How Will the Twins Align the Top of the Lineup in 2024?

So much value in having a guy like Polanco in the 2 hole. If he’s actually traded, do you see Correa and Lewis sliding up with Buxton batting 3rd?

It would be great to see Lee or Martin up towards the top of the order, but that probably wouldn’t be until later in the year.

We will see if all of these guys are still on the roster in a month. But you are right, they will have a strong lineup. 

Building a traditional top-of-the-lineup with purely tactical advantages in mind (speed at the top, bat control #2, power in the third spot) means that 60+ percent of the time the first assumption of getting the speedster on base doesn't even happen, and then even if he does the second guy may fail 60% of the time in his role, likewise the third batter.  40% times 40% times 40% gets down below a one in ten chance that a traditional choreography pans out, in these tactical terms.

Better to just put three top offensive bats at the top and just let them accrue more plate appearances than their lesser teammates.  They'll get on base, then drive each other in, because they're good.  It's rare that a player with otherwise good batting skills is so deficient in the other aspects of scoring runs that you have to do anything drastic.

Since one of those candidates, Julien, has a strong platoon split, this means a different preferred starting lineup depending on who pitches (as the article states).  Jeffers isn't mentioned in the article, but if you believe in his bat, then he belongs high in the batting order on the days he catches, while someone else takes his place up there on his days off.  Finally, the trend is to rest players periodically, moreso than in decades past, so whoever at the top of your preferred lineup will be replaced by someone on those rest days.

All in all, I don't expect to see anything resembling a set batting order this season.  Pragmatism will be the keyword.

We all know the MO has been to change the lineup every fricken day. Jow I wish we could have an honest discussion about who slots in were. But I think it's a waste of time . 

I think this article shows that Polanco holds a lot of value to the Twins. May bat second no matter who is pitching. Not sure they are going to be willing to trade that value without getting the same in return. After reading this I think he is less likely to be traded.

1 hour ago, jmlease1 said:

A lot of it depends on how much the Twins try to stack their lineups against pitching matchups, but if I were going to go pitcher-independent, it would probably look something like this (assuming it's the roster we have right now):

1. Julien
2. Polanco
3. Correa
4. Kirilloff
5. Buxton
6. Wallner
7. Lewis
8. Kepler
9. Jeffers

Dang, that's potentially a really brutal lineup to have to face. Seems harsh to slot Lewis in at 7, but Correa is the best fit to hit 3rd and if we keep our lefties split up then it's either 5th, 7th, or 9th. Do I have too much faith in Kirilloff as a hitter? Maybe, but I like his upside a lot. If he's healthy, he hits. Feel free to bump Wallner or Kepler up higher if you don't believe in Kirilloff.

If Martin makes the roster, he could fit in nicely up top against lefties. His skill set is quite good for leadoff, IMHO.

interesting, but there's no way Kirilloff can hit in the #4 hole based on past performance. I understand wanting a left-handed hitter there to break up the right-handed hitters and to avoid a slew of LH hitters in the 5-8 spots. The problem is that none of the LH hitters are good enough to hit #4 other than the second half 2023 Kepler and who knows if that's ever coming again. Also, you cannot have Lewis hit 7. The difference between each spot in the order is 15 to 18 plate appearances a season (150 game base). The difference between #3 and #7 spots in the order is 60 to 90 plate appearances a season. You can't give those to Kirilloff over Lewis. Has to be the other way around. 

Here's a thought about what I would do (he says throwing it out there and waiting for the probably justified criticism)

Julien

Polanco

Lewis

Buxton

Correa

Kirilloff/Miranda

Kepler

Jeffers

Wallner