I figured Lyle would be traded this off season but we are 10 days away from pitchers and catchers reporting and he is still on the roster. We took a close look at Lyle's 2009 season back here. In short, he hit right handers great (.282/.396/.509) and lefties (.190/.256/.278) not at all. He needs a platoon partner. I'd like to see him batting near the top of the order against RHP, but Cito seems to think Jose Bautista should be there. Lyle is 33 this year. Lyle's 2009:
Bill James sees Lyle hitting .267/.359/.443, with 15 homers, 63 RBI and 34 doubles in 525 plate appearances.
CHONE has him .257/.345/.410, with 14 homers, 58 RBI and 26 doubles in 521 PA.
We looked at the other possibilities at first here, but the main ones are:
Randy Ruiz, Cito didn't seem to like the idea of him playing first last year but his mind might change. He's 32 this season. He also could get at bats at DH. Last year Ruiz hit
Pretty decent, eh? Usual small sample size warnings. Ghostrunner on First has a graph showing he chased down and off the plate a lot. Pitchers would likely try to exploit that in he played more but then he'd hopefully try to correct that too.
Bill James figures him to hit .294/.352/.517 with 9 homers, 31 RBI in 194 PA.
CHONE .255/.315/.448 with 21 homers, 68 RBI in 502 PA.
If we could mix James batting line with CHONE's playing time, we got something.
Brian Diporak could also end up with some playing time at first. Bill James doesn't think so but CHONE has him at .240/.288/.397 with 14 homers, 53 RBI in 444 PA. I don't know how he'd get up to the plate that many times hitting like that but ok.
Brett Wallace could also see playing time, especially if he hits as well at Vegas as I think he will.
Bill James sees him hitting .278/.331/.427 with 17 homers, 69 RBI in 544 PA.
CHONE .252/.306/.395 with 15 homers, 55 RBI in 527 PA.
So give us your guesses at who will play and how they will hit. We should end up with between 650 and 700 PA out of each position but some of these guys could see time at DH so it could add up to more PA.