[Jr.]

Quote: Originally Posted by ggsimmonds

Outside of the Orioles and a few big name players, I know very little about current rosters and lineups. Of the teams that do buck the trend of speed at 1st, where do they tend to put the guy that others would put 1st? I'd assume 9th.

In the case of the Astros, I think they're hitting Jose Altuve 2nd. He's what you would consider a "prototypical" leadoff hitter (career batting average well over .300 and averages over 30 SBs per year). Joe Maddon likes having a "leadoff at the bottom" kind of lineup, so he's used guys that could hit leadoff in the 9 hole and hit the pitcher 8th fairly frequently the last 3 years in Chicago.

I would guess that most teams are hitting them at the bottom of the order somewhere. Speed isn't really utilized offensively in a traditional sense. Stolen bases are way down, and bunting is nearly non-existent.