MINNEAPOLIS — White Sox manager Rick Renteria lineup constructions and affection for the bunt have become almost daily affronts to data-driven baseball thinkers.
Too bad, a rather fired-up Renteria said during a passionate pregame discussion about what goes into his decision-making. While he doesn’t discount what numbers suggest he should or shouldn’t do, Renteria is also going to go with his instincts and what he knows from watching and communicating with his players every day.
“I don’t discount numbers. Never have, never will,” Renteria said. “But I’m a balance guy. I’m not going to appeal to the sabermetrician on a daily basis. Never will. Never want to. Not my intent. If they don’t like it, I don’t really give a s—-.”
The steady, upbeat Renteria rarely uses language in publc that requires a bleep. So the subject obviously touched a nerve.
“Most people want to go through just statistically based decisions,” he said. “OK, I’m not that guy. I trust myself and the things I do. I think there’s a balance.
“I do things because I think it’s the right thing for me to do. I know everybody has their opinion. Maybe it puts me on the outs. That’s fine. But I’m going to do what I think I need to do with the guys I have.”
Renteria’s lineups are rarely the same from day to day, one reason they’re a popular target of naysayers on Twitter. There’s rhyme and reason to them, Renteria said, especially for a team entrenched in player development mode.
“I know my guys,” he said. “I know what they are capable of doing. It may not always work out. I can’t defend something I can’t quantify because everybody wants history behind it. But you can’t develop history unless you allow an opportunity for an individual to be put in a particular situation for an extended period of time.”
Common strategy among most modern managers is to bat the best hitters near the top of the lineup because they get more at-bats, one reason Renteria gets questioned for often batting Tim Anderson, a .330 hitter, seventh in his lineup. The same can be said for hitting Jon Jay, a .268 hitter with limited power, fourth on a fairly regular basis of late. Or AJ Reed, a power hitting waiver claim who struggled with the Sox the same way he struggled with the Astros before being demoted to Class AAA Charlotte.
With Yoan Moncada out of an already thin lineup, the options are limited.
“He gives you a quality at-bat,” Renteria said of Jay.
On Tuesday, Anderson would bat second against Twins right-hander Michael Pineda — a spot for Anderson usually against lefties — while rookie Eloy Jimenez was elevated to fourth.
“I have conversations about Timmy hitting second, Eloy hitting fourth,” Renteria said. “First of all I do have conversations with the players. Timmy has been showing a lot better both against lefties and righties. He’s expressed that. He’s actually embracing the idea of possibly hitting second for us here.
“Why do I say possibly? Because once Yoan returns [from the injured list any day now] maybe I’m thinking about slotting Yoan at the four hole. So I have to do some things to kind of prepare for that particular move.
“So if people are curious as to why, that’s one of the reasons why. Putting Eloy in the No. 4 hold right now is also because potentially down the road that’s where he can hit. So, I’m giving them and myself a different look.”
