This is a quick look at lineup spots by team through the first five weeks of the season, which have been the most productive and which have been the least. I’m just using OPS, so don’t take this as a study of any sort.
No. 1 hitters
1. Marlins - .894 (.422 OBP)
2. Cardinals - .894 (.387 OBP)
3. Rockies - .880 (.359 OBP)
league avg - .727 (.326 OBP)
28. White Sox - .580 (.287 OBP)
29. Reds - .500 (.233 OBP)
30. Athletics - .487 (.223 OBP)
The Marlins and Yankees are the lone teams getting a .400 OBP from the leadoff spot this year, and while that’s always been the ideal to shoot for, there’s hardly any chance of any team staying that high all season. Last year, only the Cardinals (.369) and Astros (.353) had even .350 OBPs from the leadoff spot.
No. 2 hitters
1. Reds - 1.084
2. Blue Jays - 1.001
3. Angels - .939
league avg - .751
28. Rangers - .560
29. Braves - .551
30. Brewers - .489
The Reds started off with Joey Votto batting second, and he was awesome, amassing an 1.173 OPS with a .474 OBP, six homers and 15 RBI in 17 games. So, of course, they dropped him back to third. Fortunately, Zack Cozart and Marlon Byrd have been pretty great in the two hole themselves, but that’s not going to last.
No. 3 hitters
1. Diamondbacks - 1.074
2. Cubs - 1.056
3. Dodgers - 1.045
league avg - .803
28. Nationals - .614
29. Rays - .557
30. Phillies - .515
The Diamondbacks are exclusively Paul Goldschmidt: he’s started all 32 games batting third.
No. 4 hitters
1. Mariners - 1.155
2. Nationals - .986
3. Royals - .975
league avg - .778
28. Twins - .608
29. Phillies - .576
30. Angels - .574
And the Mariners are all Nelson Cruz: he’s started every game in the cleanup spot and blown away the field.
What’s shocking, or at least would have been over the winter, is that this is the first of four appearances for the Angels in the bottom trio. The cleanup spot used to be Josh Hamilton’s. Now it’s 16 games from David Freese, 12 from Matt Joyce and five from Kole Calhoun (whom they much prefer hitting leadoff).
No. 5 hitters
1. Rockies - .949
2. Athletics - .949
3. Cubs - .846
league avg - .737
28. Angels - .614
29. Phillies - .588
30. Yankees - .576
Just because of the difference in hitting environments, Oakland’s .949 is more impressive than Colorado’s .949. They’re primary No. 5 hitter, Ike Davis, is at .867, but Stephen Vogt has provided quite a boost, with five homers in eight games batting fifth.
No. 6 hitters
1. Yankees - 1.023
2. Royals - .930
3. Dodgers - .869
league avg - .722
28. Cardinals - .549
29. Red Sox - .546
30. Reds - .535
The Yankees being dead last at No. 5 and way out in front at No. 6 is some sort of bizarre fluke. Brian McCann, primarily the No. 5 hitter, has a respectable .704 OPS in 21 games there, but Carlos Beltran (.407 in seven games) and Chase Headley (.435 in four games) have been horrible, dragging it down. On the other hand, both Beltran (.848 in nine games) and Headley (.824 in nine games) have been just fine as No. 6 hitters and they’re further bolstered by Chris Young (1.271 OPS, four HR in seven games) and Alex Rodriguez (2.528 OPS, three HR in three games)
No. 7 hitters
1. Dodgers - .933
2. White Sox - .828
3. Orioles - .787
league avg - .658
28. Red Sox - .434
29. Rangers - .425
30. Angels - .423
It’s the third of four appearances for the Dodgers in the top three. This one is truly a committee. Juan Uribe has started 15 of 32 games as a No. 7 hitter, but he has a modest .668 OPS. Alex Guerrero, Andre Ethier, Yasmani Grandal and Joc Pederson have combined for 15 starts and hit .444 with five homers in 54 at-bats.
Boston, which entered the year with seemingly the game’s deepest lineup, shows up near the bottom for the second straight spot, courtesy of Mike Napoli, Shane Victorino and Allen Craig. Their No. 7 hitters have combined for seven RBI in 33 games, five of them coming in Daniel Nava’s six starts.
No. 8 hitters
1. Reds - .932
2. Dodgers - .898
3. Marlins - .846
league avg - .673
28. Diamondbacks - .474
29. Angels - .392
30. Cubs - .297
The Reds take the cake for the most inconsistency by lineup spot this year. They top the list at No. 2 and No. 8 while also being last at No. 6 and next to last at No. 1. They don’t have any lineup spot in the .700-.800 OPS range. Their presence here is Cozart doing Cozart things, with some help from Brayan Pena. Even Skip Schumaker went 3-for-5 with two RBI in his one game batting eighth and he’s 4-for-27 with no RBI over the rest of the year.
The Cubs at No. 30 gets a big asterisk here; they’ve exclusively gone with their pitcher batting eighth. For the record, their No. 9 hitters have a .630 OPS.
No. 9 hitters (AL only)
1. Angels - .721
2. Blue Jays - .671
3. Tigers - .648
league avg - .583
13. Royals - .484
14. Rays - .480
15. Indians - .476
We’re taking the NL teams out of this mix and just looking at the AL squads. Oddly enough, the Angels top the list; their No. 9 hitters, mostly Johnny Giavotella, have a higher OPS than any of the spots from No. 3 through No. 8.
So, the absolute best of the lineups to date:
1. Marlins - Dee Gordon
2. Reds - Joey Votto
3. Diamondbacks - Paul Goldschmidt
4. Mariners - Nelson Cruz
5. Rockies - Nolan Arenado
6. Yankees - Chris Young
7. Dodgers - Alex Guerrero
8. Reds - Zack Cozart
9. Angels - Johnny Giavotella
