I haven't read anything about this, but does anyone know if lineup protection is programmed into the game?  For example, will a decent hitter hit better because he sees better pitches if he has a stud hitting behind him in the lineup?

It is not.

You don't think a player in real life sees better pitches if he hits in front of a stud?  It might not be every at bat, but definitely in certain situations. 

On a team where the top 4 hitters in the lineup are studs and there is a big drop-off after that, I have noticed ~15 IBB for the #4 hitter versus 2-3 for the 1-3 guys. As for any difference in effectiveness, I have not observed anything that would lead me to believe that there is any programming for it.

Posted by cj_hackett on 6/29/2012 12:02:00 PM (view original):
You don't think a player in real life sees better pitches if he hits in front of a stud?  It might not be every at bat, but definitely in certain situations. 

False. Statistical analyses have been done, there's no quantifiable difference.

The idea works better for some hitters than others, I can see why managers would consider it important for impatient hitters in MLB, but it doesn't really make sense for patient hitters.

I pitched professionally, this does not happen.  Guys may see better pitches, i.e., more straight stuff and less nibbling at the corners, due to situational things in a game.  Base open, lefty/righty combo, etc.  Guys never see better or worse pitches because Mr. Stud is on deck.  Giving the guy at bat a better chance to do damage or get on because of the guy on deck is a sure way to get beat.

Even Mr. Stud, when pitched to effectively, can be an out 6 out of 10 times.  The odds dictate you pitch to each batter in an effort to get them out.

I agree, it's situational, and there are a lot of situations that are possible.  If you have a major league fastball (which I did) but college breaking, off speed stuff (which I also did), you may end up "giving" a guy more hittable pitches if he is a breaking ball hitter, or vice versa.  Things are dictated by situation, I just never ran into a thing being dictated by who was up next.

Interesting, I didn't know that the statistical analysis proved that it didn't happen.  I would think, like boogerlips said, a pitcher may nibble less because they wouldn't want to walk a weaker hitter when a better hitter was coming up to bat. 

I'm a semi-sabr guy, but there's no way to recreate the variables necessary to prove this by statistical evidence. I'd like to see the parameters any statistician used to make that determination.  (and I say that without judging the results)

I dont like protection