Best place to put clutch hitters?

[MARCPELLETIER]

[quote:e0be3627e7]Doesn't it vary in DH and non-DH leagues?
[/quote:e0be3627e7]

yes, of course. With the pitcher bunting so often, it forces many clutch situations for the first and second spot.

In DH leagues, the second spot has the fewest clutch chances. That is one reason why I disagree with markp65 when he suggests to wallpaper the entire line-up with positive clutch. I believe that there are some positions, mostly the 9th spot and the 2nd spot, where it's not worth spending money for positive clutch.

[MARCPELLETIER]

But to answer the initial question: positive clutch are most important 5th and 4th (in that order, with 6th 7th succeding).

[Mean Dean]

I don't know that that's necessarily true, [b:f71dec1711]lucky[/b:f71dec1711]. The only solid evidence I saw was on the old board, and I seem to recall the person finding that 7th had very [i:f71dec1711]few[/i:f71dec1711] clutch opportunities. The old posts were erased, so it looks like it's not there anymore.

[url=http://silenceisdefeat.org/~meandean/som/clutchopps.html]Here[/url] is a report from an offline league I recently played. Honestly, I don't see any pattern at all that jumps out at you. Maybe massaging it with a spreadsheet could reveal something.

[visick]

I've got a question.

I tend to put a neutral or + clutch guy in the 5 hole, when I've got them.

Would you rather have a much better hitter with a better BA/SLG or OB and negative clutch OR a slightly weaker all-around hitter with + clutch in the 5 hole?

[markp65]

Soc - That's a tough one to answer in the abstract, but I'd generally want to avoid using a negative clutch guy in the 5 hole, no matter how good his stats, simply because you'd lose scoring opportunities.

On the other hand, to speak to Lucky's point, I understand that, looking at an overall statistical sample, a guy batting 2nd, 8th or 9th will have less clutch opportunities than, say, 4th, 5th and 6th hitters, but that doesn't lead me to conclude that spending $ on clutch players to fill those 1-2, 8-9 holes is a waste in a pitchers' park. Your 1-2. 8-9 hitters are still going to be batting in clutch situations, at least some of the time. As a smallball GM, I'm willing to spend the bucks to put positive clutch guys up and down the lineup to (1) play to the strength of my park and (2) most importantly, maximize those scoring opps. Just an opinion.

Lucky, I've been reading your posts for 5 years. TSN should pay you a stipend for all the knowledge, fun and intrigue you've brought to the game.

[visick]

So then if you have your best hitter in the 3 hole, do you then put your 2nd. best hitter in the 5 hole ? (If the heart of your order is - clutch?)

[chase1918]

What would you rather have in the 5 hole: a clutch hitter who hits into alot of DP's or someone who is not clutch but is less liable to hit the 6-4-3?
I once had a lineup with Taguchi hitting 2nd and Guillen 5th. Both are clutch but wound up hitting into alot of DP's. I was hitting in fenway and overall it was a success.

[markp65]

Chase - Great question. Depends on who's batting ahead of them. A guy like Taguchi is killer in a righty singles park like SBC or Kauffman, batting in that 5 or 6 hole behind a base stealing threat (a * guy). Conversely, put Gooch behind a chooch in a lefty-centric or HR park and he's good for 25 DPs. Context.

[LANCEBOUSLEY]

If i remember my data correctly there are an equal number of chances for a man on second with less than 2 out for the fifth spot.

So one has to be careful to not be too salacious(sp) about positive clutch.

Depending on the number of ** and single (xf) etc. a guy who has,

34 hit chances nonclutch and 24 in clutch is about the same as a guy who has

24 hit chances non clutch and 34 in clutch and in fact may be more of an rbi machine those 24 hits in clutch situations are have a lot of clean XBH.

just my .02

[visick]

I've always used Taguchi in the 7 hole.