Who Bats Where?
A good percentage of comments on this blog relate to “who bats where” in the batting order. … and on and on… Where should everyone hit? A better question is: “Does it matter?’ Modern sabermetric studies have found that batting order matters, but the difference between a good lineup and a perfectly optimized lineup is usually only about 10 to 20 runs over an entire season, which translates to roughly…
A good percentage of comments on this blog relate to “who bats where” in the batting order.
- “Shohei should bat cleanup.”
- “Freddie should be the number three hitter.”
- “No, Freddie should hit second.”
- “Max Muncy should hit cleanup.”
- “Mookie should hit 9th.”
… and on and on…
Where should everyone hit?
A better question is: “Does it matter?’
Modern sabermetric studies have found that batting order matters, but the difference between a good lineup and a perfectly optimized lineup is usually only about 10 to 20 runs over an entire season, which translates to roughly 1 to 2 wins.
A few things do matter:
- Your best hitters should get the most plate appearances
- That’s why teams often hit stars like Shohei Ohtani or Mookie Betts near the top.
- The leadoff hitter gets about 15-20 more plate appearances per season than the #2 hitter and roughly 70 more than the #5 hitter.
- The #2 spot is often the most valuable
- Traditional baseball put the “bat control” guy second.
- Analytics showed that the #2 hitter comes up in many high-leverage situations while still getting nearly as many plate appearances as the leadoff man.
- That’s why stars often hit second today.
- Avoid stacking weak hitters
- A lineup with three automatic outs in a row creates inning-killing dead zones.
- Protection is mostly overrated
- The old idea that a slugger hits better because another slugger bats behind him has very little statistical support.
For the Dodgers, the bigger issue isn’t whether Freddie Freeman hits second or third. It’s that they can roll out something like Ohtani, Betts, Freeman, Max Muncy, Will Smith, Andy Pages, and Dalton Rushing in the same lineup. The quality of the hitters matters far more than the exact order.
One famous quote from analyst and author Tom Tango captures it well:
“The best lineup is important. Getting the best players is far more important.”
In other words, Dave Roberts can spend hours deciding whether Freeman should hit second and Ohtani first, but he’d rather have eight great hitters arguing about lineup spots than eight average hitters perfectly arranged.
Charlotte Knights 4 – OKC Comets 3
LHSP Jackson Ferris gave up a solo HR in the 1st. In the 2nd-4th innings, he allowed a double but no runs.
In the OKC 3rd inning, DH Zach Ehrhard drew a 1-out BB, and went to 3rd on 3B Tommy Edman’s single. Edman stole 2nd. Ehrhard scored the tying run when 1B James Tibbs III grounded out. RF Jack Suwinski singled to score Edman.
In the 5th, Ferris walked the first batter. The 2nd batter reached on a fielding error. A 2nd BB loaded the bases. A 2-run single followed. The next batter hit a sac bunt with the 3rd run scoring and RHRP Ryder Ryan relieving Ferris.
Ryan and RHRP Carlos Duran shut down the Knights through the 8th.
OKC scored a run in the 8th to get closer. A 2-out single by Edman and a run scoring double (17) by JTIII. JTIII’s double was the only XBH for OKC.
In his final rehab game, Tommy Edman went 3-4 and scored 2 runs. He had the only multi-hit game for OKC.
Tulsa Drillers 21 – Wichita Wind Surge (Minnesota) 10
Tulsa scored in every inning they batted except the 2nd. Every Driller had at least 1 hit.
After four consecutive plus starts, LHSP Adam Serwinowski had a bit of a letdown. He gave up a lead off BB and a two out run scoring double for a 1-0 lead.
Tulsa came back with authority. They sent 12 to the plate and 6 scored. DH Josue De Paula was issued a BB and RF Mike Sirota was HBP. This was good to push his on base streak to 53. SS Elijah Hainline singled to load the bases. With one out, 3B Kyle Nevin singled in a run with the bases remaining loaded. 1B Chris Newell hit a SF for the Drillers 2nd run. CF Kole Myers hit an RBI single, and 2B Sean McLain blasted a 3-run HR (3).
In the top of the 2nd, Serwinowski gave up a solo HR.
In the 3rd, McLain walked, stole 2nd, and scored on JDP’s RBI single.
In the 4th, Serwinowski allowed a double and BB before being lifted for LHRP Evan Shaw. Shaw hit the first two batters he faced, forcing in a run, charged to Serwinowski.
In the bottom half of the 4th inning, Hainline doubled and scored on a 2-out 2-run 1B Chris Newell HR (9).
With Shaw still pitching in the 5th, he allowed a 2-out double and single putting runners on 1st and 3rd. The lead runner scored on a WP.
In the bottom of the 5th, newly signed catcher Hayen Gilliland (1) and JDP (11) hit solo HRs.
In the 6th, Shaw hit his 3rd batter. He got the ground ball but it was booted and runners moved to 1st and 3rd. After 1 out, LHRP Christian Suarez came in to relieve Shaw. Two WP and a two out single plated the two inherited runners.
In the bottom of the 6th, Hope had a leadoff double. Nevin and Newell walked to load the bases. Myers hit a SF and with one out, Gilliland hit a 2-run single.
Suarez allowed three runs in the 7th after a walk, single, WP and pickoff throwing error scored 1. A two run double scored two more and RHRP Kelvin Ramirez relieved Suarez. He gave up a solo HR before getting out of the inning.
Tulsa broke it open in the 7th. Sirota singled and Hainline doubled (10) him to 3rd. LF Zyhir Hope singled to score Sirota and Hainline to 3rd. Hainline scored and Hope to 2nd on a double steal. Nevin drew a BB. Myers hit a RBI single scoring Hope. McLain hit a 3-run HR (4) for his 2nd 3-run HR of the game.
Nevin hit his 6th HR in the 8th.
RHRP Antonio Knowles finished the 9th to end the game.
- Josue De Paula – 3-4, 2 BB, 2 runs, 2 RBI, HR (11)
- Elijah Hainline – 3-6, 3 runs, 2 doubles (10)
- Zyhir Hope – 2-6, 2 runs, 1 RBI, double (12)
- Kyle Nevin – 2-4, 2 BB, 4 runs, 2 RBI, HR (6)
- Kole Myers – 2-4, 2 runs, 2 RBI, SF
- Sean McLain – 2-4, 1 BB, 3 runs, 6 RBI, 2 HR (10)
- Hayden Gilliland – 2-4, 1 BB, 1 run, 3 RBI, HR (1)
- Chris Newell – 1-4, 1 BB, 2 runs, 3 RBI, HR (9)
- Mike Sirota – 1-4, 1 BB, 1 HBP, 2 runs
Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (Wisconsin) 7 – Great Lakes Loons 3
RF Eduardo Quintero hit a 1-out double (13) and scored on a 2-out SS Emil Morales’ single.
After LHSP Sterling Patick retired the side in order in the first, the Loons got a pair of doubles by LF Samuel Munoz (5) and 2B Jose Izarra (8).
Everything went south from there. In the 2nd, Wisconsin scored on a HR of Patick. In the 3rd, Wisconsin scored a tying run after a single, WP, and double. In the 4th, with Patick still pitching, he allowed a BB, single, RBI single and SF to have a 4-2 lead.
In the top of the 5th, Izarra had a 1-out single and moved to 2nd on a fielding error. Izarra scored on CF Chuck Davalan’s RBI single, climbing to within 1.
But in the bottom of the 5th, Wisconsin scored three off LHRP Matt Lanzendorfer. A HBP, BB, and a 3-run HR pushed the lead to 7-3.
Both teams went silent after the 5th.
Jose Izarra was 2-3 with a double (8). He was the only GL batter with more than one hit. Eduardo Quintero (13) and Samuel Munoz had the other XBH for Great Lakes.
Lake Elsinore Storm (San Diego) 8 – Ontario Tower Buzzers 7
Ontario jumped out to a lead in the 2nd. LF Brendan Tunink tripled (1) and scored ahead of DH Easton Shelton’s 20th HR.
Ontario scored another in the 4th. Shelton walked to lead off the inning. One out later, CF Landyn Vidourek also walked. Shelton scored on a single by C Conner O’Neal.
Ontario’s RHSP Tyler Gough pitched 4 scoreless innings on 1 hit and 1 BB. In the 5th, Gough gave up a lead off single and then struck out the next batter before being relieved by RHRP Jose Cabrera, who lost control of the game.
Cabrera faced 5 batters and did not record an out. HBP, WP, BB, HBP, 2 run single, and BB. Three runs in, and he left the bases loaded for RHRP Angel Cruz. Cruz walked the first three batters he faced for three runs. After a K, Cruz hit another batter for another run. He struck out the final batter of the inning. Let’s tally that up. 13 batters came to plate:
- 5 BB
- 3 HBP
- 2 singles
- 3 strike outs
- 7 runs
In the 6th inning, Ontario climbed back into the game. With 1 out, Vidourek (5) and O’Neal (5) hit solo HR. RF Mairo Martinus singled and RF Ching-Hsien Ko drew a BB. 3B Chase Harlan followed with a 2-run double (15).
RHRP Brock Stewart rehab appearance. He allowed a single in his 1.0 IP with 2 K. He threw 19 pitches (13 strikes).
RHRP Jesus Tillero pitched a scoreless 7th and 8th inning, with 1 hit and 1 K. Tillero came back out on the 9th, and on the 1st pitch of the inning, the sailed out over the CF wall for a walk of HR, for a 9-8 win.
- Chase Harlan – 2-5, 2 RBI, double (10)
- Conner O’Neal – 2-3, 1 BB,1 run, 2 RBI, HR (5)
- Landyn Vidourek – 1-3, 2 BB, 1 run, 1 RBI, HR (5)
- Easton Shelton – 1-3, 2 BB, 2 runs, 2 RBI, HR (20)
- Ching Hsien-Ko – 1-3, 2 BB, 1 run, double (10)
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Discussion (104)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Actually, I read earlier today that Doc is thinking Edman won’t be activated until tomorrow.
There we differ my friend. I think he is always one pitch away from totally losing it. Happened on Sunday and has happened before. If he can get past the sixth, then he usually looks ok.
Thanks Matt.
Actually, it does. He has hit 3 or 4 most of his career and has done well there, why upset the apple cart putting him in a place he does not look comfortable.
“Midway through June, Edman’s return is at last on the horizon, as he wrapped up his rehab assignment with Triple-A Oklahoma City over the weekend and is expected to be activated from the 60-day injured list this homestand, likely on Tuesday, per manager Dave Roberts”.
Well, that’s cryptic… Were the Sox running on him? Stealing signs?
10:10 PM ET Rays (41-27) Dodgers (45-27) SP Nick Martinez R 6-2 2.43 ERA SP Eric Lauer L 2-5 5.47 ERA Confirmed Lineup DH S. Ohtani L CF Andy Pages R 1B F. Freeman L SS Mookie Betts R 3B Max Muncy L RF Kyle Tucker L LF Ryan Ward L C D. Rushing L 2B A. Freeland S 73° Wind 9 mph Out Can Lauer keep the ball in the yard tonight?
Dodger fans seem to be voting early and often for the all-stars. First returns show Max with a BIG lead at 3B–hooray!–and Pages ahead of all outfielders by a narrow margin. Freddie , now in his 15th season (!),is also leading at 1B in a fairly close contest with Olsen and Harper. Mookie, despite his struggles, is 2nd at SS behind CJ Abrams, who is having a breakout year. And Smith is second at catcher behind Drake Baldwin, also busting out in a big way. Oh yeah, Shohei isn’t just leading at DH, but leading all players in total votes for the first time in his career. (I am surprised that has happened before, but perhaps now fans everywhere just accept he’s the greatest player ever.) Also of note: –Miguel Vargas is third in voting at 3B in the American League. Well-deserved. –Belli is on pace to make the AL outfield,. Nice. –Trout, having something of a comeback year, is second in AL OF vote behind Judge. I’m happy to see that. –Blue Jays fans also seem to be voting early and often. Ernie Clement is rightfully leading at 2B, while Vlad Jr is perhaps wrongfully leading at 1B. I like Vlad, but at least three rivals are having better seasons. Vlad has been getting his hits and getting on base, but he has only 3 HRs, the same as Ryan Ward has had in more than 200 fewer ABs.
He does with me.
I think Tucker has had enough success to indicate he will have a much better finish to the season.
I disagree
Leading baseball in double plays (offensively) and recently going 2 – 18 with RISP doesn’t work against good teams. And you can’t blame one player, they all contributed to the above stats. Maybe Edman can alleviate some of that.
Hope your right, Bear. We all know Doc loves platooning. I think Ward will surprise us if we give him the rest of the year and he seems to have shed the poor fielder label with his play in the show so far. I like him as a bench piece
WEll put. And that’s not even taking into account the 40 man crunch and the downside of starting a player’s MLB clock.
ERA is not a great stat to go off of.
Wow, Badger, what would you say about Mookie’s recent performance if you compared him to Kims. Kim runs the bases well, plays superb defense and was hitting 380 last week. He hit .271 last year and close to that this year and had been shuffled back and forth a few times. No bad for a guy who played OF, 2B, SS and 3B. Any healthy Dodger doing that now?
Roberts comment on how it takes time for a young player is why I don’t see Tibbs or Ernhard joining the team anytime soon. It’s the downside to having a team that makes the playoffs every year. That same article also mentions that since the calendar flipped to June, the Dodgers’s bullpen has allowed 32 runs in 38 1/3 innings (a 7.51 ERA). Just before that, the same pen had a 38 inning scoreless streak. Nothing like reverting back to the mean.
” Add cash with Tucker and he becomes tradable.” Sure, add $30-35 mil per year cash and he becomes tradeable. Although at the rate he’s currently hitting you might have to also throw JDP or Sirota into the deal.
small sample size doesn’t matter.
Not this year unless it is a total emergency. You are expecting a lot out of a kid who has all of 4 MLB games under his belt and that was 2 years ago. He has pitched in just 7 games so far at AAA. Rushing things a bit aren’t we???
Sheehan does not inspire confidence.
Ardaya’s latest ($$$$$) https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7360770/2026/06/14/dodgers-thoughts-bullpen-miguel-vargas-mookie-betts/ Roberts on Miguel Vargas’ emergence: If or when Andy Pages is named an All-Star, he will be the first homegrown position player to do so for the Dodgers since Will Smith (who debuted in 2019). Vargas has a case to join him in Philadelphia … He looks every bit the type of player who was so intriguing in the Dodgers’ system… this is a full-on breakout this season. “He’s thriving,” Dave Roberts said this weekend. “And with young players it takes time.” He didn’t have the luxury of time with the Dodgers, who gave him the everyday job out of position at second base to start 2023, but by the time they traded him a year later, they didn’t really have a spot for him. Also great bits on Betts’ underlying hitting analytics and musing about trading Ward (ala Outman) at the deadline.
Saw some interesting comments by Dalton Rushing saying that he was “exposed” as a catcher by the White Sox. Got me curious as to the subject of the catcher’s ERA. Anybody know where we sit on that stat?
Who would you trade for Aroldis Chapman? Boston traded Tibbs III and Ehrhard, maybe they aree having 2nd thoughts. I wouldn’t trade both, but one and a lottery ticket?
Sheehan for four, never more – needs a back, but never Jack!