Quote:
Originally Posted by Arquebus
...First the more general question. As I understand it, the rule of thumb is to stack your batting lineup so that the better hitters are near the top of the lineup and your worse hitters are at the bottom. Why? Since the lineup cycles through 1 through 9 and then back to 1, and doesn't reset at the top of an inning, how do you gain anything by doing this and not, for example, lacing your good and bad players together? Somewhere along the way in a game (frequently) you're likely to end up starting your half of the inning batting from position 5. That pretty much guarantees a crappy inning.
Second, the question related to the quote above. Since you can't adjust the lineup during a game except through substitutions, is that what you're suggesting with "platooning"? Because you're not going to know ahead of time what pitchers you're dealing with, especially if they get substituted more than once or twice. (I simmed a game where the opposing team felt the urgent need to cycle through three pitchers in a single inning.) Or are you suggesting more that you adjust your lineup before the game based on what you estimate your opponent's pitchers to be? (That is, you know the starting pitcher, and can vaguely guess who their relievers, closer, etc. might be.)...
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First, about setting lineups, a good place to learn this information is from sabermetrics sources is reading
"Baseball: Between the Numbers" or
"The Book". Both, or other titles, will help demonstrate how to set lineups for better results.
Second, the lineup can, for maximum expected results, be adjusted prior to your game to build the best platoon advantage for your team, but do this carefully. Check your hitter's splits to see if there is a greater advantage to benching a better hitter, just because he's R/R or L/L.