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<\/p>\nTrying to jump into the mind of Terry Francona might actually be a little easier than those of many Major League Baseball managers. To be clear, that\u2019s no knock on the intellect of the future Hall of Famer \u2013 rather, it\u2019s an admission that the man speaks pretty openly about what it is he would really like to accomplish with his club.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s sold on TJ Friedl as his leadoff guy. He\u2019s going to hit Elly De La Cruz in the #3 spot almost every single day, though he\u2019s on record all over the place saying he\u2019s going to get him some more breaks this season.<\/p>\n
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Despite the former 1st rounders struggles with injuries and underperformance the last two seasons, Matt McLain is a Tito favorite. He\u2019s drawn Dustin Pedroia comps before, and the manager still seems more than willing to bat him 2nd in the lineup once again.<\/p>\n
Those three things sure appear to be the fixed tenets on this otherwise malleable, flexible roster. So, it\u2019s not a surprise that when I asked you earlier this week how many Cincinnati Reds hitters would top the 600 PA mark in 2026, you overwhelmingly responded with 3\u2026or more.<\/p>\n
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The 600 PA threshold may seem arbitrary, but it\u2019s a pretty decent measure of what a player who bats atop his team\u2019s order almost every single day should cross. Those are numbers of a \u2018regular,\u2019 and in 2025 only two players \u2013 Elly and Friedl \u2013 cleared that mark.<\/p>\n
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They cleared it by a ton, too, as Elly finished with 699 and Friedl with 685. It was actually that kind of blowing past the 600 mark that made me consider the question in the first place, as last year \u2013 despite a lot of flexibility up and down the roster \u2013 injuries, trades, and positional rotation caused a lot of players to get PA often, but not exactly be \u2018regular.\u2019<\/p>\n
McLain (577 PA) didn\u2019t get there due to getting dropped in the order and sat here and there amid his struggles. Spencer Steer (568) sure felt like a regular all year, but didn\u2019t get there, either.<\/p>\n
This year, it sure feels like Steer, and Sal Stewart, and Eugenio Su\u00e1rez should be regulars, but someone in this exercise is going to have to hit 6th, and that just simply doesn\u2019t stack the PA the way hitting up top does. There\u2019s also Ke\u2019Bryan Hayes in there siphoning PA while hitting 9th for most of every game before getting pinch-hit for late, and Noelvi Marte still assumed to be the everyday RF at this point of the spring despite some recent struggles (and quality depth behind him).<\/p>\n
The 2025 Seattle Mariners had four players with more than 600 PA (including a trio with more than 700), with the New York Mets sporting the exact same. The Texas Rangers and St. Louis Cardinals, meanwhile, had zero, for reference.<\/p>\n