Helton To Hit Cleanup?

Matt Holliday has no chance of being the best cleanup hitter in the majors again this year, and he's fine with that. Holliday was bumped to the No. 5 spot in the batting order in favor of slugger Todd Helton in an experiment that Colorado Rockies manager Clint Hurdle hopes will light up his lineup while burning more bullpens. "It's just something I've thought about over the winter," Hurdle said. "I want to find a way to put our best offense out on the field, our most dynamic offense, the offense in which our hitters can complement one another the best, provide more difficult matchups for the opposition, more decision-making for the manager, and to test the bullpen depth for the other side."

With their righties and lefties split up, the meat of the Rockies' lineup now looks like this: 3. righty Garrett Atkins, 4. left Helton, 5. righty Holliday and 6. lefty Brad Hawpe. Although Helton is a career .344 hitter from the cleanup spot, the danger in all this is messing with Holliday, who hit .334 with 34 homers and 82 RBI from the No. 4 spot last year. Helton is coming off the two least productive years of his career. Helton said he's in top shape thanks to a revised offseason conditioning program and is eager to reaffirm his status as one of the game's elite hitters. Consider Helton an injury-risk sleeper in the middle rounds on Draft Day. He cannot be counted on for 30 homers, but his OPS bat will produce runs and RBI far more affordably with your Draft Day dollar.
Source: CBS SportsLine.com