12/21/24
April 04, 2014
Would You Bat Bryce Harper Sixth?: ESPN's David Schoenfield and the Washington Post's Adam Kilgore puzzle over the decision by newbie Washington Nationals manager Matt Williams to bat Bryce Harper sixth against the New York Mets Wednesday. Harper hasn't batted from a spot that low since the first four games of his career. "For all the sabermetric advances in the game, such as the increased use of infield shifts, a lot of managers still use sub-optimal batting orders, failing to realize you're better off getting one of your best hitters higher in the order instead of worrying about having an RBI guy batting fifth or sixth," Schoenfield writes.
Oh God, what happened? Did grum stroke out in frustration?
posted by yerfatma at 02:27 PM on April 04, 2014
Ha! That last partial sentence was a copy of one of the earlier ones. I'm not sure how it got there.
posted by grum@work at 03:07 PM on April 04, 2014
Would You Bat Bryce Harper Sixth?
No.
If he's the best hitter in the lineup, he absolutely should not bat lower than 3rd. I want my best hitter to have a chance at an extra AB during a game, and scoring a run in the 1st inning also helps.
If he's extremely light on SLG but has OBP and wheels (like Rickey Henderson), then he bats 1st.
If he's heavier towards OBP than SLG (like Joe Mauer), I'd bat him 2nd.
If he can mash it (like Jose Bautista), I'd bat him 3rd.
If he can mash it, but doesn't have as high an OBP (like Edwin Encarnacion), then I'll put him in the 4th slot.
From 5th to 8th slot, I pretty much slot the remaining batters by OBP (best to worst) with some consideration for alternating LH/RH or putting the fastest remaining guys in the 8th/9th spot (if applicable).
If he's