Dodgers own the lineup positions

Phil Gurnee ♦ August 14, 2017 ♦ 1 Comment

We all know that Yasiel Puig has been the best number eight hitter in baseball but when Joe Davis said that Chris Taylor has been the best leadoff hitter in baseball that made me turn to Fangraphs and use the batting position split tool to find out how the rest of the lineup stacks up.

I was fully expecting Cory Seager and Justin Turner from the two and three batting order positions to be near the top but I was not expecting Cody Bellinger to be the top cleanup hitter in all of baseball.

I used Fangraphs wRC+ for this exercise with a minimum of 150 plate appearances.  It was interesting to note that many players exceeded the 150 plate appearances threshold for batting positions 1 – 5 but once we hit the number six and seven spot, not even ten hitters could reach the threshold including zero Dodgers. The Dodgers may bounce around the 5,6, and 7 spots in the order, but one – four,  and eight have been consistently the same folk game after game. Chris Taylor, Corey Seager, Justin Turner, Cody Bellinger, and Puig.

This is why the Dodgers are on pace to have the greatest season in Dodger history.  Per wRC+

• They have the best lead off hitter in baseball (Chris Taylor)
• They have the cleanup hitter in baseball (Cody Bellinger)
• They have the best eight hitter in baseball (Yasiel Puig)
• They have the fifth best five hitter in baseball (Corey Seager)
• They have the fourth best three hitter in baseball (Justin Turner)

Lead Off:

Batting 2nd:

Batting 3rd:

Batting cleanup:

Batting eighth:

This will be fun to look back on, at the end of the year.