Livan officially No. 5; How the lineup will look

Two announcements regarding the Mets in '09 spilled from the mouth of Jerry Manuel today.

The big, but totally un-shocking, news out of Port St. Lucie today: Livan Hernandez is the Mets No. 5 starter.

Surprise, surprise.

More importantly, the lineup will likely look like this for most days, even against left-handed starters...

1. Jose Reyes
2. Daniel Murphy
3. David Wright
4. Carlos Delgado
5. Carlos Beltran
   
6. Ryan Church
7. Brian Schneider
8. Luis Castillo
9. Pitcher

According to Adam Rubin, Manuel likes this lineup because he wants speed (Castillo) in front of the pitcher for possible sacrifice bunts and likes the way Beltran hits right-handed. Murphy will bat second when he plays.

This goes back to a conversation Joe Janish and I had yesterday where we discussed the lineup possibilities. I had Wright batting either third or fifth, but Janish maintained you want your best hitter getting an AB in the first inning. Seems he will get his wish.

I like it. I posted a lineup before with Wright and Beltran switched. I think they're both great hitters and the team won't suffer if they were switched or not. It's probably better to get Wright an AB ASAP. So I can definetely live with this.