Batting lineup philosophy

[jdp29]

IMO, 3rd and 4th batter are both power hitters. I feel the 3rd spot is your best batter.

Agree with this.

 

[doublenickel]

So when should a player with the 9th best average on the team bat third?

 

[CoogansBluff]

So when should a player with the 9th best average on the team bat third?

When she leads the team in OBA and slugging. Which is essentiallybasically never. Although I would caution that the ''average'' (assuming you mean batting average) is often overrated. It's possible (albeit rare) for a .250 hitter to be more valuable than a .400 hitter.

DD was on a team last year with a girl who led off much of the season despite hitting .250. She walked and got hit by pitches at a rate that was uncanny. Great base runner. Without a good alternative, she made as much sense as anybody else.

 

[doublenickel]

When she leads the team in OBA and slugging. Which is essentiallybasically never. Although I would caution that the ''average'' (assuming you mean batting average) is often overrated. It's possible (albeit rare) for a .250 hitter to be more valuable than a .400 hitter.

DD was on a team last year with a girl who led off much of the season despite hitting .250. She walked and got hit by pitches at a rate that was uncanny. Great base runner. Without a good alternative, she made as much sense as anybody else.

said player was ninth in OBP and slugging as well.

 

[CoogansBluff]

said player was ninth in OBP and slugging as well.

Then her parents must have photos that the coach doesn't want anybody to see.

 

[coachjwb]

Or her parents are the coaches?

 

[doublenickel]

Or her parents are the coaches?

Close, they used to be her TB coaches. I have never seen favoritism quite this bad before which is why I posed the question about lineup philosophy the way I did.

 

[marriard]

So when should a player with the 9th best average on the team bat third?

When that player is the coaches DD or when they are the coaches best friends DD or when her younger sister is a stud player and the coach is looking to make sure that when she is old enough she will play for him or sometimes if they look the part (big, strong, athletic, looks great in practice, whatever).. Or in HS for some teams when the player is a senior.

But I am not cynical at all

Actually there is one other time - when the player has proven in past years that she can be the best hitter on the team and it is early in the season so you haven't had enough time for season stats to be statistically relevant. My DD started this past season 3 of 16... and is 18 of 22 since that time (plus she gets a lot of walks and HBP so her OBP is excellent) - she didn't move from her spot in the lineup because her coaches knew she would turn it around at some point.

Edit: Just saw your last post. The coaches know the girl, they trust her and they may have reason to do so based on past performance as my last point hinted at.

 

[CoogansBluff]

Actually there is one other time - when the player has proven in past years that she can be the best hitter on the team and it is early in the season so you haven't had enough time for season stats to be statistically relevant. My DD started this past season 3 of 16... and is 18 of 22 since that time (plus she gets a lot of walks and HBP so her OBP is excellent) - she didn't move from her spot in the lineup because her coaches knew she would turn it around at some point.

I had a girl bat cleanup for me for that reason, and I let it linger too longer. She just never regained her old form. I suppose it was favoritism, but it came honestly.

btw, 18-for-22 is awesome. Nothing sweeter in life than DD on a tear.

 

[goinglefty]

Close, they used to be her TB coaches. I have never seen favoritism quite this bad before which is why I posed the question about lineup philosophy the way I did.

When did the season start? How many games into the season are you in? It might be they know how good a hitter she is, she is just starting off slow. But probably not.