Mondays Lineup

[The Tribe Zone]

Until Game 1 , Indians at Texas 2:05 on STO


1. CF Grady Sizemore
2. 3B Mark DeRosa
3. 1B Victor Martinez
4. DH Travis Hafner
5. SS Jhonny Peralta
6. RF Shin-Soo Choo
7. C Kelly Shoppach
8. LF Ben Francisco
9. 2B Asdrubal Cabrera

-Lineup Article Link-

[Crooked River]

Well, one thing should jump out at you, Tribe fans. Pronk in the cleanup spot? Wow. I thought Wedge would put him down lower and let him hopefully earn/work his way into that spot.

I would rather see Jhonny in that spot and then we go lefty-righty throughout the lineup as such:

1) Grady
2) DeRosa
3) Victor
4) Jhonny
5) Choo
6) Francisco
7) Pronk
8) Shop
9) Asdrubal

Interesting. Very interesting. Does Wedge see something in Pronk's swing the last two or three days that says he's back or is this a psychological thing on Eric's part to boost Pronk's confidence? Hmmmmm.

Regardless, I love this lineup 1-9 and we still have Garko, Crowe, and Carroll on the bench.

[jack_tors]

Until Game 1 , Indians at Texas 2:05 on STO


1. CF Grady Sizemore
2. 3B Mark DeRosa
3. 1B Victor Martinez
4. DH Travis Hafner
5. SS Jhonny Peralta
6. RF Shin-Soo Choo
7. C Kelly Shoppach
8. LF Ben Francisco
9. 2B Asdrubal Cabrera

-Lineup Article Link-

I like this line up and hope it works out. I am concerned batting Pronk 4th right now but he has protection in the line up as who would you rather face right now: Pronk or Peralta and Choo? Odds are Pronk and he should receive better pitches. I think DeRosa will be great in the 2 hole as well.

Again, all this is theory and we will see what they do come Monday afternoon.

GO TRIBE!!

[The Tribe Zone]

CR, I added the link to the lineup. It has alot of explanation done by Wedgie .

He has trust in Hafner.......basically.

"I trust Travis," Wedge said. "I trust the work he's done. He's worked hard, he's moving in the right direction, and I think it's important he knows I trust him. It doesn't mean he's going to get out the gate like gangbusters, and it doesn't mean he's not."

[dazindiansfanuk]

If everyone's producing at a level reflective of what they are/have been capable of, then that lineup is probably the best the Indians have to offer.

I still think Haf shouldn't sit at #4 straight away.... I don't buy the lefty-lefty excuse.... there's no harm in hitting Garko/Shoppach between Haf and Choo if pronk slides down the lineup.

If Haf's able to hit, great! If not, let's hope they don't leave him there too long.

[The Tribe Zone]

1 thing I like is seeing Vic at 1st base.....It says he will be catching Fausto, and Shopvac catches Lee, but I hope, more ofton than not, Shop is our catcher, and Vic is our 1st baseman.....

I'm convinced we'll see a healthier Vic at 1st, and a better hitting Vic.

[Indians88]

I'd rather have Hafner in the 4 hole with Honny and Choo protecting his ass than down at 7 with the Frisco kid and Droobs.

[Commodore Perry]

I'll tell you what, that's a good looking lineup. There's not an easy out 1-9. Any one of those guys can hurt you.

I think the Pronk will return this season. But even if he doesn't, that lineup doesn't include Garko, LaPorta or Brantley.

This is going to be a good season. As long as they can avoid the team wide slump.

[skatingtripods]

Love the lineup. And I love Pronk hitting 4th. He's protected and should be hitting, more often than not, with runners on base and that will cut down on the shift. You've got to show confidence in him and let him know that you still believe in his ability.

Quite honestly, I'll make a comparison to the '95 and '96 lineups. We had Manny Ramirez hitting 6th or 7th. Shin-Soo Choo is the 6 hitter, probably for a good part of the year. That's a damn strong lineup. We could be seeing .290 25 100 from our 6 hitter.

[Toxicadam]

Victor is really the key in the top part of that lineup. We need him to be a .300 hitter with 20 homers for this lineup to work.

[Eckersley]

Putting Pronk in the lineup period is putting confidence in him. He should not be anywhere near the middle of the lineup at this point.

Newsflash to Wedge....2004-2006 was a long time ago.

[Mr. X]

Putting Pronk in the lineup period is putting confidence in him. He should not be anywhere near the middle of the lineup at this point.

Newsflash to Wedge....2004-2006 was a long time ago.

I'm hoping that he will be on a relatively short leash. If he's not hitting by the beginning of June, some change will have to happen.

But realistically, putting him in the 4 hole gives him the best chance to succeed. Like others have said, the protection around him in the lineup is the best it's ever been IMO. So he should get pitches to hit. Whether he can or not, we will find out soon enough.

Overall, it looks like an excellent lineup 1-9.

[dpdad]

I would prefer to see Choo 3rd, Peralta 4th, then Victor, Shoppach, and Hafner.

The only place Hafner should be hitting cleanup is in Columbus.

[RobStad]

The lineup is fine. 1-9 it's solid. The bullpen looks good and the defense looks adequate. That leaves the starting rotation and that's what will be the difference this year for the Tribe. They'll contend or not based on what their starting pitchers do - not where Hafner hits, or if he's even that good. If he's done by May, Garko or LaPorta take his place and the rest of the lineup is good enough to where, ultimately, he's not a huge factor.

[jameseboy]

Saw a bit of em in spring training..I would worry more about Choo at this point than Hafner. He was overmatched Pronk was not.