Third Base

I was going to make my next post about something other than baseball, but today's news that Glaus is shelved until possibly the all-star break changes things.

So, the Cards head north with a centerfielder holding down second base, and a guy 1 year removed from A-ball manning the hot corner. Just that in itself sounds scary. But digging deeper, it just may work. At second we are sacrificing some glove for a solid .300 bat and leadoff hitter. As long as Skip does not botch the double play pivots he should be servicable at 2nd. Not to mention, as of the 7th inning, Skip will move to the OF and a seasoned second baseman will take over.

Now, at third we have a guy who supposedly brings a strong glove. His bat is the question mark. He has always proven he can hit, but the ML is a different scenario. Pitchers are working hitters differently. More breaking balls, more hitting the corners. If Freese strikes out 100 times in the minors, what happens in the majors? His best spot in the lineup may be just ahead of the pitcher. Pitchers are more likely to let the guy before the pitcher get something to hit so that the pitcher could lead off the next inning. There are flaws to this theory as why face a potential good hitter when you can just go after the pitcher. But that speaks more to strike zone knowlede than anything else.

So what do you think? How is this going to play out?