Baseball: Batting Order

When you were a kid playing baseball, if you were lucky enough to find up to 18 kids to play a regulation game, when it came to batting order, you pretty much took your best hitter and put him in cleanup, or fourth in order. and he just threw everyone else anywhere he could think of. It didn’t really matter.

Major League Baseball managers have to think a little more about their lineups. Every place in the order, from 1 to 9, is important. You will never see a manager simply “pitch” someone to a spot in the lineup. So if you are a manager, what do you keep in mind when making a lineup?

The leadoff hitter may very well be one of the biggest hitters in the game. Statistics show that when your leadoff hitter, or number one hitter, reaches base, your team is more likely to score in that inning than if it doesn’t. That’s why it’s important that you have a leadoff hitter who can run fast, has a good eye at the plate, and is a contact hitter. You don’t want someone who’s always swinging over fences. You want someone with a good eye so they can draw a lot of rides. You want someone who can run fast so they can beat a lot of hits in the infield and maybe even stretch a single into a double. All of these things will help him hit more often and have more chances to score runs.

Your number two hitter is someone who should also be a contact hitter and maybe have a little power. He doesn’t have to be a home run hitter, but he should be able to hit the doubles holes to drive home a quick run if the leadoff hitter comes up and maybe steals a base, another benefit of being quick.

His number 3, 4 and 5 hitters are actually almost interchangeable. Everyone should have good power and be able to hit at least 30 home runs per season. These are the guys who will drive most of your careers. Some managers put their strongest hitter in third and fourth place. The ones who put their strongest hitter in third place are the ones who want the best chance of picking him up in the first inning to bring in at least a couple of runs. The ones who put him in fourth place are the ones who want to maximize running potential even though there is a chance that he won’t get up in the first as there are only 3 outs in an inning.

Your 6, 7, and 8 hitters are usually your weakest hitters, from strongest to weakest in that order. However, hitter number 8 is very important. You want someone down there who has the best chance of getting to base somehow so the pitcher doesn’t start the next inning. So slot number 8 is one where you don’t want to put an automatic exit.

Slot number 9 is always for the pitcher, as you want him to hit as few times as possible in the game. Most pitchers are bad hitters, and therefore you don’t want them near a bat.

Of course, there are many strategies for making lineups, but these are the basics. If you stick to these, you should have no trouble putting together a good lineup for your team.