It was just a couple of days ago, I watched a video on YouTube, which indicated a team’s lineup and players who hit in the bottom of the lineup. And it seems that some players did hit well in the bottom of the lineup.
After watching the video, I’m just thinking about performances of the bottom of the lineup over the last several seasons. Normally, baseball fans would not consider that the bottom of the lineup would contribute a lot. Nonetheless, I decided to check on the great Fangraphs website to see if there’s something interesting.
I decided to look at the stats from 2022 to 2025. A main reason is that the universal designated hitter was made permanent beginning with the 2022 season. We don’t see pitchers hit in the National League as we saw previously.
Over the last 4 seasons, the Phillies’ bottom of the lineup owned a batting average of .252. Among 30 MLB teams, the Phillies are the only team whose bottom of the lineup hit over .250.
At the same time, the Blue Jays’ bottom of the lineup batted .248 from 2022 to 2025. And 4 other teams’ bottom of the lineup each had a batting average of .240 or higher over the last 4 seasons. Interestingly, all these 4 teams are from the National League.
Secondly, let’s take a look at OPS. Again, it’s the Phillies. Their bottom of the lineup had an OPS of .709 from 2022 to 2025. In the meantime, the Blue Jays’ bottom of the lineup owned an OPS of .700. The Phillies and the Blue Jays are the only 2 teams that their bottom of the lineup had an OPS of .700 or higher.
Meanwhile, the Cubs’ bottom of the lineup had an OPS of .699 from 2022 to 2025. Also, as we can see, the Dodgers and the Braves are on the list, their bottom of the lineup each had an OPS over .690 over the last 4 seasons.
In addition, let’s look at the number of home runs. The Dodgers’ hitters in the bottom of the lineup smashed 226 home runs from 2022 to 2025. In the meantime, the Twins’ batters in the bottom of the lineup had 225 home runs during the same period. And the Braves’ hitters in the bottom of the lineup blasted 222 home runs.
Finally, let’s take a quick look at RBI. The Cubs’ batters in the bottom of the lineup collected 894 RBI over the last 4 seasons. At the same time, the Phillies’ batters in the bottom of the lineup had 865 RBI from 2022 to 2025. And the Dodgers’ bottom of the lineup collected 850+ RBI.
Looking back at the last 4 seasons, relatively, the Phillies’ hitters in the bottom of the lineup and the Blue Jays’ hitters in the bottom of the lineup had done a better job. Well, it’s not saying that they hit very well, but at least, their performance was fine. Moreover, the Dodgers’ hitters in the bottom of the lineup seem to be able to crush more home runs.
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