Who's Batting Second? Jace Peterson Or Craig Gentry

In any discussion about batting order, it should be noted that it matters a little, but not enough to make a significant difference. This current Orioles team would be bad regardless of who's batting in which lineup spot. 

Still, it's easy to get annoyed at recent Orioles batting lineups when Jace Peterson and Craig Gentry have been slotted second. Let's run through things quickly. In March, Buck Showalter said this about batting order:

“The game has evolved as far as what we used to think a one-hole hitter looked like, a two-hole hitter, three-hole, four-hole. It’s just evolved,” Showalter said. “You see how many people are hitting what they consider their best hitter second. And a lot of people will tell you just take your best hitter and get him up to the plate as many times as possible.

“It’s really hard to find what we used to look for in a leadoff hitter and I think the focus on not giving up outs takes away a lot of the conventional two-hole hitter. It’s more about handling the bat, advancing runners. It’s one of our things we talked about, having more productive outs if we do make an out. It could be a 10-pitch at-bat, it could be having somebody move up 90 feet even though you make an out. [Emphasis added.]

Some of this is antiquated strategy, like simply wanting speed at the top of the lineup or preferring a slap-hitter in the second slot. That's how you end up with some interesting names in the leadoff spot. And why wouldn't you want the hitter who isn't "giving up outs" to bat higher? Showalter has had a hard time letting this go. That bolded part? Yes, that's what the Orioles should be doing: getting as many trips to the plate as possible for Trey Mancini, Manny Machado, Jonathan Schoop (when healthy), etc.

Showalter deserves some credit, because he's used Machado, either the team's best hitter or among the top few for most of his seasons in Baltimore, in the second spot a good amount - more than twice as much as any other player. Here's the full list (from 2011-2018), from the Baseball-Reference Play Index:

Results

Rk	I	Player	Split	From	To	G	PA	R	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
1		Manny Machado	Batting 2nd	2013	2018	368	1663	218	.287	.335	.474	.808
2		J.J. Hardy	Batting 2nd	2011	2016	193	868	103	.240	.283	.389	.672
3		Nick Markakis	Batting 2nd	2011	2014	115	514	52	.296	.358	.428	.786
4		Adam Jones	Batting 2nd	2011	2017	78	353	35	.269	.308	.414	.722
5		Steve Pearce	Batting 2nd	2013	2016	73	305	42	.240	.331	.472	.803
6		Hyun Soo Kim	Batting 2nd	2016	2017	65	261	27	.285	.352	.370	.723
7		Jimmy Paredes	Batting 2nd	2014	2015	50	215	29	.309	.344	.471	.815
8		Gerardo Parra	Batting 2nd	2015	2015	39	179	26	.250	.284	.399	.683
9		Jonathan Schoop	Batting 2nd	2014	2017	41	174	23	.266	.287	.491	.778
10		Alejandro De Aza	Batting 2nd	2014	2015	16	71	9	.281	.343	.500	.843
11		Delmon Young	Batting 2nd	2014	2015	18	69	8	.328	.348	.537	.885
12		David Lough	Batting 2nd	2014	2015	38	65	10	.306	.313	.403	.716
13		Chris Davis	Batting 2nd	2012	2017	15	61	7	.218	.295	.400	.695
14		Nelson Cruz	Batting 2nd	2014	2014	13	60	12	.264	.350	.585	.935
15		Travis Snider	Batting 2nd	2015	2015	13	56	4	.275	.339	.412	.751
16		Pedro Alvarez	Batting 2nd	2016	2018	13	49	6	.233	.327	.442	.768
17		Nolan Reimold	Batting 2nd	2011	2016	19	42	5	.237	.310	.579	.888
18		Joey Rickard	Batting 2nd	2016	2017	13	41	6	.359	.375	.538	.913
19		Robert Andino	Batting 2nd	2011	2012	9	35	2	.241	.371	.310	.682
20		Chris Parmelee	Batting 2nd	2015	2015	7	25	4	.292	.320	.542	.862
21		Jace Peterson	Batting 2nd	2018	2018	5	23	1	.105	.261	.158	.419
22		Trey Mancini	Batting 2nd	2017	2018	5	17	1	.133	.235	.200	.435
23		Craig Gentry	Batting 2nd	2017	2018	5	17	3	.214	.353	.357	.710
24		Xavier Avery	Batting 2nd	2012	2012	4	14	1	.231	.286	.538	.824
25		Michael Bourn	Batting 2nd	2016	2016	3	13	2	.300	.417	.900	1.317
Rk	I	Player	Split	From	To	G	PA	R	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
26		Ryan Flaherty	Batting 2nd	2012	2017	13	11	0	.182	.182	.182	.364
27		Endy Chavez	Batting 2nd	2012	2012	5	11	2	.182	.182	.545	.727

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 5/3/2018.

But then you see someone like J.J. Hardy batting second so many times when he really only had one pretty good offensive season in Baltimore. Showalter's lineups, in which he routinely puts emphasis on platoon splits, individual pitcher/batter match-ups, and player performance in certain ballparks (see: Ryan Flaherty in Boston), can be a mixed bag. Things look great when they work out, but a lot of the time, they don't.

To start the season, Showalter tried using Chris Davis as the leadoff hitter. There was some sense behind it, though it did seem like more of a motivational tactic than anything. It didn't work. But Showalter did slot Machado and Schoop after Davis. You can argue about whether Schoop should bat third or fourth, but Showalter did seem committed to putting those guys at the top and getting them to the plate more. The lineup looked better after Mancini replaced Davis at the top.

Then Schoop got hurt. Without Schoop's name in the lineup every day, Showalter went to a new strategy: keep Mancini at leadoff, drop Machado to third, and use a platoon of Pedro Alvarez (vs. RHP) and Craig Gentry (vs. LHP) in the second spot. I'm still not sure why Machado is no longer batting second, but at least using Alvarez (career wRC+ of 118 vs. RHP) in the top third of the lineup makes sense. He's also hitting extremely well right now, with a wRC+ of 141 in 75 plate appearances.

But Gentry? He is fast, but he only has a career wRC+ of 95 against southpaws. To make matters worse, the Orioles recently added utility player Jace Peterson, who has taken over for Alvarez in the second spot against right-handers. He has a career wRC+ of 85 against right-handed pitching, but again, he's fast.

The Orioles' problem, besides not having Schoop in the lineup every day, is that they simply don't have enough good hitters. With Mancini's recent slump, Machado and Alvarez are really the only two players who are mashing. Davis and Adam Jones have been bad at the plate, and Mark Trumbo only just returned (and is a wild card anyway). But even though Gentry and Peterson bring a speed element and are good baserunners, they shouldn't be batting in the top third of a major league lineup. (At the moment, Gentry has a wRC+ of 24!)

Maybe it seems unnecessary to sweat the small stuff when there are so many major issues. Maybe we didn't realize how good we had it until now.