Mound Talk

Third Base Platoon Options

You know the drill by now. Today’s standard is Miguel Cabrera. 3B is a position of intense variability from the Freddy Sanchez type hitters to the Troy Glaus type mashers. For that reason some present oddly matched platoon options.

Garrett Atkins ++
Play Atkins at home and against lefties to capitalize on his R/HR/RBI/AVG advantage over Cabrera. Snagging him in a value spot may be difficult but keep him in mind.
R: + HR: + RBI: ++ AVG: ++

Scott Rolen ++
Rolen, like Atkins may be difficult to snag. He’s got a plus play at home and against righties. Fairly good in both of those but he might be a difficult guy to sit at times. Be disciplined and follow the paradigm.
R: + HR: = RBI: + AVG: -

Troy Glaus ++
Eligibility may determine that Glaus has more value at SS but for this, we’ll look at him as a 3B. Home and against lefties benefit Glaus the most. Look at a home split for him if you can get him.
R: ++ HJR: ++ RBI: + AVG: –

There is a considerable break in value between these three and the rest of the 3B options. This is partially because of the variability in skill set demonstrated by 3B in the league presently. It is partially due to the talent distribution. The talent is more clustered at the top and bottom with few good options in the middle. Players like Brandon Inge or Joe Crede could add power but at the expense of average, and some runs and rbi. Ryan Zimmerman could add rbi and average but at the expense of runs and home runs. But the overall benefit of platooning these players may be mitigated by their poor ability to compliment each other. Any gains in average that Zimmerman would give you would be destroyed by Brandon Inge’s .250 hack show.

Platooning at 3B is very difficult.