Who Will DH?
Who will DH tomorrow night in Game 1 of the World Series?
Who Will DH?
Todd Zolecki
Charlie Manuel pointing to the top of Tropicana Field during practice October. 20, 2008. Phillies arrive in St. Petersburg to face the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the World Series on Wed. ( (MICHAEL PEREZ / STAFF PHOTOGRAPH)
Charlie Manuel is playing coy.
The Phillies face Tampa Bay Rays lefthander Scott Kazmir tomorrow tonight in Game 1 of the World Series at Tropicana Field, which means Manuel needs a designated hitter.
But who?
“It doesn’t matter,” he said. “I mean, really, whether I’ve decided or haven’t decided … I never know. I might look and change it right at the last minute. You never know. Seriously.”
But Manuel did say he is more inclined to see a righthanded hitter against the lefthanded Kazmir, and lefthanded hitters against Tampa Bay’s righthanded starters. That said, let’s look at the candidates for Game 1:
- Chris Coste. Coste makes the most sense, except he is the backup catcher to Carlos Ruiz. If something happens to Ruiz the Phillies would lose their DH by putting Coste behind the plate. Of course, the odds of losing Ruiz or Coste due to injury might not be enough to keep Manuel from putting him in the lineup.
- Eric Bruntlett. He hit just .217 in the season and has been Pat Burrell’s primary replacement in left field, so it might not make much sense. Because if the Phillies want Bruntlett to replace Burrell in left field later, they would lose their DH, meaning the pitcher would then have to hit in Burrell’s spot.
- So Taguchi. Manuel buried Taguchi deep on his bench this season and Taguchi has resurfaced only rarely. But here’s something to consider: Taguchi hit a respectable .289 in his 12 starts this season, compared to .152 coming off the bench. It might not be totally insane to see Taguchi hit ninth.
- Burrell. It might make sense to DH Burrell and have Bruntlett play in left field, except Burrell is a career .153 hitter as a designated hitter. Burrell, for his defensive shortcomings, feels more comfortable playing nine innings than sitting on the bench and getting four at-bats. Knowing how tough it can be to score runs in the postseason, Manuel might want to keep Burrell’s head in the game by having him play left field.
- Greg Dobbs, Matt Stairs or Geoff Jenkins. Manuel could throw out the textbook at throw Dobbs or Stairs or Jenkins out there, but he indicated yesterday he won't do that.
*
Oh, that Kelly Ripa. Good thing Kosuke Fukudome doesn't play for the Phillies.
Comments (24)
Taguchi makes the most sense because of his speed on the basepaths. Once you clear the eighth hitter, it's like having an extra leadoff man in the lineup.— mdhnyc- go with the best hitter dobbs save stairs for pitch hitting and he could always slam one. GO PHILLIES!!!!!!!!— malco49
- i think you gotta dh coste, what are the chances of ruiz getting injured, and if he does then they can just move coste to catcher and just suck up losing the dh, coste is their best right handed hitter off the bench— robm0202
Comment removed.- Channel 6 said...."Nothing official", but that Charlie was going with Coste.— Norma
- If you bring Lou Marson along for this series then Coste hitting DH will not be an issue. Marson was MVP of the world classic, hit over .300 and has played well in the minors. He was 2-4 with a single and HR in the last game of the season. It makes no sense to keep Taguchi on the roster when he hasn't produced ALL SEASON LONG. According to the Phils Marson is on the active roster and that makes him eligable for post season. Charlie's loyalty to all the players is admirable but does it make sense at this point when millions of loyal fans want to win so badly? I say if it comes to the success of this team Taguchi has to go just like Rudy.— Wally 24
- This must sound like an absurd suggestion, but shouldn't Burrell be the DH? Start Bruntlett in left, batting ninth. When Kazmir is knocked out, the Phils have Stairs, Taguchi and Dobbs who can play left or right field (move Werth to left, if necessary)— tgray83
- Coste, seriously? Why even take that risk having both our catchers in at the same time. Its not like Coste is a some all star hitter.— pdditty
- Comment removed.
- At first, I wanted Coste as my DH but Taguchi is not a bad idea. He has good WS experience with the Cardinals. And like somebody said, he could be our second lead off guy. I feel more comfortable with him that with Brunlett. It's going to be for one game onlym anyway. We need Coste as a PH late against their lefty relievers.— EL Zorro
- Being a DH must be harder then it looks because the Phillies always get miserable production there in interleage play, not just this year. Stairs has the got the best track record of doing it well and kazmire only goes 5 innings anyway.— fla
- Dobbs would make sense a little bit too as DH if Charlie decides to go with a lefty. He is a better contact hitter than Jenkins and Stairs and could force Maddon to use one of his lefties earlier.— EL Zorro
- The DH is supposed to add to your lineup, not take away from it. Using Taguchi or Bruntlett isn't much better than using the pitcher. I say use Coste, if you are going to use a lefty, use Dobbs. But he hits much better off righties. You could always use Coste at 1B, and DH Howard, that way if Ruiz gets hurt, you move Coste to catcher and don't lose the DH. But I don't think its worth putting a guy at 1B that doesn't really play the position.— Gary Varsho
- Well when you consider who Charlie is and how he manages this team I have to believe the DH goes to Stairs simply because he has been a DH for years. I also would not be supprised if the DH hit 9th in the order because he's convinced the batting order will produce no matter what. Any offensive weakness, if there is one, will show after this first game against the lefty and this is a key to how we do in this series. At 10:30 am today the rosters will be finalized and unless there is an injury no more substitutions allowed so lets hope they use some good sense.— Wally 24
- I still think best bet is to put Ryan Howard as DH and consider who should be playing first. I'm getting nervous with Edward Scissor Hands playing an inconsistent first base. If you have Coste play first, he can switch to Catcher if Ruiz is hurt, and be able to switch to say Dobbs or something without eliminating the DH spot.— TK2575
Wally 24 is right. Get Marson on the roster and use him or Coste. Save Dobbs and Stairs for later in the game. Go Phillies!- Wally 24 is right. Get Marson on the roster and use him or Coste. Save Dobbs and Stairs for later in the game. Go Phillies!
- TK2575 ... Couldn't agree with you more. In my mind what you say makes the most sense but Charlie is a vary traditional manager, like Jim Fregosi, and he is not gonna do something different at this point. Like Jim used to say "I'm going with the guys who got me here" and that was no matter how bad they were playing. In perspective who knows the team better then Charlie and to think he wouldn't make the right moves to win is just not logical.— Wally 24
I'm with El Zorro: If you are willing to go with lefty DH, it's Dobbs in the 7 spot. If you go righty, use Taguchi as DH batting 9th. If Taguchi is along for the ride, you might as well use him, and I know he's not as bad as his performance this year has shown. As for all the other moves (Pat or Ryan as DH, with others playing positions), I really hesitate to monkey with the team in that way. Go with the plan that's as close to what got 'em here as possible. GO PHILS!!!— bobby- It may be risky, but think you gotta go with Coste against Kazmir...you need a righty bat in there, and Coste is better than Taguchi or Bruntlett. He was scuffling toward the end of the year, but should be rested an eager to go. He batted .296 against lefties this year and is over .300 against lefties for his career. And think of all the clutch hits Coste has had during his time with the Phils.— Tim418
- Coste playing first base is also another choice, but knowing Charlie, he won't DH Howard in the biggest game of his life, or Burrell for that matter. It's not time to mess with anybody's head. Also, I think Coste's greatest hits had come in the late innings anyway. He is kind of a late inning clutch hitter, if I'm correct. And I don't know if he is going to be that great of an upgrade at first defensively.— EL Zorro
- 1) Howard will not DH - why? Because he's the best first baseman we have, period. 2) Dobbs hits lefties as well as Myers NORMALLY hits...He won't be DH'ing against Kazmir. 3) The DH does not have to hit 9th - why not put Taguchi in the 8-spot so we have a "regular" in the 9-spot, in Ruiz...Ruiz has started to come around in the post-season - when he hits the ball into RF, you can tell he's focusing, etc. 4) I predict Coste will DH, but I do not like him and Ruiz back-to-back, whatsoever! 5) I don't know Stairs' numbers as a DH vs. a lefty, but I'd sure do the research before deciding. Phils in 6! Go Phils! PK— PhillyTheKid
- Well the roster is in and Marson isn't on it, so there's nothing to debate. According to Murphy they are leaning toward Coste to DH tonight against Kasmir. The thing that worries me more than anything is their left handed relievers. Its not that they are lefties but "how" they pitch Howard and Utley that's the concern. Here's hoping they both hang tough and are able to use the left field line.— Wally 24
- I would DH Coste in an emergency you can use Werth at catcher. Coste has power and walks also.— mmac
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