any good tips when making your batting order?

[RayofHope]

I'm sure someone's already answered this, but here's my take.

I don't trust the AI that much in setting my lineup. At the beginning of the year, I ask it, and then alter what I don't like. During the year, I alter the lineups versus left and right handers to match how my players are doing versus left and right handers (batting stats set 2).

Here's what I try to do, this is what I consider ideal, but it varies based on your team makeup:

1) Best OBP guy who has good speed. If your best OBP guy has no speed, don't put him here.
2) Best sac bunter, someone who gets the ball in play, and has decent speed. As long as he doesnt strike out too much and will hit atleast .270, he's a candidate. Just has to be able to move your lead off guy over.
3) Best hitter on my squad. Bring in the runners ahead of him.
4) Slugger to protect my #3. Maybe someone who'll hit about .270 with 30HR power potential.
5) Slugger to protect my #4. Similar average to #4.
6) Slugger who may not hit more than .230 or .240. Failing this, a decent hitter. (Maybe that high OBP guy with no speed, it's up to you).
7 - 9) Worst hitters in order, but if you use a DH, try to get your #9 guy as a "baby" version of your lead off hitter, as I heard once that the #9 hitter for some reason quite often ends up leading off an inning. If you have no DH, your WORST hitter should be hitting 8th - because the 8th hitter often gets pitched around in clutch situations to get to your pitcher.

Just my take.

[redmarkYankees]

Basically the same ideas as mylons and rayofhope.

(with a DH)

1- speed/obp
2 - speed/contact
3 - best hitter
4 - best slugger
5 - next best slugger
6 - etc
7 - etc
8 - catcher
9 - speed/bunt

I'll usually actually avoid getting too good a hitting-catcher, prefering a good defensive one (two, more likely) with the best contact/walks I can get for next to nothing. Usually defensive catchers who can't hit are easy to pick up, allowing trade bait / payroll to be used elsewhere... and someone has to bat 8th.

3-6 might not be strictly in order of 'best' if a slight tweak can get a better L/R mix. A bit of speed at 4 or 5 and 6 or 7 is nice too.

[russelldl]

It should also be mentioned that left handed hitters are preferred in the #2 slot. Its not mandatory but it helps because they can hit behind the runner and take advantage of the hole left by the first baseman who is inevitably holding the speedy leadoff man on first. I dont know if OOTP takes this into account at all times but its apparent that its easier for a runner to go from first to third on a base hit to right than it is on a hit to left.
russelldl

[Joshv02]

There is a difference between speed (measured in steals/triples) and base running ability (measured in the ability to move between bases).

Being poor at the latter can gum up the works. Prior to OotP 6, this is an imprecise measurement. It may matter, now.

It is possible to measure the former in many ways. Triples are factored into OPS (slugging). Similarly, you can make an adjustment for SB.

Anthoer good thread, this time taking into consideration all player statistical attributes is htp://mb2.theinsiders.com/fbaseballf...icID=277.topic. I don't think stolen bases add much to the equation. Tango did a quick run down of the top SB over the past few seasons, and it resulted in an increas of somewhere around 10-12 runs over three years. http://mb2.theinsiders.com/fbaseball...art=21&stop=40 Something, but not something to put ahead of OBA.

I set my order like this, and assume it means only a little:

1: highest OBP without extrordinary slg (which currently doesn't exist on my team)
2. best hitter
3. next best hitter not in 1-2
4. next best hitter not in 1-3
etc.

Then, I slightly rearrange to alternate r/l for to make pitching substitutions difficult for teams that use a LOOGY method.

Best hitter is defined using a EqA, some modified OPS, or lwts. Depends what comp I'm at.

[KurtBevacqua]

Something a little different I like to do is to space my righty and left batters. I go every other batter when I can. So a perfect lineup would be like this:
1) SH
2) RHB
3) LHB
4) RHB
5) LHB
6) RHB
7) LHB
8) RHB
9) LHB

This way it completely blows the other team's ability to match relief pitcher's against a part of the lineup. IRL the Yankees are very good about this and it drives me nuts rooting against them. When a team bunches 2-3 lefties in a row bring in the lefty specialist and watch him go. But with them mixed you just have to bring in the best guy available and hope he pitches well.