Okay, so I’ve been diving deep into the Arkansas Razorbacks baseball team, trying to figure out what their lineup might look like this season. It’s always a fun puzzle, trying to piece together the best batting order and defensive positions based on returning players, new recruits, and any scuttlebutt from fall practices.
First, I scoured the internet for any returning player stats. I mean, who’s coming back with a hot bat? Who was a defensive wall last year? That’s the foundation, right?
I checked out a few forums and fan pages. You always get some interesting tidbits there, even if you have to take it with a grain of salt. Some folks were talking up a couple of freshmen who apparently crushed it in the fall scrimmages.
Then, I started toying around with different batting orders. I put the guys with the best on-base percentages at the top, naturally. Your leadoff guy has got to get on base, that’s rule number one! Then, you want your power hitters in the middle, to drive those runners in.
For the defensive positions, I mostly stuck with what made sense from last year. If a guy was solid at shortstop, I’m not going to randomly move him to third base, you know?
I kept moving players with similar batting stats between suitable positions in my mind, and try my best to make the lineup balanced.
It’s a lot of trial and error, a lot of “what if” scenarios. Finally I realized that I had done my best with available information.
