THE BOOK--Playing The Percentages In Baseball

Thursday, July 06, 2006

Optimizing the Batting Order

I’d like to go through a real-life example of how to optimize a batting order.  I give all the mechanics in The Book, so I’ll reserve discussion about the application of those tools here.  What I would like from you is:

1 - A current batting lineup that you think seems weird
2 - Your forecast for each hitter in the lineup (handedness, BA, OBP, SLG, HR per 600 PA, Basestealer?, Baserunner?  GIDP? K?)

I’ll pick out the most interesting post, and I’ll then go through the process as to how to order the players.  So I don’t waste everyone’s time, I’ll limit it to three lineups.

For “Basestealer”, say “Yes, normal, no”.  Baserunner say “Good or Fast, Normal, Slow or Bad”.  GIDP say “alot, normal, not much”.  K say “alot, normal, not much”.

So, something like:
Beltran,S,.300,.370,.480,25,yes,good,not much,normal