Best 1-2 & 1-2-3 lineups in MLB

[Chuck]

I went with our boys, because Rendon & Trout alone are MVP caliber players and I believe that Ohtani is just going to crush it this year.

Vote! 

[eaterfan]

As players or as batters?

[jordan]

1st Trout, Rendon 

2nd Lindor, Ramirez 

3rd Hiura, Yelich 

[Chuck]

5 minutes ago, eaterfan said:

As players or as batters?

Lineup, so batters. 

[tdawg87]

Hard to not be a little biased here. And Trout/Rendon is a hell of a punch. Rendon hit .320 with a .996 OPS against RHP in 2019. Trout hit .304 with a 1.124 OPS against RHP. Ohtani hit .288 with a .868 OPS against RHP. 

This offense is going to be a nightmare for righties. 

[nate]

To me it is between the Angels and Yankees lineups.

[Angelsjunky]

I'd swap out Jose Altuve with Yordan Alvarez, who is a  beast.

[Pancake Bear]

6 minutes ago, Angelsjunky said:

I'd swap out Jose Altuve with Yordan Alvarez, who is a  beast.

I voted Astros on 3. Mostly because Ohtani was good but not great last season. 

[tdawg87]

Add an asterisk to the Astros.

Or add a trashcan.

[JustATroutFan]

The "Bang, Bang!" boys Springer and Bregman? Put an asterisk right next to their numbers, as well as Altuve's. "Clutch" postseason performer. Thanks to the trash cans. 

[Blarg]

I think the main thing to keep in mind is the offense is now sustainable past those two or three spots in the lineup. It can start with a solid leadoff with either Fletcher or LaStella and continue on until you hit the 8th player in the lineup, which will probably be a soft hitting catcher. That is a long string of pressure put on the opposing pitchers unlike the last several seasons without a true leadoff then a quick drop off after Trout. Wjen you can think about Pujols, on the days he hit, will be around 6th, that is truly game changing. 

That will be the difference between the Angels in 2020 and previous seasons. Their offense is going to be continuous instead of waiting for Trout's at bats to change the game.

[tdawg87]

18 minutes ago, Blarg said:

I think the main thing to keep in mind is the offense is now sustainable past those two or three spots in the lineup. It can start with a solid leadoff with either Fletcher or LaStella and continue on until you hit the 8th player in the lineup, which will probably be a soft hitting catcher. That is a long string of pressure put on the opposing pitchers unlike the last several seasons without a true leadoff then a quick drop off after Trout. Wjen you can think about Pujols, on the days he hit, will be around 6th, that is truly game changing. 

That will be the difference between the Angels in 2020 and previous seasons. Their offense is going to be continuous instead of waiting for Trout's at bats to change the game.

While I agree for the most part, I do feel like the 6-9 will be a black hole again. But honestly, if the 6 hitter is hitting 20 HR and driving in 80 runs then things aren't so bad. Plus Simmons is a better hitter than he showed in 2019.

That's why if Adell comes up I'd like him batting 7th. Takes the pressure off and if he crushes it we have an incredibly balanced lineup.

Edited December 14, 2019 by tdawg87

[Biergott]

Astros can suck a butt.  

[Pancake Bear]

1 hour ago, tdawg87 said:

While I agree for the most part, I do feel like the 6-9 will be a black hole again. But honestly, if the 6 hitter is hitting 20 HR and driving in 80 runs then things aren't so bad. Plus Simmons is a better hitter than he showed in 2019.

That's why if Adell comes up I'd like him batting 7th. Takes the pressure off and if he crushes it we have an incredibly balanced lineup.

Honestly, with Trout, Rendon, Upton, Ohtani sometimes, Fletcher, Simmons, and hopefully La Stella, you don’t need to bat Adell very high on the order. You could bat him 7 or 9 and not feel the need to move him unless he’s knocking the cover off the ball and has legimately earned a top lineup position on a very good offense. 

[beatlesrule]

I know this is going to be a bias poll but I did vote best 1-2 punch Angels but 1-2-3 is tough. I went with the Astros but could easily be a different team. The Dodgers scored the most runs in baseball this year if I remember correctly and I'm sure their 1-2-3 punch was deadly.

 

[Chuck]

 

[Pancake Bear]

Checking the last several years individually based on wRC+, 2018 is very close between Trout and Rendon vs. Betts and Martinez (who both had career years; Trout and Rendon were a bit more consistent throughout, although Rendon has been improving throughout). Aside from that, it's clearly Trout and Rendon. 

Combining years, going back to about 2016 through 2019, it's Trout and Rendon vs. basically any other pair. 

Ohtani is trickier. With Trout and Rendon, he'd be over Betts and Martinez with whoever else, probably (Bogaerts or Devers, most likely). It's really close with the Stros. Depends how much the garbage can helped them. I guess you could call that the tiebreaker. The issue with Ohtani, though, is he has less than 800 PA total in the last two seasons. The Yankees would probably be in the mix, too, if any of them could stay healthy. Or the Indians if Ramirez remembers how to play again.

Going forward? I still like Trout and Rendon for at least a couple of years. Ohtani should only improve, too.

[ten ocho recon scout]

Vlad, Bichette and Biggio is going to be interesting going forward. Crazy as hell the three of them are on the same team, same time.

[Lou]

1 minute ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

Vlad, Bichette and Biggio is going to be interesting going forward. Crazy as hell the three of them are on the same team, same time.

the good thing about it is that they're in the AL East. 

[Blarg]

They need pitching as well even with the addition of Roark.  

[ten ocho recon scout]

Reference vlad, biggio and bichette.

The kdds of becoming an mlb player are slim. The odds of being an mlb star are even slimmer. The odds of making the hall are minuscule.

The odds of being an all star or hall of famer who has a kid thats good enough to make it to the mlb are microscopic. 

The odds of being an all star whos kid makes it to mlb, and is projected to be an all star are 1 in a million.

The odds 3 mlb juniors, who project as all stars.... being on the same team, at the same point in their career....

 

 

Crazy. Cool as hell. 

 

[arch stanton]

Trout plus any name on that list wins the 1-2. The 1-2-3 might be closer but still....

[Chuck]

 

 

[Hubs]

Adell / Marsh OF

Trout OF

Rendon 3B

Ohtani DH

Upton/ Marsh / Adell OF

1B - TBD

Simmons

C - TBD

2B - Fletcher 

 

2021-24 looks pretty good to me.

[m0nkey]

On 12/14/2019 at 6:35 AM, ten ocho recon scout said:

Reference vlad, biggio and bichette.

The kdds of becoming an mlb player are slim. The odds of being an mlb star are even slimmer. The odds of making the hall are minuscule.

The odds of being an all star or hall of famer who has a kid thats good enough to make it to the mlb are microscopic. 

The odds of being an all star whos kid makes it to mlb, and is projected to be an all star are 1 in a million.

The odds 3 mlb juniors, who project as all stars.... being on the same team, at the same point in their career....

 

 

Crazy. Cool as hell. 

 

I don't know if Biggio has that ceiling, but I really like Bichette.  I saw him in person last year against the dogs (and a handful of his games online) and he is really really good.