I often chide managers who give a star a day off and put the replacement in his batting slot, rather than redoing the lineup. John McNamara used to do this with Ed Romero. He’d give Wade Boggs the night off and bat Romero leadoff. You’d think he could move Evans into the leadoff spot without it hurting the rest of the order too much.
Bruce Bochy did this today as he rested Piazza and inserted Josh Bard in the cleanup slot. I can’t complain this time, because Bard is having a career year. He homered today in the Padres 7-2 win over Houston, his seventh of the season. That’s 35% of his career home runs. He’s now slugging .549 on the season, very worthy of the fourth slot. The Bard for Mirabelli trade sure worked out well for the Padres.
…and it sure worked out poorly for the Red Sox. They traded a young catcher with some promise, for an old catcher of limited abilities — simply because the old catcher is better at handling the knuckleball. At the time, I thought the trade was a good idea. Now, I see it was highly short-sighted. Mirabelli may be good at receiving Wakefield, but Bard is otherwise a better player. And even if he never becomes a legitimate #1 (I don’t think he has a snowball’s chance of slugging .549 over a full season), he’ll be a better-than-average backup for a long time.
I’ve noticed Bard’s being slotted into the #4 hole before. I think the Padres do this almost every time Piazza sits out.
Minnesota also does this with Redmond
Bochy tends to do this with most of his players. The only example that comes to mind of him not doing it is with young players like Ben Johnson who he bats down in the lineup rather than leadoff when he gives Dave Roberts a day off. At least with the catchers, it makes sense because they’re all hitting quite well.
That is pretty much Bard’s customary spot in the lineup when he starts. Of his 182 ABs this year, 92 have come in the #4 spot.
As for the trade, don’t forget Cla Meredith, who has been one of the Padres’ most reliable relievers of late. He and Bard are enough to make up for acquiring Mirabelli in the first place.