BATTING LINEUP

Your batting lineup controls the order your players hit during games. Players higher in the lineup usually get more plate appearances over time, so your best hitters should generally bat earlier rather than later.

A good beginner lineup usually follows this pattern:

1. Get players on base.
2. Use power hitters to drive them in.
3. Put your remaining best bats next.

The website has a Team Search page where you can pull up your team and sort the roster by batting average, hits, home runs, and other in-game stats. It's the fastest way to set your lineup based on what players are actually doing, not just their attributes.

The first few hitters should usually be players who are good at getting on base.

Look for:

• high Contact
• good Speed
• useful leadoff or on-base talents

On Team Search, sort by OBP (on-base percentage) or AVG (batting average) to spot your best on-base guys.

The 3rd, 4th, and 5th spots are usually where your biggest bats go. The 4th hitter is often called the cleanup hitter. They're usually one of your best power hitters, because they often bat after other players have had a chance to get on base.

Look for:

• high Power
• strong Contact
• talents that help with runners on base
• talents that improve cleanup or middle-order hitting

On Team Search, sort by HR, RBI, or SLG (slugging) to find your real run producers.

After the 5th spot, there's more flexibility. A simple approach is to order the rest of your players by overall hitting ability.

Look for:

• good Contact
• good Power
• helpful situational talents
• Speed if you want the bottom of the lineup to act like a second leadoff group

On Team Search, OPS combines on-base and power into one number, so it's a quick way to rank the rest of your hitters top to bottom.

The basic lineup rules are only a starting point.

Talents can make certain players much better in specific lineup roles or game situations. Some talents help a player when:

• they're leading off an inning
• they're batting first in the game
• they're in the cleanup spot
• there are runners on base
• there are no runners on base
• the team needs a clutch hit

A player with the right talent may be better in a specific lineup spot than a player with slightly better attributes.

1. Put high Contact and Speed near the top.
2. Put your best Power hitters in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th spots.
3. Put your remaining best hitters next.
4. Adjust later based on talents and results.