KLaw, behind the pay wall, writes about how the best hitter should bat 2d, not 3d.
http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/blog/_/name/law_keith/id/9227029/joey-votto-bat-second-cincinnati-reds-mlbThe Los Angeles Angels have been batting Mike Trout, their best all-around hitter, second for most of this season. The Cincinnati Reds could learn a thing or two from that.
The idea of putting your best hitter second, rather than third, is still a novel one within baseball and has yet to gain widespread acceptance, even though the evidence in favor of such an arrangement is pretty strong. Using metrics such as batting runs, estimating the runs gained or lost through changing a lineup, shifting to an optimal lineup is only worth about 10-15 runs, or just over a win, in the course of a full season. That said, the marginal gain in getting your best hitter another handful of at-bats, including extra at-bats at the end of games, makes it worth trying to capture value that otherwise would be squandered.
The Reds are the best example this year of a team that is giving away offense by putting their worst hitter, Zack Cozart, ahead of their best hitter, Joey Votto, an example of archaic thinking that still persists within the game because that's how we've always done it
Applying this to the Nats, perhaps Harper and Desi should be flip-flopped. Desi's contact heavy but below average OBP and high SLG suggests he might be better off in the 3 spot, behind Harper. If he comes up with either Span or Harper on, he's got a decent shot of driving one in, and if he comes up with no one on, you aren't really looking for a walk in that spot. Harper sees enough pitches and is the best overall hitter.
Maybe this all works out once Werth is back. He's probably an acceptable #2 hitter. Harper might also be in a funk due to his sore side. Otherwise, maybe we should do like LAA.
