Leyland talks OBP

Yes, he actually said Jackson's OBP at the top of the lineup would be the key to this year's offense, and if he doesn't produce someone else will get a chance. Leyland also reveals man crush on Nick Castellanos.

4 months ago BayesLaw 6 comments 0 recs |

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It sounds like Jim has been studying the finer points of lineup construction

I enjoyed reading that “with great speed, Jackson can always go first to third.” AJ went from 1st to 3rd on a single exactly four times last year. Of the 56 ML players who had at least as many opportunities as Austin, only speedsters Paul Konerko, Ryan Howard, Jhonny Peralta, and Casey McGehee went from 1st to 3rd fewer times.

by GWilson on Feb 4, 2012 10:16 PM EST reply actions

You can't go first to third

If you aren’t on first. Think about it, for most of the season, he rarley got on first. Then when he did, he had guys such as Ryan Raburn, Magglio Ordonez, Will Rhymes, and Ramon Santiago to move him over. Boesch got hurt for the last 1/3 of the season. My point is that you have to have someone to move him up. You can’t honestly believe that Jackson isn’t capeable of going first to third with the best of them, can you?

by JacksTigers on Feb 5, 2012 12:00 PM EST up reply actions

You also can't go from 1st to 3rd when

a slow runner is on 2nd base in front of you. We got a lot of guys that clog up the bases.

by Keith-Allen on Feb 5, 2012 4:38 PM EST up reply actions

I should be noted

that when Leyland was talking about Jackson going from 1st to 3rd it was tied in with Boesch pulling the ball through the two hole. Meaning, he meant that when boesch pulled the ball that way, Jackson has the speed to go from 1st to 3rd every time.

by wilsonm24 on Feb 6, 2012 3:00 PM EST up reply actions

This sounds like a job for a baserunning coach

Anyone know who’s responsible for this on the Tigers?

Anyway, AJ clearly has the speed and the smarts to take that extra base. Perhaps it’ll just take a little more instruction from coaches to hone that into results — remember, when Kirk Gibson first came up with all that raw talent, Sparky worked with him tirelessly, and that paid off in spades.

by frisbeepilot on Feb 5, 2012 2:33 PM EST up reply actions