Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth
In the history of baseball, power hitters have batted third or fourth and there is a reason for that. The extra number of at bats Ohtani gets from batting first which turns out to be not THAT many is far outweighed by the increased number of opportunities to drive in runs that comes from dropping down a couple of places in the order. Research it if you don't believe me. Did Babe Ruth lead off? Ted Williams? DiMaggio? Mays? Mantle? Musial? Bonds? A Rod? Pujols?
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Of course you are right about the history. I'm not a "the analytics are always right" person, but there's a reason most teams now bat their big boppers higher in the order. (More teams tend to put them 2nd now)
That said, Roberts had Ohtani 2nd behind Betts for a long time, but then moved Ohtani up when Betts was out. It seemed to work, so he left him there. I think L vs R has a lot to do with it too—against Righties, Ohtani leading off lets you go Betts/Freeman/Smith after that (or put even more lefties higher in the order, if desired).
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