Pop at the top of a lineup

It depends. If you have guys to get on base in front of them then they should hit in a run producing spot. If not then lead off is a great spot for them because then they are the ones in scoring position.

quote:

Originally posted by Nicholas25:
How do you feel about hitting a run producer in the leadof spot? There may be several factors, but I like run producers; guys with pop, to be in spots to produce runs..

First of all, I’m assuming we’re talking about HS ball here, not kiddieball or something above HS ball. There’s millions of different OPINIONS about something like that, but there’s only one way to prove it whether its ”best” or not. MEASURE IT, then make a determination based on what’s actually happening as opposed to what you think is happening. Also, you have to be very sure about what your goal is. Is it to win or produce a lot of runs? They may not be the same thing.

I have to interject something here, and its based on fact, not opinion. I’ve spent a great deal of time looking at the same numbers in many different configurations, and one thing seems to be true much more often than not. Pitchers in general don’t do as well at just about anything with runners on base than not.

And while there are certainly plenty of reasons that could be why, my guess is its very simply that the pitcher’s focus with runners on is very often split between trying to do his job, which is to execute a pitch to his highest ability, and paying attention to a runner(s). The more attention he pays to the runners, the less he pays to his job, and the better its gonna be no matter who’s at bat.

But back to measuring what’s going on, once you’ve determined what your goal is, just count the number of wins, runs, or whatever your goal is with you “run producer” in the leadoff spot as opposed to having him bat in other spots. If you see any trend, then you can delve a bit deeper to see if it had anything to do with who was in front and behind him as well.

I want our leadoff hitter to be a catalyst--- arally igniter and keep in mind that he usually leadsoff only once in a game

If your leadoff hitter has as much pop as a 3 or 4 hole hitter, and you do not have a lot of guts with that pop, would you move him down? I agree there are many ways to look at it..

quote:

Originally posted by Nicholas25:
If your leadoff hitter has as much pop as a 3 or 4 hole hitter, and you do not have a lot of guts with that pop, would you move him down? I agree there are many ways to look at it..

Maybe I’m just not understanding what it is you’re looking for. Someplace along the line you, or the guy making up the lineup, has to look at what he has available, and how he wants his lineup to be constructed. If you want pop in traditional pop spots, then you make sure you have it before you stick someone you’ve defined as having pop in the leadoff spot. If you think its more important to have pop at the top, then it doesn’t matter if you have it in the traditional spots or not.

When I was dinking around with letting the computer make up the lineup by using stats, the 1st thing I did was determine which was the most important spot in the lineup, and define the characteristics necessary to determine which player would fill it. Then I continued doing that until I had all 9 spots chosen.

FI, I wanted the best hitter I available in the #3 slot, so I defined what the criteria were to determine the best hitter. Let’s assume for instance that was OPS+RUNS+RBIS+MOVING LEAD RUNNERS+BABIP and K:BB. 1st I’d determine the minimum # of PAs a player had to have, then I’d run the numbers for the players that met the minimum requirement. Once that player was determined, he was no longer considered for any of the other batting positions, then I ‘d go to the next most important BPOS, and do the same thing all over again.

Of course while all that’s going on, care has to be taken to make sure you don’t end up with 7 outfielders, so players have to also be given playing positions for the computer to weigh into the equation too. The thing is, once you’ve determined the criteria for each batting position, you can’t change it in the middle of the process, or at the end when it doesn’t look right, because as soon as you do, the philosophy you began with is gone.

So which BPOS is the most important for you? Pop at the top, or pop in traditional spots?

I have seen that done before. Hit your best hitters 1, 2, 3. I have done something like this before. I essentially chop my order off (assuming I don't have a very strong traditional 1 or 2 hitter). You can take your one and two and put them at 8 and 9. Move everyone else up 2 slots. So basically your #3 hitter is hitting leadoff with the same two people in front of him.

The upside is he gets more at bats over the course of the season. The downside is he won't have anyone on his first time up.

I think it is a good strategy if you don't have a particularly strong one or two hitter. The past few years, we have had a strong one and two hitters so we have used a more traditional batting order.