I'm currently in my second year as a manager in the Mattingly league (my team is the St Louis Archways).  I'm having a difficult time figuring out the optimum lineup for driving in runs.  I've tried the traditional method with speed/contact up front and power/eye behind with limited success.  Then I scaffolded to my players with highest OBP up top and highest slugging from 4-6 with even less success.  I've even tried stacking my lineup with high contact guys across the board to string together hits.  Nothing seems to get the job done.  Anyone have any tips for constructing the best run producing lineup?  I'd be more than happy to hear your suggestion for individual ratings or even the type of lineup you've found to be the most successful.

I thank anyone who responds in advance.

Try this:

http://www.baseballmusings.com/cgi-bin/LineupAnalysis.py

Not saying it works.  But it will give you an idea of what theoretically will produce the most runs and by how much.

I'll give it a shot:

1 best OBA guy, hopefully with some speed and baserunning
2 good contact and average/OBA guy, speed/BR is good here too
3 best overall hitter, contact and power is nice
4 best slugger, hitting for average is good here too
5 next best slugger
6 next best hitter
7 next best hitter
8 the other guy, I like to put some speed at the back end of the lineup too.
9 the other other guy, or the pitcher

Sometimes, if I have the right combination of hitters, I'll go with speed/OBA for the 6th slot, contact for the 7th, and slugging for the 8th.  Kind of like having a second 1 2 3/4 combo at the end of the lineup.

That's exactly how I approach my lineup to start the season, shobob. I'll move guys around as the season progresses (but not until ~20 games in), but I still use the same system you described; I just use results instead of ratings to make the determinations.

That said, I like to put an "extra" leadoff man in the ninth spot if I'm managing an AL team, and I always bat the pitcher eighth (for the same reason) when managing an NL team. I figure the leadoff man is often one of my best hitters, so I like to give him some RBI opportunities or a better chance of getting intentionally walked.

If it is a NL team, trying batting the pitcher 8th.

I don't necessarily put by best power guy 4th, especially if he has a bad contact rating. I have a player with 97 power, but about 25-30 contact. He is good for about 40 HRs during the season, but he also hits for a measly .225 average. I prefer him to be in the 5th spot. He just doesn't reach base often enough for me to consider the cleanup spot for him.

For the #1 spot, I like my guys with the best batting eye, unless their speed rating is way low. My best speed guy (if not the #1 guy) is typically in the #2 spot unless he is simply a ****** hitter or has a bad batting eye. My current team's leadoff man just so happens to have the highest eye and speed ratings on the team. He's at over 90 for both. His hit ratings aren't that good, but his OBP is great with all the walks he takes. And he is usually at 2nd before the next guy sees a pitch. Best hitter for average at #3. For #4 I like a power guy, but contact is more important to me. Especially considering the player I have at #5. The rest is filled with less thought, just with decreasing contact/power down the line. My team is in the NL, and if possible I like to have another speed guy hitting in front of the pitcher. Always a plus when a player can steal a base with the pitcher at the plate.

I used the lineup link MikeT suggested.  It popped out a crazy lineup that I was very skeptical about. 

Then, we went out and scored 20 runs.  I'll keep using it for a little bit.

Posted by MikeT23 on 1/10/2012 9:47:00 PM (view original):
Try this:

http://www.baseballmusings.com/cgi-bin/LineupAnalysis.py

That is what I use, for the most part.

Essentially I believe it tends to be:

Best hitters 1st, 2nd, 4th with a bias on OBP 1st and 2nd and power 4th. If possible, place your faster guy 2nd (rather than 1st) as he will come up with a runner on 1st and no outs more often than any other spot in the lineup and speed helps avoid GIDP.

4th-best hitter 5th, 5th-best hitter 3rd (3rd spot comes up with 2-outs more than any other spot in the lineup, so statistically it is better to have a better bat 5th).

Other hitters in order of "goodness", with the exception of placing your worst hitter 8th instead of 9th.

Posted by a_ersberg on 1/11/2012 11:11:00 AM (view original):
I used the lineup link MikeT suggested.  It popped out a crazy lineup that I was very skeptical about. 

Then, we went out and scored 20 runs.  I'll keep using it for a little bit.

Out of curiosity, how do you input the players OBP and SLG, do you take his ML career averages? what he batted in the previous year? Or their regular season splits for your current season?

I use current season splits.

Yes the current seasons splits.

How many games in are you guys? I'd like to use this tool, but im only 15 games in and my players splits are very bloated

I only use it to shake things up.  If it works, I stick with it.  If it doesn't, I go back to more conventional.  I wouldn't do it with less than 100 AB.  That's sort of my cut-off point.