When it comes to the “bottom of the lineup” in baseball, it generally means players that typically lack offensive prowess. Normally, you don’t expect to see batters at the bottom of the lineup provide huge offensive support. However, if batters at the bottom of the lineup hit very well, that probably indicates a team has a very deep lineup.
The White Sox don’t have Eloy Jimenez from the beginning of the season and they just placed Luis Robert on the injured list a few days ago. However, it seems that the White Sox have a deep lineup since their batters at the bottom of the lineup are hitting .295 so far in 2021. Many people might be surprised to see that the Royals are playing pretty well. One possible reason is that the Royals might actually have a deep lineup as well. By far, batters at the bottom of the Royals lineup bat .254. The Cincinnati Reds are slashing .245/.325/.434 by far. The Reds post a .759 OPS, leading the NL. When we look at the bottom of the Reds lineup, batters hit .253. It’s very interesting to see a National League team in the top 3 because pitchers have to hit this season and they are normally batting 9th. However, it’s impossible for every team to have a deep lineup. The San Francisco Giants have been playing very well so far this season and they are leading in the NL West. But players at the bottom of the Giants lineup only hit .158. Additionally, the A’s would like to see batters at the bottom of the lineup to do a little bit better since they are only hitting .164.
Now, let’s look at xwOBA. Players at the bottom of the Yankees lineup are hitting .233 so far, nonetheless, based on the quality of contact, their xwOBA is .351. The Yankees haven’t played as well as most people expected, but it might be worth waiting to see whether good outcomes will come. There is probably little doubt that the White Sox have a deep lineup. As we can see that batters at the bottom of the White Sox lineup post a .313 xwOBA. They can make good quality of contact. Furthermore, the Astros, the Nationals and the Rays each have seen that batters at the bottom of the lineup post an over .300 xwOBA, but with a below .250 batting average.
We normally don’t see that teams place their best hitters at the bottom of the lineup. But, there are some good hitters who can contribute to the team, even though they are at the bottom of the lineup.
Austin Riley hits .343 when he’s at the bottom of the Braves lineup. Particularly, he’s batting 7th mostly so far, slashing .322/.414/.390.
Before being placed on the injured list, Zach McKinstry had a brilliant start of the 2021 season. He bats .340 at the bottom of the lineup and he bats .381 with 2 home runs and 7 RBI while batting 7th.
Nick Madrigal bats .315 while being placed at the bottom of the lineup and he usually bats 9th so far this season. Madrigal has a batting average of .339 when batting 9th. The White Sox hope to see him provide more offensive support when Eloy Jimenez and Luis Robert are not in the lineup.
Moreover, two catchers, Francisco Mejia and Tucker Barnhart, each hit above .310 while batting at the bottom of the lineup.
Gary Sanchez hits .175 so far in 2021. Nonetheless, Sanchez has a .402 xwOBA when batting at the bottom of the lineup. It could be interesting to see whether the Yankees still remain patient with him. Kyle Farmer is a versatile player who can play several positions. He’s hitting .184 at the bottom of the lineup but he has a .382 xwOBA. Moreover, Mike Zunino’s xwOBA is .371 when he bats at the bottom of the Rays lineup and he has 6 home runs thus far.
The White Sox have shown us that they have a deep lineup even though Eloy Jimenez is absent and now Luis Robert is also on the IL. In addition, pitchers can’t take a break when facing some players at the bottom of the lineup. Batters such as Austin Riley and Nick Madrigal can hit well at the bottom of the lineup. Will they get moved up in the order?
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