Creating the Perfect Baseball Batting Order

In order to find the best possible batting order for the creation of runs, I’ve come up with this method. A correct batting line-up could help a major league team win more games each year. However I’ve made it simple enough even a high school, Pirate, or legion coach without the complex MLB stats could use this. Also Rule #1 don’t be afraid to make exceptions based on key stats like a player’s recent hot streak, or career stats against a pitcher. Also in areas where the stats are similar you can make judgment calls based on other statistical evidence. Keep in mind however pitchers these days don’t last long in games. Also this requires you to be familiar with your personal, especially their base running abilities. This formula I believe might be even more effective for a team that plays small-ball and runs a lot. The “Rizzo Run Creation Batting Line-Up Formula” works best if applied to players with over 100 current season at bats.

Here are the steps for creating the most efficient run producing line-up possible, once you identify your starting 9. You should follow this order step by step.

1. Bat the Pitcher 9th (Pro Baseball only). You want the pitcher to focus on pitching.
2. Take your highest OPS (OBP% + Slugging) player. Bat him #3
3. Finding a leadoff hitter is the most difficult. They must have an OBP% of over .310. Of the remaining players take your two best base runners, of those two players select whoever has the best OBP%. Speed on the bases will help score more runs based on the amount of hits, walks, extra based hits, & balls put into play the follow hitters will produce.
4. Top remaining SLG% batter hits 4th.
5. Best available OBP% player bats 2nd. The first four batters are important because they will probably have the most number of plate appearances during the game.
6. Top remaining OPS player bats 5th.
7. Top remaining OPS player bats 6th.
8. Best OBP% bats 8th, however if the other remaining player’s OBP% is within .040% and is a superior base-runner bat him 8th. You pick the 8th hitter before the 7th hitter because the 8th hitter is followed by the pitcher whose general role will be to advance the runner. So if the pitcher is going to make an out, which they normally do, you want it to be a productive out.
9. Remaining player bats 8th.

Since I watch the Pirates enough to evaluate their personal, based on Jim Tracy’s starting nine this is how I would have complied the batting order.

Pirates’ Batting Order on 7/3/07 vs. Dodgers.

Bautista
McLouth
Sanchez
Bay
LaRoche
Doumit
Nady
Wilson
Gorzelanny

Here is what the Pirates’ Batting Order would look like using the Efficient Batting Order Formula.

- Gorzelanny pitches and bats 9th
- Bay bats 3rd with a .922 OPS.
- Of the remaining players I identified Bautista & McLouth as my best available base runners. Sine McLouth OBP% (.305) is under .310 then he’s out. I then selected Sanchez as the 3rd best base runner. Basutista is the going to bat 1st because of his OBP% is .356 compared to Sanchez’s .324
- Doumit is slugging .500 so he’s batting clean-up
- LaRoche & Sanchez now have the best available OBP% tied at .324 since Sanchez is a better base-runner he’ll bat 2nd. I considered Nady as well at .320, but Sanchez is better on the base paths.
- Nady has the best available OPS (.793) so he bats 5th. ( I could make the case for LaRoche because he is hitting better in recent games, and left handed against Penny, a right hander. This would be a perfect place to make an exception, however apon reviewing Nady’s stats against Penny .375 and Nady recent batter performances I’d still stick with Nady and his OPS of nearly .90 higher than LaRoche’s.
- 6th I’ll bat LaRoche with has the best available OPS.
- I’ll put Wilson 8th because his OBP is higher than McLouth’s also McLouth has fewer at bats, and traditionally he has not been proven yet. A strange stat right handers are batting .50 higher against Penny this year.
- McLouth 7th.

Bautista
Sanchez
Bay
Doumit
Nady
LaRoche
McLouth
Wilson
Gorzelanny

Would this Line-Up have worked better yesterday, probably. McLouth was 0-4 so having him 7th would have been better than 2nd. Bay probably would have driven in Sanchez, both of then had 2 hits, and even though LaRoche’s was batting 6th his 2 hits, could have driven in Nady who reached base twice.

Now for AL or DH line-ups, it’s very similar, start with step #2. When you get to step #8 which for AL line-ups will be step 7, bat that player 9th. Since the following players (1-3) are more productive hitters you will create more runs. Your #7 hitter will then have the highest OPS, and then you’ll fill in #8 batter.