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Who Were the Top-Performing Hitters at Each Lineup Spot During the 2016 MLB Season?
All baseball players – whether they’re amateurs or professionals – are creatures of habit. When you have a game to play every day, routines form (some on purpose, some by accident) and once a player notices those routines, they typically like to keep them as they are.
Advanced statistics have helped organizations and coaching staffs justify tinkering lineups on a daily basis, but one thing is for certain – most hitters like coming to the ballpark knowing exactly where their name will be penciled into the order.
It makes mentally preparing a lot easier, and they don’t have to wonder when they’ll get their first plate appearance of the night.
With that in mind, I was curious as to which hitters performed the best in 2016 at each particular lineup spot. The only criteria was sample size – 1-5 hitters needed at least 400 plate appearances to qualify, but it dropped to 250-plus for the six-hole and 200-plus for the bottom-third to generate players to choose from.
Here are your most dominant hitters at each lineup spot from 2016, ranked by wRC+.
Where Would the St. Louis Cardinals be Without Matt Carpenter?
Each year, there are normally one or two players on each MLB team where fans think, “Man, where would this team be without this guy on the roster?”
Here are some examples:
- How much worse would the Washington Nationals have been in 2015 without Bryce Harper’s MVP performance?
- Where would the New York Mets be right now without Yoenis Cespedes’ bat andNoah Syndergaard’s arm?
- Would the Houston Astros already be back over .500 if Jose Altuve wasn’t their second baseman?
That’s the kind of impact infielder Matt Carpenter has had on the St. Louis Cardinals.
It’s been an uphill battle for all contending NL Central teams not named the Chicago Cubs in 2016, and even with their small slump over the past week, things probably won’t get much easier. For most of the year, manager Mike Matheny has watched his club produce ho-hum results with a 39-36 record. Still, the Cards find themselves right in the thick of the NL playoff picture.
Overtaking the Cubs appears tough – they’re already 10 games back of Chicago – but they’re only 1.5 games behind the final Wild Card spot. Although he’s not that prototypical “superstar” player, St. Louis wouldn’t be where they are without Carpenter’s contributions in the leadoff spot.
Daily Fantasy MLB DFS Picks For DraftKings 5/31/16
P- CC Sabathia (vs. Toronto Blue Jays): $9,000. In 177 career at bats against Sabathia, the Blue Jays lineup is only batting .186, with three home runs, 12 RBIs, 46 strikeouts, and a .239 OBP. Sabathia faced the Blue Jays in his last start and he was very successful. In seven innings, Sabathia gave up two hits, zero earned runs, walked one, and struck out seven. In 2016, Sabathia owns a 3-3 record, 2.83 ERA, 36 hits against, 36 strikeouts, and 15 walks in 41.1 innings pitched.
P- Mat Latos (vs. New York Mets): $6,700. In 90 career at bats against Latos, the Mets’ offense is batting .222, with there home runs, nine RBIs, 19 strikeouts, and a .313 OBP. Latos has found his groove in 2016 after a few rough years. He is facing the 24th ranked offense in baseball, so this could be a good matchup for Latos. At only $6,700, he provides a lot of value to spread the rest of your cash out to your offense.
To see the rest of the picks, click the link below:
Daily Fantasy MLB DFS Picks For DraftKings 5/13/16
If you have any questions or comments about this article or fantasy baseball, please Tweet me @dynasty_digest. I post daily DFS lineups for Draft Kings everyday, so please make sure to follow my blog (dynastydigest.sportsblog.com) and my Twitter for updates. If you want a specific explanation on a player, please feel free to tweet me. I typically post explanations, but my time is incredibly limited over the next few days.
P- Chris Tillman (vs. Detroit Tigers): $7,900
P- Josh Tomlin (vs. Minnesota Twins): $7,500
To view the rest of the picks, click the link below:
Daily Fantasy MLB DFS Picks For Draft Kings 5/8/16
If you have any questions or comments about this article or fantasy baseball, please Tweet me @dynasty_digest. I post daily DFS lineups for Draft Kings everyday, so please make sure to follow my blog (dynastydigest.sportsblog.com) and my Twitter for updates. For those of you who follow my lineups daily, you are used to my explanations on each player. I apologize, but I can’t do that today or tomorrow. My girlfriend is graduating college this weekend and I’m right in the middle of finals week, so it’s a pretty hectic time period. My Draft Kings lineups will be back to normal on Sunday!
P- Jose Quintana (vs. Minnesota Twins): $10,600
P- Justin Nicolino (vs. Philadelphia Phillies): $5,300
To see the rest of the picks, click the link below:
2016 MLB Player Props: Futures Betting (Year Over/Unders)
On this list of player over/unders it may be worth a well solution to wager over on all bets across the board and go for about a 60 percent win factor. I did bet a few unders on the sheet near the end. I continue to find value on the whole gambling aspect of listed odds. I will throw down some more money on these selections. I am just hoping that I don’t become too over confident for my own good.
Hunter Stokes (BBBA Featured Writer) Follow @stokes_hunter21
Follow The BBBA On Twitter Follow @baseballblogs
We will be going hard and heavy on these kind of articles. I will put an advisory and write-up if I think the bet is worthy.
Las year I went 9 – 4 in Player Props, and I am looking to keep that kind of win percentage.
The 1st sector will be any player bets. There is some serious value and things I have already earmarked for bets. I honestly can’t believe all of the value that has been out there for picking this year.
Never did I imagine I would have bet this much already, but it is a bettors market. I hope it doesn’t backfire on me. Read the rest of this entry
Get Ready For The ‘Zombie Cardinals’ Version 11.0 In 2016: Cubs Are Favored In Division – But Gap Isn’t Huge
St. Louis has been an elite team in the National League for the last 15 years. While Chicago deserves to be favorite in the NL Central – and to win the World Series, never sleep on the St. Louis Cardinals. This team has 9 LCS Appearances since 2000, and did win 100 win games last campaign. Throw in a championship pedigree – and a brilliant youth movement, aided by a few cagey veterans, and the gap is just not that great compared with the Cubs. A huge effort by Adam Wainwright, with less than perfect years from Arrieta and Lester may be all it takes for the RedBirds to remain the kings of the NL Central.
Hunter Stokes (BBBA Featured Writer) Follow @stokes_hunter21
Follow The BBBA On Twitter Follow @baseballblogs
The Cubs have signed Dexter Fowler and traded away Chris Coghlan yesterday, and the Cards will have another week this winter where they are not the focus of the NL Central. It probably suits them just fine.
On the heels of a 100 win campaign during 2015, the gambling websites, PECOTA and FanGraphs are all projecting a massive regression for St. Louis in 2016. I am not one of those people.
I, for one, think the Cardinals are still to be reckoned with.
Switch out a potentially healthy Matt Holliday, coupled with full years from Stephen Piscotty and Randal Grichuk – for the departed Jason Heyward to the Cubs, and I like that.
Throw in Adam Wainwright and Mike Leake, for the loss of Lance Lynn and John Lackey, and I still like that almost as even.
No doubt that Ben Zobrist was a good singing for the Chicago Cubs this offseason, but lets not throw St. Louis over the cliff just yet. Read the rest of this entry
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