Earlier in the season, Tony LaRussa unveiled a fairly unique lineup, one that had Ludwick hitting leadoff. He may have just topped himself. Per Bernie:
Yes, you read that right. Yadier Molina, he of the blazing footspeed, the man slow enough to be caught by a glacier, is hitting in the second slot in the lineup.
It's a fascinating concept, though. Obviously the lineup had to be juggled without Pujols in there. You'd have expected, probably, Kennedy and Molina reversing roles. So what is Tony thinking?
Well, we know that Molina hits Bush pretty well. He's four for 10 with three home runs against the Milwaukee hurler. He is hitting .301 on the season, .400 in May, though he hits lefties better than righties. I would expect to see, if Schumaker does get on in front of Molina, some hit and runs put on. LaRussa probably feels that Molina can handle the bat well enough to move runners over or get first-and-third with Ankiel coming up. Molina has struck out only five times this season (which is even a better rate than Mr. Pujols) so there could be some action on the basepaths tonight.
