This is what I used to come up with my lineups.

Rickie Weeks

Career V. RHP-------------------------------V. LHP

.243/.338/.399----------------------------.250/.392/.426

2008 V. RHP--------------------------------V. LHP

.227/.319/.391----------------------------.250/.391/.414

2006-2008 V. RHP------------------------V. LHP

.243/.343/.404----------------------------.257/.398/.437

JJ Hardy

Career V. RHP-------------------------------V. LHP

.259/.312/.404----------------------------.299/.374/.564

2008 V. RHP--------------------------------V. LHP

.276/.320/.444----------------------------.304/.402/.574

2006-2008 V. RHP------------------------V. LHP

.265/.308/.423----------------------------.308/.385/.578

Ryan Braun

Career V. RHP-------------------------------V. LHP

.283/.327/.546----------------------------.351/.412/.702

2008 V. RHP--------------------------------V. LHP

.284/.333/.561----------------------------.287/.341/.532

2006-2008 V. RHP------------------------V. LHP

Not Enough Data Available

Prince Fielder

Career V. RHP-------------------------------V. LHP

.292/.387/.540----------------------------.250/.357/.527

2008 V. RHP--------------------------------V. LHP

.295/.401/.554----------------------------.239/.313/.420

2006-2008 V. RHP------------------------V. LHP

.292/.393/.572----------------------------.249/.323/.463

Mike Cameron

Career V. RHP-------------------------------V. LHP

.245/.331/.435----------------------------.266/.366/.485

2008 V. RHP--------------------------------V. LHP

.231/.309/.452----------------------------.282/.397/.555

2006-2008 V. RHP------------------------V. LHP

.243/.321/.449----------------------------.275/.387/.495

Bill Hall

Career V. RHP------------------------------V. LHP

.249/.300/.441---------------------------.278/.355/.493

2008 V. RHP-------------------------------V. LHP

.174/.242/.316---------------------------.306/.371/.522

2006-2008 V. RHP-----------------------V. LHP

.235/.296/.435---------------------------.292/.374/.536

Mike Lamb

Career V. RHP------------------------------V. LHP

.281/.336/.422--------------------------.253/.320/.393

2008 V. RHP-------------------------------V. LHP

.259/.300/.343--------------------------.067/.097/.167

2006-2008 V. RHP-----------------------V. LHP

.291/.349/.432--------------------------.231/.291/.403

Corey Hart

Career V. RHP-----------------------------V. LHP

.267/.304/.472--------------------------.300/.364/.516

2008 V. RHP------------------------------V. LHP

.263/.291/.454--------------------------.281/.321/.508

2006-2008 V. RHP----------------------V. LHP

.270/.306/.462-------------------------.305/.368/.525

Jason Kendall

Career V. RHP-----------------------------V. LHP

.293/.370/.382--------------------------.293/.375/.411

2008 V. RHP------------------------------V. LHP

.245/.324/.316--------------------------.250/.335/.346

2006-2008 V. RHP----------------------V. LHP

.224/.295/.279--------------------------.259/.340/.339

Current Bench Options

Craig Counsell

Career V. RHP-----------------------------V. LHP

.256/.346/.349--------------------------.251/.333/.322

2008 V. RHP------------------------------V. LHP

.229/.358/.308--------------------------.190/.333/.238

2006-2008 V. RHP----------------------V. LHP

.241/.338/.335--------------------------.215/.317/.266

Trot Nixon

Career V. RHP-----------------------------V. LHP

.288/.376/.496-------------------------.214/.308/.322

2008 V. RHP------------------------------V. LHP

.176/.282/.294-------------------------.000/.500/.000

2006-2008 V. RHP----------------------V. LHP

.267/.365/.378-------------------------.210/.322/.301

Chris Duffy

Career V. RHP-----------------------------V. LHP

.276/.338/.369--------------------------.246/.297/.339

2008 V. RHP------------------------------V. LHP

No Data Available

2006-2008 V. RHP----------------------V. LHP

Not Enough Data Available

Tony Gwynn Jr.

Career V. RHP-----------------------------V. LHP

.237/.291/.293-------------------------.333/.379/.333

2008 V. RHP------------------------------V. LHP

.150/.222/.175-------------------------1.000/1.000/1.000

2006-2008 V. RHP----------------------V. LHP

Not Enough Data Available

Mike Rivera

Career V. RHP-----------------------------V. LHP

.256/.303/.409--------------------------.223/.284/.340

2008 V. RHP------------------------------V. LHP

.356/.396/.511--------------------------.176/.333/.235

2006-2008 V. RHP----------------------V. LHP

Not Enough Data Available

Brad Nelson

Career V. RHP-----------------------------V. LHP

.333/.429/.667---------------------------.000/.000/.000

2008 V. RHP------------------------------V. LHP

.333/.429/.511--------------------------.000/.000/.000

2006-2008 V. RHP----------------------V. LHP

Not Enough Data Available

Casey McGehee

Career V. RHP-----------------------------V. LHP

.188/.176/.188--------------------------.125/.125/.250

2008 V. RHP------------------------------V. LHP

.188/.176/.188--------------------------.125/.125/.125

2006-2008 V. RHP----------------------V. LHP

Not Enough Data Available

Hernan Irribarren

Career V. RHP-----------------------------V. LHP

.154/.214/.231--------------------------.000/.000/.000

2008 V. RHP------------------------------V. LHP

.154/.214/.231--------------------------.000/.000/.000

2006-2008 V. RHP----------------------V. LHP

Not Enough Data Available

My lineups would be:

V. RHP

2B Rickie Weeks/Craig Counsell-I'd make this a soft platoon with Weeks and Counsell. Give Counsell AB against tougher righties.

3B Mike Lamb-I'm putting Lamb here because before the poor season he had in 2008 he had consecutive 360 OBP (.353 v. RHP (2007) and .380 v. RHP (2006)) seasons in the NL Central.

LF Ryan Braun-I'm keeping Braun in the 3 hole to have Prince for protection.

1B Prince Fielder-As I said for Braun, I'm putting Fielder here for Ryan's protection.

SS JJ Hardy-I'm putting Hardy here to protect Fielder. Hardy could slide into the 2 spot if Lamb doesn't bounce back.

CF Mike Cameron- I'm putting Cameron in front of Hart just because he'll get on base more and pop a couple more home runs against righties.

RF Corey Hart/Trot Nixon/Brad Nelson?-Depending on who the backup corner outfielder is I'd go with a soft platoon of Hart and Nelson or Hart and Nixon.

C Jason Kendall-Nothing to say for a non offensive catcher batting 8.

Pitcher

V. LHP

2B Rickie Weeks-.398 OBP against lefties from 2006-2008

SS JJ Hardy-.385 OBP against lefties from 2006-2008

1B Prince Fielder-I flipped Fielder with Braun because Fielder has troubles against lefties and I figure slotting him between Hardy and Braun would help him.

LF Ryan Braun-As I said for Fielder, I'm putting Braun fourth to protect Fielder.

3B Bill Hall-Mr. Lefty Killer would be perfect protection for Braun

CF Mike Cameron-Hart and Cameron could easily be flopped in this situation as there isn't much difference between the two. RF Corey Hart-Same as I said for Cameron.

C Jason Kendall-Nothing to say for a non offensive catcher batting 8.

Pitcher

Bench

COF Trot Nixon

COF/1B Brad Nelson

INF Craig Counsell

C Mike Rivera

CINF Mike Lamb

INF/CF Bill Hall

Reasons for my Bench: 1. I took both Nelson and Nixon because they're both better hitters than Gwynn and Duffy, assuming Nixon rebounds to at least 2007 numbers.

2. If Nixon and Hart are platooned (again a soft platoon), Macha has both Hart and Hall on the bench for CF against RHP. Both of them are better than Gwynn and Duffy Offensively.

3. If Nelson and Hart are platooned (soft platoon), then Nixon probably isn't on the bench and I'd probably have Duffy over Gwynn. Really is just a coin toss between those two, though.

4. I'd have Nelson on the bench regardless because he's out of options, and I definitely don't think he'd make it through waivers. He could be traded, but I'd hold onto him and see what he can do in the majors. If Gamel can handle 3rd defensively, we could have a cheap controllable replacement (5 years after 2009) for Fielder, in Nelson, when we trade Fielder in the offseason.

5. If Nelson platoons (soft platoon) with Hart, Macha can send Hart/Duffy in as a defensive replacement later in games.

I really like your ideas here, but it doesn't take into account the affect a platoon can have on a player mentally if they feel they should be an everyday starter.  In theory though, I like what you got.

Hall will get first shot at 3B.  If he struggles, maybe we'll see Lamb more often.

Bench outfield is tough.  I'm not sure what happens there.  I think Gwynn has the worst odds of the four.

This lineup would make a balanced bench sometimes, but it would not be a good starting lineup.  The non-Hart RF's shouldn't make a platoon and should only start there once in awhile, same with Counsell at 2b.  This would, however, be the only way to get a good balanced bench, to start at least one of the bench players every game.  But that hurts the starting lineup

I like where you are going here, at first glance.  Spreadsheet format would have made this much more visually apealing, but I think you are on track.  For whatever reason, I am liking Lamb in the 2 hole.

I only hope Ken Macha feels about Weeks, the way you do.  Running Rickie out there opening day in the lead-off position would send the message that either the future is NOW, or this team is going to fizzle out its farm system and go back to less than mediocre status.

Good work on this.

We would have Hall and Rivera on the bench against RHP and if a soft platoon, I emphasize soft, we'll have Hart and Weeks, not necessarily the same days. Hall and Hart can step in and take a couple games for Cameron at CF over the course of the season. How many teams carry more than one lefty in their pen? For the teams that only carry one lefty, do they waste the lefty on one of our pinch hitting options or wait until Fielder is up to use him? The few times that teams choose the former over the latter may only amount to 15-20 AB over the course of 162 games. According to the players platoon splits, we should rarely, if ever, sit the starters against lefty starters. This "unbalanced" bench becomes a positive factor when pinch hitting late in games against righty relievers. Everytime we have to pinch hit for a pitcher means more advantages of LHB v. RHP as few teams carry more than one lefty. I'm also not advocating a hard platoon with anyone other than Hall/Lamb. My thing with Hart/Nixon, Hart/Nelson, and Weeks/Counsell is to play them a couple of more games against tougher righties is that it should improve the production of the lineup over the course of the season.

Warboss74:

We would have Hall and Rivera on the bench against RHP and if a soft platoon, I emphasize soft, we'll have Hart and Weeks, not necessarily the same days. Hall and Hart can step in and take a couple games for Cameron at CF over the course of the season. How many teams carry more than one lefty in their pen? For the teams that only carry one lefty, do they waste the lefty on one of our pinch hitting options or wait until Fielder is up to use him? The few times that teams choose the former over the latter may only amount to 15-20 AB over the course of 162 games. According to the players platoon splits, we should rarely, if ever, sit the starters against lefty starters. This "unbalanced" bench becomes a positive factor when pinch hitting late in games against righty relievers. Everytime we have to pinch hit for a pitcher means more advantages of LHB v. RHP as few teams carry more than one lefty. I'm also not advocating a hard platoon with anyone other than Hall/Lamb. My thing with Hart/Nixon, Hart/Nelson, and Weeks/Counsell is to play them a couple of more games against tougher righties is that it should improve the production of the lineup over the course of the season.

Except Hall has the best chance to be the regular 3b, although I agree with you I'd like Lamb to be out there against at least most righties.  If by soft platoon then you mean spot starting on occasion, then that is fine

I understand Hall has the best chance, but even if he returns to his career norms against righties Lamb would still be better against them. I wouldn't be opposed to Hall getting starts against RHP, but I'd rather have him earn that time over Lamb. My definition of a soft platoon is a step above a spot start. It's a calculated spot start in my opinion. Instead of just starting them to give the starters a day off, I would plan where/when they'd start. Let's say Hart has a history of struggling against a certain RHP we let Nixon/Nelson start. Same with Weeks.

Warboss74:

I understand Hall has the best chance, but even if he returns to his career norms against righties Lamb would still be better against them. I wouldn't be opposed to Hall getting starts against RHP, but I'd rather have him earn that time over Lamb. My definition of a soft platoon is a step above a spot start. It's a calculated spot start in my opinion. Instead of just starting them to give the starters a day off, I would plan where/when they'd start. Let's say Hart has a history of struggling against a certain RHP we let Nixon/Nelson start. Same with Weeks.

Remember Hall's defense is better than Lamb also.  I don't foresee Hall being able to hit righties effectively enough to deserve a lot of PT against righties (no matter how much he cries about it) so I hope Lamb makes a hard platoon.

A soft platoon would work well at 2b because it would keep Weeks fresh and balance the lineup and bench a little bit on those days.  In the outfield, it depends on if any of the outfielders show they deserve to play, and I don't know if we want Nelson playing RF defensively, although i like him over the other options because of his offense and potential

favre4halloffame:

I really like your ideas here, but it doesn't take into account the affect a platoon can have on a player mentally if they feel they should be an everyday starter.  In theory though, I like what you got.

It wasn't meant to take anything into account except for platoon splits of players likely to play for the Brewers this year and develop the most productive lineup possible. I assume you're referencing Hall last year with the "if they feel they should be an everyday starter" line. I would say that it really doesn't matter. Most players tend to have a natural difference in their platoon splits. By placing a player with a larger difference in some type of platoon role (hard, soft, or somewhere in between), it allows that player to be successful by putting them in situations where they're likely to succeed.

I think platoon's are a bad idea in general.  There is a lot to be said about a player feeling comfortable in the idea that he will be out there everyday.  I think the practice of a platoon brings unnecessary pressure that basically forces a player to always press in the field and in the box.

Honestly, I believe 3rd base is open for competition right now, and I would not be surprised if Hall or Lamb was out there Opening Day.  Macha strikes me as someone who will do whatever he can to avoid a platoon situation.  As well, no player in their right mind would be for any type of platoon.  Even in little league.  Players want to be out there everyday, and ST is the time to decide who those 8 players are that will be everyday starters.

Does anyone think for a second that the platoon at third helped this team out at all, in anyway, last season?

Just because every player wants to play every day doesnt make platoons a "bad idea".  Sure, everyone wants to play, but if Lamb puts up an OPS around 800 vs righties and Hall puts up an OPS of 900 vs lefties, it makes 3b in general come out around .840ish.

 Unless Hall plans on suddenly handling righies better than lamb, a platoon makes sense.  Screw the fact that everyone wants to play every day. 

The numbers tell the story.  I dont dislike platoons as a theory at all, but I think the advantage in production needs to be crystal clear in order to reduce any "hurt feelings".

Greg Brock......Who?:

Macha strikes me as someone who will do whatever he can to avoid a platoon situation.

I can't find much evidence one way or the other, but my instinct tells me that he would be all for a platoon if it is the best call production wise. Macha is a numbers guy. Listening to his presser, he pointed to stat evidence multiple times (off hand, I recall talking about needing to steal at a high percent to be useful and that the numbers behind giving up outs via the bunt don't make sense). If he's inclined in that direction, I don't know why he would hesitate to get a platoon advantage when he can. What's more, Macha has never been accused of being a players manager. So I'm not sure how much he worries about the "comfort" of players with their role.

Maybe there is something I'm not seeing here?

Greg Brock......Who?:

I think platoon's are a bad idea in general. 

I kinda see what you're getting at, GB. 

For myself, and as it pertains to last year's production, it wasn't so much the idea of a platoon that irked me, but moreso that neither member of the platoon (Hall/Counsell) could contribute the kind of numbers you would expect from a 3B in your lineup when they were playing.  It seemed like such an opportunity lost to me last year.

I think ideally you wouldn't want to be forced to use a platoon at 3B (like the Brewers are forced to) because you'd have an anchor at a position that historically has solid run producers playing there.  That make any sense?

Can you guys think of many other teams that employ a platoon at 3rd?