eMailbag: Switching up the Lineup
A anonymous reader sent in the following e-mail, asking…
“What manager, while on a five-game winning streak, would change the line-up to go on a losing streak?”
…oooh, oooh, i love riddles…umm, umm, Earl Weaver…no, ummm, Cito Gaston…no…darn, i give up…
…as for Willie Randolph, my guess is that he 
removed Ryan Church from hitting second, returning him to batting sixth, because Brian Schneider was out of the lineup with an injury – meaning, he would have had a slumping Carlos Delgado, followed by Raul Casanova, a slumping and injured Luis Castillo and the pitcher…which would most certainly have drawn a whole new set of criticism…so, instead, he beefed up the bottom of the order, returning church to his previous spot behind delgado…
…i hope…and i cannot accentuate hope enough…i hope willie is wise enough to bat church batting second again when schneider returns to the lineup, which should be tonight…
…like i had said, ideally, castillo is getting on base – and so he should hit second, with church down in the order…but, until castillo gets his act together, church behind Jose Reyes makes the most sense…but only if schneider is healthy, hitting and on the field…
