Ryan Ludwick Batting Second In Big Game Against Pittsburgh

Every arm chair manager in Cincinnati will do a double take on the Reds lineup.

Ryan Ludwick will be the ninth player to hit in the second spot in the batting order.

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d The first question that Baker had to answer in the pre-game press conference was, Why Ludwick?  For some reason, very few people in Cincinnati has agreed with Baker's choice all season.

Baker explained, "I talked to Luddy about it.  He said that he batted second some in St. Louis.  I didn't see him as really being ready 100 percent.  They were walking Joey and then I had him between Joey walking a lot and Jay (Bruce) prone to the strikeout.  Ludwick was not very hot.  I was taking him out of the game late for defense, so we had a huge hole in the lineup.  If we went to extra innings, we had a big hole.  It came to me at night like things usually do.  I thought, 'Let me talk to him about it.' "

On Tuesday with Ludwick batting fourth behind Joey Votto, the Mets walked Votto a record five times.

The plan coming out of spring training, Brandon Phillips was going to bat second with Ludwick the cleanup hitter batting fourth between Votto and Bruce.

Ludwick injured his shoulder in the third inning of the first game of the season.  He missed four months, leaving Baker to scramble to fill the second spot in the lineup.