Here’s the Rangers’ lineup for Game 1 of the World Series tonight against Tim Lincecum:
1. Elvis Andrus, SS
2. Michael Young, 3B
3. Josh Hamilton, CF
4. Vladimir Guerrero, RF
5. Nelson Cruz, LF
6. Ian Kinsler, 2B
7. Bengie Molina, C
8. Mitch Moreland, 1B
9. Cliff Lee, P
Playing under NL rules means no designated hitter to hide Guerrero’s bad knees, so he’s playing the outfield for the first time this postseason and just the second time since September 1. Of course, he started 16 games in the outfield overall this year and has logged a total of nearly 14,000 career innings in right field, so Guerrero having to play defense isn’t such a big deal beyond his poor range.
David Murphy is the odd man out despite a) being a left-handed hitter, b) having a higher OPS against right-handed pitching than Guerrero this year, and c) being a vastly superior defender. Of course, Ron Washington won’t even move Guerrero out of the cleanup spot, so whether or not you think it would have been the correct decision there was zero chance of the Rangers’ manager actually benching him.