experts" don't know the simplest stuff.
"experts" don't know the simplest stuff.
Right now he is showing the most consistent power on the team with repeated extra base hits. I would put him in the 3 hole for now if it was up to me. He needs to hit with someone on base.
Perhaps, but a traditional leadoff guy is usually a contact guy who can hit to all fields and is a battler at the dish with a lot of plate discipline. There is also a mental toughness side to it. Some guys who hit good down in the line-up can let the pressure get to them in the leadoff spot. Brad seems to me to be a guy who still has kind of an undisciplined approach and that is reflected by not seeing very many pitches per AB. He sees probably 4 or 5 pitches max. He gets up there hacking at just about anything thrown and to his credit he is connecting right now. Time will tell but I wonder if he will be able to sustain that against elite pitching. I also question if he is a guy who is ready to take on the mental challenge of leading off. But right now nobody is stepping up so what the heck. Give him a try.
Batting at the #1 spot almost guarantees he will get more plate appearances than anyone else on the team. Also coaches usually try to put someone that has good speed and bat control at #9 spot as a second lead off. Maybe someone will step up as a consistent lead off batter.
James LED the team in number of steals last year ... 20 of 23 (87%) and was 3rd percentage wise! Only Hancock's 3 for 3 (100%) & rowdy's 9 of 10 (90%) were better % wise.
NOBODY came close, number wise! Maybe you should check out his numbers before posting him!
We used to think dumb people were just lacking information. Yeah, the internet has proven that theory was wrong.
Yep, you never put your best power hitter leading off even if they hit for a high average. Why should be obvious and I don't know crap about baseball.
And he was quoted last year as being the fastest player on the team, even ahead of the likes of Skinner, Rowdy, etc.
Not really. I suspect Bama has the least knowledgeable football fans on average for the same reason we have a lot of unknowledgeable baseball fans. I don't care about MLB and almost certainly wouldn't care about college baseball if it weren't for the fact that we were both good and LFL being a social event when I was in college. I suspect there are a lot of MSU baseball fans like me that are really MSU fans more than baseball fans and are going to be relatively uninformed on baseball compared to other sports.
I see a few people shooting down this idea (i.e., Cumbest batting first in the order). I can see the value in having your best hitter bat first in the order, so I'll make a few points in support of it.
Cumbest would only be a "lead off" batter in the first inning. Subsequently, anyone in the batting order could be leading off an inning. Hopefully, there will be runners on base whenever Cumbest bats after the first inning.
By batting first in the order, Cumbest would be guaranteed to get the most plate appearances in the game, which is something you would want for the best hitter.
At this point in the season, there's no harm in trying it. Go ahead and bat Cumbest first in the order and see what effect it has on the rest of the batting order. See how the games play out with Cumbest batting first. We won't really know unless we try it.
It really is astounding how people either make **** up or have insane observations, and then try to pass it off as fact.
Of our regular starters, Kam James is probably the best base runner.
I don't think Cumbest is going to do well being a focal point of the offense in general. The first thing that will happen when you move him up is that other teams' pitching will zero in on him. I think dude is fine right where he is. But I won't hate, if he keeps it, keep shifting him. I wouldn't mind him being in the 2 hole like Rooker if he's TRULY turning a corner.
FWIW, Kamren James isn't your leadoff guy either in my opinion. Both them guys strike out too much. I'd have Hancock leading off.
Well. For what it's worth Lemonis' opinion appears to align more with the 'shoot it down' crowd. He hasn't even moved him into the front part of the lineup much less leadoff. I am happy to see brad hitting the ball so well but I don't think he has the plate discipline or the mindset to leadoff. Not yet anyway.
When you drop $68 Million on a sport that most NCAA institutions don’t charge admission to games for, you would like to see some payback.
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Regardless of how we are playing currently, I consider 5 straight supers, 3 straight trips to omaha and reigning national champs as a pretty good return on investment.
That does sound like a solution but then Hancock also hits so well with runners on base.
Lee spends his free time at the Oxford Chamber of Commerce. Doesn’t leave much time for watching college baseball.
Yep. Pretty sure nobody outside of possibly Vandy has that kind of resume right now.
I could see him at #3 or maybe #4 till he cools off. I'm keeping Hancock at #4 or maybe #3 and Tanner at #5
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