Carl Crawford willing to leadoff!

[Cracka2HI!]

He's better hitting 2nd but this team really needs him to at least attempt to leadoff! He's willing to give it a shot!

http://espn.go.com/blog/los-angeles/...-achilles-heel

[dodgernation]

I would like to see Hanley, then Crawford.

[Dodgerbluemmm24]

I would like to see Hanley, then Crawford.

The points to have men on base for Kemp and Gonzalez. A .320 OBP is not very good.

[Rémy LeBeau]

Colletti said during the initial trade that part of the thought process was having Crawford at leadoff. This isn't exactly news.

[Cracka2HI!]

^ actually it is news, last report was that he was going hit 2nd. That was from Mattingly himself, it wasn't a "thought process". It's also about as big of news as we have this time of year. Nice try though noob.

[SportsWins]

He should lead off because they Dodgers already have a prototypical #2 in Mark Ellis.

[DodgersFanKid55]

Ellis leading off against lefties? OBP of .377 last year. Crawford is pretty dreadful against lefties i"d rather see him moving ellis over in small ball situations rather than trying to lead off

[LASportsFan1996]

Yes I think this is the route they need to atleast try, he's the most prototypical leadoff guy we got

Side Note, kinda off topic, but speaking of Mark Ellis, think their is any way of a semi platoon with Skip Schumaker?

[DLCK]

Switching Ellis and Crawford in the lead off spot depending on match ups is a intriguing idea.

[Tymathee]

Yes I think this is the route they need to atleast try, he's the most prototypical leadoff guy we got

Side Note, kinda off topic, but speaking of Mark Ellis, think their is any way of a semi platoon with Skip Schumaker?

skip will be every where, OF, 3b, ss, 2b, he will get his at-bats.

[Rémy LeBeau]

^ actually it is news, last report was that he was going hit 2nd. That was from Mattingly himself, it wasn't a "thought process". It's also about as big of news as we have this time of year. Nice try though noob.

I'm not even going to ask what a noob is, you apparently have that covered. And I wasn't looking to make you feel insecure about your thread, I was merely weighing in on what Colletti has already covered. His initial take on what Crawford would add to the club and his constant claims that the club's leadoff hitter is already on the roster would lead everyone to believe it was Crawford all along.

[Bleedinblueball]

I feel that a,j ellis should lead off he had a .373 obp last year and with big mac's help he could turn into a patient hitter and draw more walks till dee gordon learns how to hit again........ This would allow Crawford to hit in the 2 hole and not put such enormous pressure on him right off the bat, he will flourish a bit more that way coming off the Boston fiasco and surgery.

[blazer5]

I feel that a,j ellis should lead off he had a .373 obp last year and with big mac's help he could turn into a patient hitter and draw more walks till dee gordon learns how to hit again........ This would allow Crawford to hit in the 2 hole and not put such enormous pressure on him right off the bat, he will flourish a bit more that way coming off the Boston fiasco and surgery.

1st..AJ is already a patient hitter which is why his OBP is .373. He drew a ton of walks and that has been his MO for his entire career. Don’t think Big Mac will help there.

2nd... You don’t really want a catcher running the bases in front of your fastest guy in Crawford. Plus with Crawford ,Kemp ,Agon behind him they will have him running all day and he will be spent. It just doesn’t work out well for a catcher to be running all day. They need their legs behind the dish.

[Bleedinblueball]

Good point but I don't want crawford to be in the pressure cooker right off the bat as it could lead to another boston situation where he under performs due to lofty expiations. Maybe they will throw cruz there like they did with Dee and let him sink or swim.

[SportsWins]

Dee Gordon is horrible on defense and will be lucky to make the team. As for pressure, LA is not near the pressure of Boston plus with the level of players hitting behind him it will be a pressure free zone. I see a lot of fast balls and a lot of walks in his future. If he doesn't steal 80 bases this year then he will be under used.

Also keep this in mind, this could all change by the trade deadline. They have Puig in the minors and committed 42 million to him already. If he plays well in AAA and Crawford plays well for the Dodgers, I can see them trading Crawford by the deadline for needed replacements.