Comments on: Ultimate 2007 Batting Order

By: Rujasu

Rujasu — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 20:31:03 +0000

Regarding the Phillies, that drop in OPS may be related to the use of light-hitting Abraham Nunez as a defensive replacement. I don’t know that for sure, however.

By: Ryan Kirksey

Ryan Kirksey — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 16:29:26 +0000

James,

Good point. I did not mention that this is a run calculation based on 8 spots. And since I want to be accurate with the 9 spots, I did a little more number crunching.
But since there is a distinct offensive advantage with the 9th spot in the AL as opposed to the NL, reworked the run estimated totals for NL and AL.
First the leaders in both leagues in the 9 hole:

Al - The Yankees come in at .810, mainly due to Cabrera’s .770 in 216 PA, but also due to a surprising number of .967 posted by Mientkiewicz in 78 PAs.

NL - The Cardinals post a number of .643. But isn’t this the team that experimented with batting the pitcher 8th for a portion of the season? That would explain why Brendan Ryan and Aaron Miles have the majority of the PAs there. They both have an OPS over .740 in that spot.

So, plugging those extra numbers in, this lineup with an AL 9th spot would score 1114 runs. Using the best NL 9th spot, the team would score 1072 runs.

By: johnmvp

johnmvp — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 05:42:26 +0000

Good read, loved the article. You point out some good numbers.

By: James

James — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 23:32:45 +0000

Is that 1024 runs calculated on a lineup with only 8 spots in it? Surely even an anemic 9-spot (American League) would push that up well over 1100, since the surrounding batters will be giving the 9-spot so many more opportunities to hit, and thus score…