Let me introduce myself by saying that I'm a longtime reader, first time writer.  That reminds me of a Mr. Obvious bit, but I digress.

Recently, I've noticed a couple of posts on this site and opinions elsewhere that have suggested moving Duncan lower in the batting order (most commonly bumping Edmonds and hitting in the fifth spot behind Rolen).  It would seem to make sense given Edmonds continuing low batting line and the general lack of offense from everyone but Duncan (although Pujols and Rolen have both been coming on as of late).

Given Duncan's line, it would seem to make sense to give him more RBI opportunities.  My question is: how much of Duncan's showing thus far can be contributed to hitting in front of Pujols?

To my knowledge, when Duncan first came up last season, La Russa intentionally put him in front of Pujols so that he'd see plenty of fastballs.

Another issue is how different of a hitter Duncan seems to be with RISP.  Personally, I feel he becomes too aggressive, not uncommon for young players.  From baseball-reference.com, his career OPS w/RISP is .639.  In 2007, it's .833. That's an improvement but remember, with the exception of a few pinch at bats, this season he's been batting exclusively in front of Pujols.

Pitchers would undoubtedly pitch him differently if Speizio, Wilson (ugh), or even Encarnacion was his protection.  While Duncan's plate discipline has improved, I'm not so sure we could count on him to be the offensive force he is now if he were batting lower in the order.

I like Duncan and I want him to succeed (he's on my fantasy team), but I'm not so sure he's the solution lower in the order.