This is a question always bothers me. I see a lot of good hitters with high average, good speed & fairly good power batting lead off. But with the 3rd and 4th batter strike out a lot over the season, their travel team didn't do well. It's almost a similar situation as Seattle's Ichiro, this guy average 225 hits over 8 years, but the Mariners getting worse every year. Despite the pitching factor, they could not out score other team either.
So, my question is why don't we put the good hitter (Ichiro-like hitter) bat 3rd or 4th? Any ideas?
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