A few weeks ago, I listened to a podcast show. In the show, an analyst indicated a player has been hitting well while batting fourth and the team certainly made a good decision to put him on the fourth spot.
Nowadays, there are different ways to construct a lineup. MLB teams don’t emphasize that the fourth hitter in the lineup should be a hitter with the most power. Previously, we might have heard which hitters should be batting fourth. However, now, we can see elite hitters such as Ohtani and Judge bat first or second. Hence, after listening to the show, I’m just wondering about each team’s decision on the fourth hitter in the lineup. Which team’s fourth batters in the lineup did hit well during the regular season?
First of all, during the regular season, the fourth batters in the Red Sox lineup had an OPS over .800. They blasted 39 home runs and collected 113 RBI. Additionally, they drew 70 walks. Rafael Devers is the major player to bat fourth for the Red Sox. In 2024, while batting fourth, he slashed .276/.342/.557 with 24 home runs and 68 RBI. Moreover, while batting fourth, Triston Casas smashed 5 home runs and Tyler O’Neill had 6 home runs.
In addition, the Arizona Diamondbacks used 11 different batters to bat fourth in 2024. They owned an OPS over .800. They crushed 35 home runs and had 118 RBI. Christian Walker had 500+ plate appearances to bat fourth. While batting fourth, Walker smashed 26 home runs and collected 83 RBI.
In the meantime, the Oakland A’s just finished their final season at Oakland Coliseum. It wasn’t a great season for the A’s and it’s even frustrating for the A’s fans. However, the fourth batters in the A’s lineup had done a good job during the regular season and they owned an OPS over .800. In 2024, Brent Rooker and Shea Langeliers each had more than 100 plate appearances to bat fourth for the A’s. While batting fourth, Rooker slashed .313/.386/.705 with 18 home runs and 50 RBI. His OPS was over 1.000 as the fourth batter in the lineup. Shea Langerliers crushed 9 homers while batting fourth.
Meanwhile, the Atlanta Braves mainly used Matt Olson to bat fourth. Olson slashed .250/.335/.462 with 29 home runs and 98 RBI while batting fourth. Furthermore, Marcell Ozuna and Luke Williams were the other 2 players who used to bat fourth for the Braves in 2024. Those 3 players combined an OPS over .800 while batting fourth.
Finally, let’s look at the Marlins. The batters who batted fourth for the Marlins had an OPS of .801 in 2024. They crushed 27 home runs. Moreover, the fourth batters in the Guardians lineup had an OPS over .790. Josh Naylor smashed 31 home runs and had 98 RBI while batting fourth for the Guardians.
We used to see the hitter with the most power to bat fourth. Nowadays, things have changed. In the 2024 season, we only see 5 teams that their fourth hitters in the lineup combined an OPS over .800. Let’s not go too far. Back in 2015, there were 12 teams that their fourth batters in the lineup owned an OPS of .800 or higher.
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