Hit, OB and TB chances.

[ANDYCOCHRANE]

Please can you guys give me an idea of what you consider good numbers for a leadoff man OBP. Is it 40 chances, 45? Also, what kind of TB and hitting chances do you want from your #3 and #4 men? Obviously the higher the better for these but what do you see as a minimum?

[tersignf]

Hi Shankly.
I would think most vets would agree that 50 OBs are your benchmark for leadoff--there aren't that many out there. I think bare minimum ideal is 45, and then if that's the case you'll want it to be with decent speed and a star rating on the steal to get a good lead. It's also a good place to hide folks with w-power.
So examples like Kendall, Abreu, Mora, Mohr (no * on lead though) agaisnt RHPs. But some would say they would rather have Freel (48 OBs) so that they don't have to waste Abreu-type power at leadoff. That depends on your team.

For TB and hits out of your 3-4 hitters, here's some stuff I look for--but there's bound to be varied opinions:

2 hitter: <10 DPs, good OB Not less than 40 for sure, not many Ks, productive outs (moving runners) and high hit to walk ratio (some folks don't mind the K's/walks here and do very well with people like Drew for instance who doesn't hit into a lot of DPs, but I don't like my #2 guy walking more often than he moves runners or gets hits...it neutralizes base stealers ahead of him, if your team is constructed that way). That said, minimizing DPs and getting on base are the 2 most important characteristics here I think. If you're in a hitter's park, then just get em on base in the first two slots and get HRs the next two--forget all the productive out and don't worry about Ks. A K is better than a DP!

3-hitter: Your best all-around hitter. Bonds, Rolen, Pujols, Casey, etc. Not sure of OB/TB/Hits type formula, but I don't think I'd ever put someone in the top 3 without at least 40 OBs, and in the 3-hole I like to have 30+ hits and 50+ TBs, but the 30+ hits is sometimes hard to come by, and certainly someone like Berkman is "close enough" :).

4-hitter--best overall TBs--Again definitely no less than 50 here. But 1-4 I would think you don't want anyone with less than 40 OBs.

[ANDYCOCHRANE]

Thanks for the reply, you made some interesting observations there. The formula you were talking about is similar to how I do it, but I am still learning every day and just want to know how other players do things. Nice to know I am thinking along similar lines.

Anyone else have any thoughts?