If you had a choice who would be your choice for the #4 spot? Batter A...Right hand hitter who pulls balls foul a lot but also has a little bit of power to the gaps and weakly rolls change ups to 3rd. Rarely draws walks. Has struck out about 4 times in 30 games. Batter B....Left hand hitter who rarely pulls the ball but has lots of power to center and opposite field. Usually crushes change ups and does draw walks. Has struck out about 8 times in 30 games. Batter A has more hits but Batter B has more doubles. This is 2nd year 12's in case you're wondering. Interested on how DFP looks at this. What do you look for in a clean up hitter?
Clean up hitter
- Thread starter Bubrox
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WARRIORMIKE
Pro-Staff Everything
I would make them my 3rd and 4th batter. You cant go wrong with either batter at those spots. Does that make sense??
Ok what I mean is your thinking way to much. Both these girls can hit the ball. Whatever you decide on will be good. Sounds like on any given day these girls will produce..........
Ok what I mean is your thinking way to much. Both these girls can hit the ball. Whatever you decide on will be good. Sounds like on any given day these girls will produce..........
I'd put the higher OBP girl at #3. But it's not going to matter that much. As long as the girls who get on base the most are batting toward the top, lineup is overrated, IMO.
In my first four spots always go the girls with the least amount of strikeouts who reasonably fill the roles. So, with twice as many Ks, player B doesn't even get a look from me if I'm comparing her to player A.
I hate strikeouts. They don't make the defense do anything and they don't move runners along.
I have #1 and #2 hitters with unbelievable OBP and who both have the ability (although through different means) to get into scoring position all on their own. My cleanup hitter needs to be a girl with pop who consistently puts the ball in play. I do not want strikeouts here! Strikeouts with runners in scoring position lose games! At #4, I like tenacious hitters who will even swing at a marginal pitch every now and then .... but they will hit that pitch. The girl needs to know that her job in my lineup is to drive in runs and she must be willing to do that with whatever the pitcher gives her, even if it means a lazy fly ball or a ground ball to a middle infielder or a double to the gap.
I have increasingly gone to my best hitter batting in the #2 slot and my most dangerous power hitter going at #3. Getting a 2-run or 3-run HR from the #3 spot is devastating to your opponents!
My #4 needs to be difficult to strike out and deadly serious about driving in runs and aggressively attacking the ball.
I hate strikeouts. They don't make the defense do anything and they don't move runners along.
I have #1 and #2 hitters with unbelievable OBP and who both have the ability (although through different means) to get into scoring position all on their own. My cleanup hitter needs to be a girl with pop who consistently puts the ball in play. I do not want strikeouts here! Strikeouts with runners in scoring position lose games! At #4, I like tenacious hitters who will even swing at a marginal pitch every now and then .... but they will hit that pitch. The girl needs to know that her job in my lineup is to drive in runs and she must be willing to do that with whatever the pitcher gives her, even if it means a lazy fly ball or a ground ball to a middle infielder or a double to the gap.
I have increasingly gone to my best hitter batting in the #2 slot and my most dangerous power hitter going at #3. Getting a 2-run or 3-run HR from the #3 spot is devastating to your opponents!
My #4 needs to be difficult to strike out and deadly serious about driving in runs and aggressively attacking the ball.
If they're the same hitter, except one strikes out more, then that makes sense. But what if one hits .400 and strikes out 20%, while another hits .300 and strikes out 10%, wouldn't you rather have the .400/20% at the plate w/ runners on base? That extra 10 percent of getting a hit is guaranteed to move a runner, but the extra 10 percent of putting the ball in play is not.
(Confession: My DD strikes out too much.)
Need. More. Data. But in general, your best SLG goes #4. To paraphrase LAS, top 4 hitters by wOBA (or OPS if that's your thing) bat 1-4, with top OBP #1, top wOBA #2, next best OBP #3, and top SLG #4.
At 12U, though, my goal is to space my outs evenly so that I never have 3 in a row in the lineup. KISS.
At 12U, though, my goal is to space my outs evenly so that I never have 3 in a row in the lineup. KISS.
I kind of got the impression these girls were fairly equal statistically.
Either way, a .300 hitter on my team is struggling to bat even at the bottom of the order and is probably getting DPd in important tourneys.
Cannonball
Ex "Expert"
- Feb 25, 2009
- 4,880
- 113
So, where does lefty hit in the lineup? Example 1 is the current #4 hitter.
Here is another take I have used recently that has produced more runs for us. It is non conventional but it has shown positive results. I take my traditional 3 and 4 hitters, move them to 1/2, move my 2 hitter who can bunt slap, sacrifice into 3 hole to move them if needed. Best contact hitter into the 4 hole. Then start over with speed and power in the middle, and contact at the bottom.
It looks like this:
Old order: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9
New order: 3,4,2,1,5,6,7,8,9
We are averaging 2 more runs per game, and getting the best hitters and my power hitters an extra at bat per game. We have lead off 3 of the 8 games I tried this in with HR. That tends to be a big plus. They only lead off once per game if you are wondering about that stigma of being a lead off hitter. I tell them to approach the at bat just like a 3 or 4 hitter, crush the first good pitch you see. I have found that a lot of pitchers tend to thrown a gift right down the heart of the plate trying to get a first pitch of the game strike.
Just a thought, my experiment seems to be working. Give it a shot, what do you have to lose. Worst case scenario you will get your best hitters back to the plate late in the game.
It looks like this:
Old order: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9
New order: 3,4,2,1,5,6,7,8,9
We are averaging 2 more runs per game, and getting the best hitters and my power hitters an extra at bat per game. We have lead off 3 of the 8 games I tried this in with HR. That tends to be a big plus. They only lead off once per game if you are wondering about that stigma of being a lead off hitter. I tell them to approach the at bat just like a 3 or 4 hitter, crush the first good pitch you see. I have found that a lot of pitchers tend to thrown a gift right down the heart of the plate trying to get a first pitch of the game strike.
Just a thought, my experiment seems to be working. Give it a shot, what do you have to lose. Worst case scenario you will get your best hitters back to the plate late in the game.
