The Milwaukee Brewers seemingly pushed every right button during Sunday’s finale against the Seattle Mariners as they won by a score of 12-4. This includes a late switch in their batting order that put Oliver Dunn as the leadoff hitter instead of the originally planned Sal Frelick.
We have made the following update to our lineup:
1. Dunn, 3B
2. Contreras, C
3. Adames, SS
4. Bauers, 1B
5. Hoskins, DH
6. Frelick, LF
7. Chourio, RF
8. Turang, 2B
9. Perkins, CF https://t.co/HpbbY3Eipo— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) April 7, 2024
Why did the Milwaukee Brewers change their lineup prior to Sunday’s finale against the Seattle Mariners?
Lineup changes after initial submission are known to happen, but typically they revolve around a player being a late scratch due to health or illness. In this case Pat Murphy just wanted to switch up his batting order and have Oliver Dunn bat leadoff. It ended up paying dividends right away as he hit an infield single to begin the game, advanced to third off a William Contreras single, and then scored the Brewers first run of the game thanks to a clutch hit from Jake Bauers.
Whose idea was it to have Oliver Dunn bat leadoff?
Curt Hogg, writer for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, did some investigating on how Oliver Dunn batting leadoff came about. He reported the following bits of information in a piece that can be found by clicking here.
Around two hours before first pitch Sunday morning, first base coach Quintin Berry strolled into manager Pat Murphy’s office with a comment.
“I thought I was going to see Dunn at the top,” he said.
Murphy looked at his lineup card, which featured Frelick at the top again.
“Yeah,” Murphy said. “I’m going to do it right now.”
Murphy ran the idea by two of his staff members who help construct the lineup, associate manager Rickie Weeks and run prevention coordinator Walker McKinven. Each had no qualms with the move.
“Rickie and ‘Q, have talked about it a couple days ago, too,” Murphy said. “They said it looks like it might be the best option.”
Is Oliver Dunn the best option at leadoff?
Against right-handed pitchers Sal Frelick has been a frequent player at the top of the lineup. Top prospect Jackson Chourio, who hit leadoff against lefty Jose Quintana on Opening Day, has also seen time batting first against righties as well. However, the Brewers coaching staff thinks Oliver Dunn may be their best option.
Dunn, a 26 year old rookie who was acquired via trade this off-season and made his MLB debut on Opening Day this year, has a career .370 on-base percentage in the minor leagues. This is a good skill to have as a leadoff hitter, but he also has other tools such as a good batting average (hit .271 last year), an ability to hit for power (21 home runs in 2023), and speed (16 stolen bases last year).
With Christian Yelich stationed third in the lineup this year and William Contreras second, on paper Dunn may just be their best option. He helps stagger the top of the lineup in a lefty-righty-lefty fashion and as mentioned above has good attributes required of a leadoff hitter. He’s off to a good start in his big league career, so it will be interesting to see if Murphy continues to have him bat first going forward.
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