Add new comment

http://seattletimes.com/html/mariners/2015553479_marinotes09.html
— Dustin Ackley insists it doesn't matter where in the lineup he bats, because the whole thing gets shuffled around with each new inning anyway.
Ackley was promoted to the No. 3 spot Friday, with slumping Justin Smoak bounced back to No. 5. The move comes just three weeks into Ackley's big-league career.
"Once the game starts, you're hitting third one inning, you're hitting second another inning, then sixth in an inning," he said before the game. "I usually just take it like that. With a lineup, you see it on paper, but once the game starts it jumbles up and you're hitting in any different position."
Ackley was asked to bat third his freshman year at North Carolina. He was moved to the leadoff spot his sophomore year and to the Nos. 2 and 3 spots in his junior season.
-------------------
He hit .400+ at positions 1, 2 or 3 in the order. I think he does feel pressure to hit for power when in a "power" slot, and that may have helped get him off his game, but IMO he should be a classic #2 in the Jeter mold.
Of course, he hit worse after his stance correction, not better. Part of that was a miserable .240 BABIP in the second half of the season, but... yeesh. The guy should hit like Mark Grace, and as a second baseman that would make him a folk hero. A lower BA would come because he felt compelled to hit for more power, but that should still make him Robin Ventura.
So: .300/.380/.440 or .270/.360/.440. Take your pick. .220/.300/.330 is not a line he should have again with normal luck and understanding his swing.
Fingers crossed that he's got that back under control and is willing and able to hammer balls to oppo when necessary like he did in his first season in the bigs, especially now that he's comfortable fielding his position.
~G