An Analysis of Baseball Batting Order by Monte Carlo Simulation

A Monte Carlo simulation of over 200,000 baseball games, using a programmed embodiment of the main features of the Sports Illustrated baseball game, shows that batting order exerts only a small influence on the outcomes of baseball games. The effect of using the best batting order rather than the worst is less than three extra wins per 162-game season. The traditional lineup, wherein a team's strongest batters hit in the third through fifth positions, is superior to a lineup in which batters are arranged in decreasing order of productivity.