For the Blue Jays, mixing lefty hitters into batting order is a key spring task

DUNEDIN, Fla. – Baseball is long gone the normal mould of lining up a velocity man one, a contact dude two, an all-around hitter three and a masher 4, whereas outdated heresies like excessive OBP base-cloggers at leadoff and MVP candidates hitting second at the moment are commonplace.

Still, no pleasant argument within the sport is as timeless and enduring as that over how you can put collectively the most effective batting order.

Never thoughts that examine after examine seems to indicate that it makes comparatively minimal influence on a membership’s run manufacturing.

Passionate debates about lineup optimization proceed to happen amongst followers, gamers, coaches and executives in every single place, the Toronto Blue Jays‘ spring coaching camp no exception.

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The low season acquisitions of sluggers Brandon Belt and Daulton Varsho together with speedy chaos-maker Kevin Kiermaier, all left-handed hitters, have made the subject an particularly vital one for supervisor John Schneider.

He and bench coach Don Mattingly have already spent loads of time working by way of varied situations and so they’ll spend a lot of the exhibition schedule experimenting with totally different mixtures in quest of a great combine.

And whereas it could appear so simple as loading up the highest of the lineup with the most effective hitters to make sure they bat most frequently, or alternating left-handed and right-handed batters, or getting the analytics division to run some simulations, the concerns run far deeper than that.

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“The way the game comes to you, the way you’re pitched matters based on what part of the lineup you’re in,” mentioned veteran infielder Whit Merrifield. “Certain guys feel comfortable in certain spots and to bounce around based on X, Y, and Z analytically is not something everybody can do. It’s important to know how players adapt to certain situations, what they’re comfortable with. That plays a big part in success.”

Very a lot so and participant consolation is a part of the equation for Schneider, who may even be searching for to keep away from “similar approaches to hitters back-to-back, or back-to-back-to-back if you’re looking at a reliever coming in to face three righties in a row.”

“You’re trying to balance it out to where when guys that can run get on, they can run depending on who’s in front of them. It’s more like that,” he continued. “You don’t want to pigeonhole anyone into saying you’re good or bad at this, but if guys are going to get on base in front of guys that can cover a lot of the zone, we want to do that. Guys that put the ball in play with runners on, it’s usually a good thing. We have that combination at the top, especially. Hopefully this year it’s a little bit deeper as you go down as well.”

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George Springer, Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. will once more key the highest a part of the Blue Jays lineup, with the place precisely to work Belt in among the many pivotal questions.

Given his .840 profession OPS in opposition to right-handed pitchers, the 34-year-old DH is sensible within the cleanup spot, though a case may be made for, say, batting him third with Guerrero at two and Bichette at 4 versus sure righties. The resolution isn’t insignificant, as in 2020 Bill James made an fascinating statistical case for the fourth spot being extra priceless than the third spot.

Breaking up the righties with Belt would definitely complicate life for opposing managers in relation to late-game bullpen machinations, an vital consideration. So too is that an prolonged run of right-handed hitters may enable opposing pitchers to lock right into a pitching lane, a priority the Blue Jays recognized of their predominantly righty lineup final 12 months.

“What they did this off-season in adding some left-handed hitters to the lineup, that’s helpful for sure,” mentioned Belt. “When you only have one side, obviously the pitchers get in a groove and they can run with that for a while. Switching back and forth on them a little bit, it’s tougher for them get into a groove and that’s where I can help out and the other lefties that are coming in, we can help out.”

Where Varsho slots in with Kiermaier slated for the ninth spot within the lineup can be a equally vital name. The 26-year-old has lots of pull energy – and the Blue Jays really feel his pop performs to the other area, too – but in addition a lot of swing and miss, considerably like a left-handed Matt Chapman.

Given that, splitting the 2 of them most likely makes some sense, with catchers Alejandro Kirk and Danny Jansen, relying which is within the lineup, choices to place between them.

Like Merrifield, Varsho believes batter consolation is vital after hitting first, second fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth final 12 months with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

“When you stick that player in that same spot, you know, they get comfortable and they get consistent,” he mentioned. “That’s just the way I think about it.”

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No matter how Schneider spreads the lefties out, how he makes use of Merrifield and Kiermaier, who each ought to be capable of leverage the brand new pitch-clock and expanded bases as soon as aboard, is important.

Merrifield, who has led the American League in stolen bases 3 times, solely tried to swipe three baggage in 44 video games after his acquisition from the Kansas City Royals final 12 months, not desirous to make outs within the nine-hole forward of Springer, Bichette and Guerrero.

This 12 months, he expects to be extra lively, and never solely in pursuit of an additional 90 ft.

“I feel like when I’m on the bases, pitchers attack hitters differently,” he mentioned. “They’re a little more concerned with me stealing, so they might be giving a hitter more fastballs, adjusting their times to the plate, which can take away from some of the velocity or break guys might have on the pitch, stuff like that. I feel like I can generate an advantage for the hitter.”

Between him and Kiermaier, that velocity dynamic ought to assist the Blue Jays once in a while manufacture runs, a component they’ve lacked over the previous two largely all-or-nothing seasons.

But once more, discovering the right combination in how various skillsets play off each other is vital.

“Having the right guy either behind you or in front of you allows you to be who you are. Guys can bounce off of each other and go from there,” mentioned Springer. “I don’t actually consider sure guys ought to hit sure locations. I imply, typical knowledge would most likely say I’m not presupposed to hit first, however I do. Conventional knowledge would most likely say Kiermaier is just not presupposed to hit ninth, however he has and he’ll.

“And I don’t think where you hit in the batting order should be a slight to anybody. As a kid, if you’re hitting ninth it’s like, oh, man, I stink. If you’re hitting ninth in the big-leagues, you’re in the big-leagues and the nine-hole hitter is just as important as the three, four, five guys.”

The Blue Jays very a lot need that to be the case. A spring of experimenting in pursuit of a great configuration awaits.

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