Lineup Requests For Bobby Valentine: Bat Saltalamacchia Lower, Ciriaco Higher

The Red Sox lineup has been great this year, no doubt, and some may say “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” However, when the pitching is struggling as badly as the Red Sox’ is–they need all the help that they can get. One simple suggestion for Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine is to move Jarrod Saltalamacchia down in the lineup as the power-hitting catcher is in a massive slump. Meanwhile, rookie infielder Pedro Ciriaco is as hot as they come in MLB and I feel that it’s only fair to move him up.

Now, Jarrod Saltalamacchia has plenty of power and it’s reasonable to suggest that they keep him hitting sixth (where he usually hits) so that he can drive in runs with his plentiful home runs. However, that hasn’t really been the case this year as he’s batting just .203 with runners in scoring position. I say that we let Will Middlebrooks and his .338 RISP average handle to vigors of the sixth spot. Valentine should move Saltalamacchia down to the eight hole, and move Pedro Ciriaco (.333 average with RISP) up to seventh in the order.

All of this switching around gives the Red Sox a different look to their lineup, but I think it would help the team. The top of the lineup stays the same, but the bottom part is entirely different, see here: Ellsbury CF, Crawford LF, Pedroia 2B, Gonzalez 1B, Ross DH, Middlebrooks 3B, Ciriaco SS, Saltalamacchia C, Kalish RF. That looks like a lineup with the potential to drive in just as many, if not more runs than it currently does.