Batting The Pitcher 8th

[vhawk01]

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As Kyle said, it has little relevance, but I think BP did a piece a few years back and it was postulated that the optimum lineup construction would have the pitcher, or worst hitter, batting as far as possible away from the best hitter, which would be 8th, as the best hitter should bat 3rd in order to gain slightly more at-bats in the 3rd hole rather the 4th.

I'll see if I can find it, but I'm sure someone around here has the article on speed dial.

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BP demonstrated that the best hitter should hit 3rd? Huh, I always assumed that the best hitter should be hitting first and the only reason they never do is the same reason that a bunch of other stupid things happen in baseball. I assumed that the extra 20-30 ABs over the course of the season would more than make up for any sort of advantage of hitting with guys on more often.

EDIT: I meant PAs not ABs.