Schwarber once again batting leadoff. As I criticize this, I realize that it practically guarantees he starts the game with a leadoff HR, but... this is stupid, and so very Phillies. We had a post earlier this week, showing that Schwarber is among the very best performers at leadoff in the history of baseball. That's typical Phillies, back-of-baseball-card-stat-logic. It makes judgments on what Schwarber used to be, rather than what he is now. He is entering 'didn't you used to be Kyle Schwarber territory'.
I realize that the analytical stats brigade seeks statistically significant sample sized and that Schwarber is a bit shy of 100 AB in the leadoff spot. But... he's been a killer in those close to 100 ABs. He does have two leadoff HRs, which is nice, but even with those 2 HRs, his OPS in the leadoff spot is .406. Combining being in the #1 and #3 spots in the lineup, his OPS is .407. In a bit more ABs in the #5/6/7 position in the lineup, his OPS is about 1.00. I realize he's slumping now, and perhaps Girardi has him hitting #1 to snap him out of his slump, but it isn't working and it's time to move possibly the slowest runner on the team away from the leadoff slot, where he has hit extremely poorly. That may be the jolt he needs. At this point in time, there is absolutely no reason he should be leading off: slow, has done better elsewhere in the order, six guys in the lineup have better OBP, and do we really want our super-slumper getting the most ABs per game.
