Batting Lineup Strategy

Did you know that when it comes to the success of a baseball team, the talent of the players isn’t the only factor that can determine a team’s success? Baseball is an incredibly complex game, and communication and strategy are the two biggest factors that will determine just how good a team is. Strategies that are used during defense, such as positioning and shifting, and offensive strategies such as hit and run, stolen bases, tagging up, bunting, and lineup creation, are essential for success. And the greatest of all these strategies? The lineup strategy. 

What is the Lineup?

In baseball, the lineup, or batting order, refers to the order in which players are sent up to bat against the other team. While it might not initially seem to be of utmost importance, it’s crucial to how the game will turn out. 

The Traditional Lineup

Managers and coaches will switch up their lineup based upon how the opposing team pitches, but there is a general rule of thumb and traditional way that lineups are created.  

Lead off position

The lead off position is the player that’s up to bat first. This position is typically reserved for the fastest player, as the goal is to get them on base. The leadoff batter is a talented hitter that has a high base percentage, is good at reading the pitcher as well as the pitches thrown, and has powerful hits. 

Second Batter

The second batter should move the leadoff hitter to second base. Speed is an important factor when choosing your second batter as well, and it’s important that they have a good base percentage, and that they rarely strike out. 

Batting Third

The third batter is typically the player that has the highest batting average. The goal with this hitter is to get the first hitter home. They need to also be a powerful hitter, fast runner, and move players forward to score. 

Fourth Position (Cleanup) 

The fourth hitter tends to be considered the best overall hitter and is referred to as cleanup because the expectation with this hitter is that it always scores a home run, hence ‘cleans up’ the bases. This position is almost always reserved for the most powerful hitter on the team. They don’t necessarily have to have the highest batting average, should be able to hit the ball hard and far, have a high slugging percentage (the number of bases divided by how many times they’ve been at bat), have a number of RBIs (runs batted in), and typically have the most homeruns.

Batting Fifth 

Batting fifth is a close second to cleanup when it comes to rank; they’re second best on the lineup. This hitter doesn’t need to be as powerful as cleanup, but they do need to strikeout less than cleanup does, which is the main difference between the two positions. Batting fifth should be able to hit more than singles, have little strikeouts, and be called upon to cleanup when needed.

The following positions tend to be the most challenging for coaches to fill because there are so many variations to each position, and yet they’re not as clearcut.

Sixth and Seventh Batting Positions

The sixth and seventh hitters are not as strong, effective, or consistent hitters as the first five. The sixth will be faster than the seventh, but other than that, they’re comparable. They have lower batting averages, are decent hitters, have higher strikeouts, but are able to pull out a surprise hit that the other team doesn’t see coming.

Batting Eighth and Ninth

Hitters who are still developing their skills are usually sent in eighth, and the pitcher is typically sent in ninth. The ninth hitter is just before the leadoff hitter comes up to bat again, so it won’t typically be a hitter who strikes out frequently but instead is still a good hitter.