Thread: who is going to bat leadoff for the twins?

I want my best hitter and they guy who hits best with RISP to bat third. In this case, that's Mauer. I'll put my best power hitter at #4. If it's the same guy (like Pujols for years) I'll bat him 3rd.

Originally Posted by ThePuck

I want my best hitter and they guy who hits best with RISP to bat third. In this case, that's Mauer. I'll put my best power hitter at #4. If it's the same guy (like Pujols for years) I'll bat him 3rd.

Why wouldn't you want that person batting 4th? I have to wonder who more likely comes up with RISP, the 3rd or 4th hitter. I believe I read somewhere that it was the 4th hitter.

(Consider Mauer vs. Willingham's RBI chances in 2012).

A general rule might be quite simple: stack the order based on OBP alone. I would like to see some team experiment with that.

Originally Posted by Shane Wahl

Why wouldn't you want that person batting 4th? I have to wonder who more likely comes up with RISP, the 3rd or 4th hitter. I believe I read somewhere that it was the 4th hitter.

(Consider Mauer vs. Willingham's RBI chances in 2012).

If the #3 hitter is leading the league in OBP like Mauer, then I'd say it's the #4 hitter.

I believe it's both the 4th and 5th spots that see more RISP than the 3rd.

The 3rd spot also comes up with 2 out and the bases empty more often than any other.

I think it depends on how good the 2nd baseman is of each team that follows the play second/bat second philosophy.

Originally Posted by snepp

I believe it's both the 4th and 5th spots that see more RISP than the 3rd.

The 3rd spot also comes up with 2 out and the bases empty more often than any other.

Yeah, that seems right. Clearly that is correct about the number 3 hitter, hence the benefit of having a power hitter there. I have to imagine that a lot of Mauer's RISP RBI came with Span and Revere 1-2 during Revere's hot streak in the middle of the season. Span and Revere around that time were both .350+ OBP, I believe. It doesn't look possible to replicate that this year, so Mauer has to be one of the top two. I can't see how Mastroianni's .325-.330 OBP is good enough at the top. I don't see any candidates other than Hicks and Carroll.

I don't know who bats 1, 2, 3 but I think the key is to not put a pair of .210 hitters a head of Mauer because they are fast or middle infielders. Unless someone is signed though I'd put Mauer 2nd behind who is playing CF