Batting ninth…not a second leadoff batter

We often hear teams explaining that they like to place a batter in the nine slot “because in essence, it gives us two leadoff batters.”

Well, the truth is that you don’t really want a guy who hits .235 with an OBP of .291 as your leadoff batter, which is what the 30 batters hit for those who had at least 100 PA in the nine slot had last year.

Just so you know, there were 98 batters who had at least 100 PA as a leadoff batter last and they averaged .265 with an OBP of .323. If you up that to 250 PA, you’ll get 31 batters, which is about the same as our 30 number nines, and then the BA is .281 with an OBP of .341.

So, the point is, for the most part, if a batter is a decent number hitter, chances are really good that he will be moved to an earlier slot in the daily lineup if for no other reason than to get him more plate appearances.

Batting Ninth – Leaderboard

Games – Addison Russell – 117
PA – Addison Russell – 437
H – Addison Russell – 98
2B – Addison Russell – 24
3B – Jarrod Dyson, Danny Santana – 5
HR – Addison Russell – 13
RBI – Addison Russell – 45
RUNS – Addison Russell – 52
K – Addison Russell – 124
BB – Addison Russell – 34
SB – Billy Hamilton – 31
BA – Devon Travis – .330
OBP – Devon Travis – .491
SLUG – Caleb Joseph – .545
OPS – Jackie Bradley – .883

Here are the 30 number nine batters with at least PA in 2015