Terry Shuffles Lineup, Who Should Bat Cleanup?

I like what Collins did in finally moving Bay down in the order.  I know it was made easier because guys like Murphy, Turner and Pagan are hitting so well right now.  But, it was a much deserved demotion for Jason who has not been the player we thought we were signing.  WIth Bay out as the Cleanup hitter for now, the question is who should bat 4th and what are some other lineup possibilities?

Collins put Murphy there on Saturday and Sunday, and it worked as we won and Murph had two hits in both games.  I was wondering about some other options, especially since we have no real true cleanup hitter other than Beltran.  What are some other lineup possibilities Terry Could use?

The first one I thought of had Pagan batting 3rd followed by Beltran, and would look like this.

1.Reyes 2.Turner 3.Pagan 4.Beltran 5.Murphy 6.Bay 7.Thole 8.Tejada

The second one I thought of had Murphy batting 3rd in front of Carlos, and would look like this

1.Reyes 2.Turner 3.Murphy 4.Beltran 5.Pagan 6.Bay 7.Thole 8.Tejada

Collins used this lineup on Saturday:

1.Reyes 2.Turner 3.Beltran 4.Murphy 5.Pagan 6.Bay 7.Thole 8.Tejada

I see Terry’s logic in this lineup that he used. Daniel Murphy has been scorching lately, and his batting .500, 18-36 over his last 10 games. He currently hitting .309 and is on an 8 game hitting streak, 7 of which have been multi-hit games. He clearly gives Beltran the most protection right now, with Pagan to follow who has also been hot in his own right.

I think if you move Murph to 3rd and have him protected by Beltran you could see his power numbers go up. In that situation Beltran would still be protected by Pagan and (cough, Cough) Bay. If Pagan batted 3rd then the hot hitting Murphy would be behind Beltran. I don’t know if any of this really matters since we are missing two of our most keys guys. But since we know they will be gone for at least about a month, it’s worth exploring what the best lineup options are.

Of the lineups I have here, Which one do you think is the best right now? Or, do you have a better option?

Check out my blog at BigAppleMetsTalk.com, or you can follow me on Twitter, here.