The series on team offense continues with the Cincinnati Reds. The Reds finished twenty first in the majors and ninth in the National League in 2012 with 4.13 runs scored per game.
The CBSSports.com projected lineup that Dusty Baker may use is plugged into the Lineup Analysis Tool (LAT) using Musings Marcels as the batter projections. For the pitchers, I used the Reds line from 2012. That information produces the following results:
- Best lineup: 4.99
- Probable lineup: 4.71
- Worst lineup: 4.30
- Regressed lineup: 4.39
Reds lead-off hitters posted a .254 OBP in 2012. (At least they were not clogging the bases.) Shin-Soo Choo should be a huge improvement, especially with the power coming up behind him. The addition of Choo is probably the biggest reason the Reds offense should improve in 2013.
Another reason would be a full year of Joey Votto. The first baseman was threatening the single season double record when he went down. We’ll see if he can pick up where he left off in 2012.
The Reds should consider one change in their lineup. While I understand not wanting catcher Ryan Hanigan batting at the top of the order despite his high OBP, if he’s going to bat eighth, he might as well bat ninth and give the top of the order someone to drive in. One thing that helps generate offense is to put the best players together in the lineup. Hanigan, in the current lineup, is between the two worst.
You can follow the data for the series in this Google spreadsheet.
Previous posts in the series:
- Introduction
- Texas Rangers
- New York Yankees
- Milwaukee Brewers
- Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
- St. Louis Cardinals
- Colorado Rockies
- Chicago White Sox
- Arizona Diamondbacks
- Boston Red Sox
- Washington Nationals
- Detroit Tigers
- San Francisco Giants
- Toronto Blue Jays
- Oakland Athletics
- Baltimore Orioles
- Minnesota Twins
- Atlanta Braves
- Tampa Bay Rays
- Philadelphia Phillies
- Kansas City Royals
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