larry leads off . . . . pujol in two hole

over at the birdwatch, josh schultz offers a larry walker leadoff scenario that's even more unorthodox, and likely more potent, than the one i proposed t'other day: bat larry, albert, jimmy, and scotty in the first four slots in the order, with the pitcher hitting 8th and eckstein 9th. like this:

1. walker, rf
2. pujols, 1b
3. edmonds, cf
4. rolen, 3b
5. grud'k, 2b
6. sanders, rf
7. molina, c
8. mulder, p
9. eck'n, ss

after the 1st cycle through, the lineup would be functionally equivalent to the more traditional:

eck'n, ss
walker, rf
pujols, 1b
edmonds, cf
rolen, 3b
grud'k, 2b
sanders, rf
molina, c
mulder, p

with such a lineup, the first four cardinals to bat in ev'y game would have .400 obps or close thereto, and walker pujols and edmnds would get more late-inning at-bats over the course of the year while eckstein would get fewer. what sucks about that?


postscript: matthew leach addresses a question today at mlb.com about larry walker as cleanup hitter.