Kerry Wood's Back Holds Him Back

But still if you didn't like neifi or Corey batting #1/#2, to be fair, you can't like Theriot leading off and Soriano hitting second.

navigator:
"Career ML OBP

Theriot .341
Soriano .327

vs

Patterson .298
N. Perez .297"

Well, then looking a those numbers you are right, it is absolutely acceptable to bat them there. Nobody can complain...

Korey has had 6 very good months in his career. That's it, going all the way back to his debut in 2002, through 2007. 6 months he hit over .300 out of his entire career.

He's such a frustrating hitter, and his splits have always fascinated me because he's so hot and cold, but he gets even worse in the second half of the season.

Career splits:

1st half: .266 .308 .419
2nd half: .247 .283 .407

even his two best seasons, 2003 when he was playing so well before an injury, was just two good months:

April 2003: .300 .330 .550
May 2003: .333 .345 .565

Then
June 2003: .269 .319 .452
July 2003: .235 .278 .294 (only 18 ab's before he got hurt)

and in 2004, when he hit 24 dingers and 72 rbi, despite a .266 .320 .452 line, again...

April 2004: .277 .326 .494
May 2004: .250 .321 .370
June 2004: .327 .387 .545
July 2004: .225 .248 .324
August 04: .336 .388 .605
Sept 2004: .190 .250 .373

I'm not saying Korey sucks, he's an average or perhaps below average regular CF offensively, but he's not awful. But his track record shows he doesn't belong in the top half of any lineup. He's probably a 7 or 8 hitter, unless he's super hot, and you move him up until he cools off again.

If all those Ifs come to pass, including Derosa playing an adequate ss, then I'd get behind that lineup in a heartbeat.

if he is not hitting leadoff because he cannot hit a breaking pitch. My line-up would be:

Theriot
Fukudome
Lee
Soriano
Ramirez
Soto
Pie
Dero

Watch Aram win the MVP then as the 4 guys ahead of him can get onbase and run, he could have about 135 RBI in this lineup configuration.

There is a big difference between looking for a combination of OBP and Speed at the top of the order and trying to shove the 2 most craptastic scrubs on the team into the top of the lineup because they are "scrappy." Theriot and Soriano at the top of the lineup is a far far cry from the Neifi/Macias/ReyO/Womack/Izturis types that Dusty loved to kick start the lineup with. They couldn't hit, get on base, or even steal a base.

I like OBP at the top of the order, but I don't mind speed there. I'd rather see Soriano around 5th in the order where his power and speed would be best used. I don't think Theriot is ideal, but a 330 OBP with 30 steals is ok at the top of the lineup. But I don't think its horrible to have either of them near the top either.

In either case its a long way from !Neifi!