Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports I thought a fun game would be to construct the ideal San Diego Padres batting lineup, based upon this 2009 article from Beyond the Box Score.
What BTBS says:
The Book says OBP is king. The lead-off hitter comes to bat only 36% of the time with a runner on base, versus 44% of the time for the next lowest spot in the lineup, so why waste homeruns? The lead-off hitter also comes to the plate the most times per game, so why give away outs? As for speed, stealing bases is most valuable in front of singles hitters, and since the top of the order is going to be full of power hitters, they’re not as important. The lead-off hitter is one of the best three hitters on the…
