Introducing Tito's Corner

At PLLS we are always looking to help the Sox become a better team. So, today we introduce a new category here at PLLS - Tito's Corner. This will be the label I place on those posts where I think Tito needs some help or if he has done a good job.

I have been looking at some numbers, lets compare a couple of players, both of them young players, at a couple of different places in the batting order. The numbers are their career numbers when batting in certain spots of the line up.

Player	AB	Hits	2b	3b	HR's	RBI	BB's	K's	GDP	BA	OBA	Slug
Player B	523	163	38	4	14	63	40	67	8	.312	.357	.480
Player A	103	28	7	0	5	20	11	17	1	.272	.356	.485

Now take a look at those averages. Player A has a higher BA and OBA (slightly) while the slugging percentage is also really close to being identical.

Player	AB	Hits	2b	3b	HR's	RBI	BB's	K's	GDP	BA	OBA	Slug
Player A	88	27	6	0	2	13	19	15	0	.307	.434	.443
Player B	192	53	9	1	7	35	15	27	5	.276	.327	.443

In this situation player A is the one with a higher BA (31 points), has a 107 point higher OBA and they have the same slugging percentage.

So how should these players be batting in the order? Ready for some hints - Player A is Youkilis, player B is Coco. The first comparision is Coco and Youkilis's numbers batting in the 2nd slot of the line up. The 2nd comparison is batting in the 8 spot. It seems clear to me that you should be batting Coco 2nd in this lineup.