After finishing the positional runthrough I'm going to take a look at the projected lineups of each of the Rays minor league affiliates.
Next affiliate lineup I'm looking at is the one of the Biscuits:
1 SS Hak-Ju Lee (L)
2 CF Isaias Velasquez (R)
3 2B Tyler Bortnick (R)
4 RF Brett Nommensen (L)
5 C Mark Thomas (R)
6 3B Gregory Sexton (R)
7 1B Michael Sheridan (L)
8 DH Anthony Scelfo (L)
9 LF Ty Morrison (L)
Bench:
C Craig Albernaz (R)
C David Wendt (R)
IF Matthew Hall (R)
IF Omar Luna (R)
OF Chris Murrill (L)
The Biscuits have enough lead-off hitter types for at least 3 lineups. Hak-Ju Lee (who will bat leadoff most of the time), Isaias Velasquez (typical leadoff type), Tyler Bortnick (also great skill-set for leading off, but I put him 3rd in order to work on his power in addition to the exceptionally great approach on the plate) and Ty Morrison (I play him 9th as additional leading-off type in front of the top-of-the-order). Also Brett Nommensen is best suited as a #1/#2 hitter. On the other side, heart-of-the-lineup hitters are nowhere to be found. Having Mark Thomas and Greg Sexton (can he finally handle AA pitching?) near the power positions in the lineup is a must, despite them also (especially Sexton) not being power hitters. Overall, this will be a tough year for the Biscuits offensively.
Definitely a lack of power, so they'll have to score runs with on-base skills and speed. They have the pieces to do that, but one big bat would be nice.
ReplyDeleteI can see Murill taking over one of the outfield positions- just not sure which one.
ReplyDeleteWhat is your evaluation of Hak-Ju Lee as a hitter? Specifically, is he without power, or do you see him hitting a decent number of doubles and triples?
ReplyDeleteHe has good gap power, just not home run power.
ReplyDeleteToo bad we can't steal 1st! Let's see if Lee can carry a team. Not literally, I don't know how he carries his glove with his body type but if it works for him so be it.
ReplyDeleteThank you Kevin. That supports what I saw. I think there is an assumption that he is purely a singles hitter who gets on with flairs and seeing eye grounders. But my impression is that he hits hard line drives to both corners and up the alleys, hits that often reach the wall. I don't want to exaggerate the point, but I do think it is worthwhile to balance an erroneous view that he is a Jason Tyner type hitter.
ReplyDeleteOf course, we still have to see if he can continue to hit more advanced pitching.