How Do You Approach Building a Lineup in MLB The Show 16?

This is a fascinating question and one without a single answer. Just as in baseball, there is no perfect lineup and no single way to put a lineup together. With that in mind, we asked OS Staff Writers to talk about how they approach lineup building -- you can also check out our accompanying video to this roundtable.

Read our responses below...

Jayson Young

1) I like leading off with someone who can get on base regularly by slapping hits, drawing walks or outrunning long infield throws. My number one guy doesn't need to have 90-plus speed and steal stats, but he must be a threat to consistently take second base. Leadoff men with the wheels to steal third base are more of a luxury to me than a necessity. On my Diamond Dynasty team, Yasiel Puig has been sitting at the top of my order since I pulled him in my pre-order reward packs. Puig has 60 hits and only 14 strikeouts in 136 at-bats. 30 of those 60 hits have gone for extra bases. The Wild Horse has even stolen 26 bases in 31 attempts, which is surprisingly successful for a player who's only gifted with 78 speed and 30 steal ratings.

2) I stop caring about speed and stealing at this point in my lineup, but I'm still looking for a guy with good contact, vision and discipline ratings because all that stuff will help a hitter put the ball in play and avoid strikeouts. A high clutch rating also becomes necessary now since that category affects a batter's performance whenever runners are in scoring position. Power isn't that important to me just yet, so I prefer using someone like Rays left fielder Corey Dickerson since he comes with 91 contact and 89 clutch ratings. He was the first hitter I purchased from the Diamond Dynasty marketplace, mostly due to how well I did with him in this same role last year, and he hasn't left my number two spot since MLB 16's opening day. Dickerson continues to be a consistent contact hitter for me, striking out only three times in 91 at-bats. At the absolute minimum, he always seems to put the ball in play. He hasn't drawn any walks or stolen any bases, and his mediocre fielding ratings can cause some errors, but his 27 RBI are the most of anyone on my squad.
 

3-5) Now I'm playing with power -- hitting power. Give me a group of guys who can easily smack the ball to the outfield every time they swing the bat. Maybe they'll mistime a foul ball and send it soaring out of bounds. Maybe they'll thud a double off a padded fence. Maybe they'll launch a rocket that runs out of fuel around the warning track. Maybe they'll blast a ball so far it bounces off a balcony or a scoreboard. The big thing in these spaces is I don't want any wimpy ground balls coming off these guys' bats because I want to avoid creating easy double play or triple play opportunities. The higher their clutch rating, the higher up these brutes will be in my hitting order. Flashback Nick Swisher, Flashback Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Live Series Lucas Duda are my top performers in the middle positions. Combined, those three studs have amassed 35 home runs and 57 RBI in 175 at-bats.

6-7) Typically, there aren't many runners left on base once the lower portion of my order steps into the batter's box, so it's the perfect place for a pair of all-or-nothing solo shot artists like Live Series Pedro Alvarez and Flashback Dan Uggla. Since I started deploying that duo on my Diamond Dynasty team, nearly half of their combined hits (32) have been home runs (15). When you don't have a lot of hitting ability waiting in-the-hole/on-deck, you might as well swing like no one's watching.

8) This is the only person in my lineup besides the leadoff man who must have dangerous speed and steal ratings. Reason being, if I can't get my eighth hitter on base, then I can't try a sacrifice with the pitcher who's coming up to the plate next. Craig Gentry and Ben Revere are my favorite speedsters to start in the eight spot since they're both solid contact hitters who can often get on base without needing to bunt.

9) If I'm playing a three-inning Conquest or Battle Royale contest, then I'll usually pinch-hit for the pitcher. But if it's a regular nine-inning matchup, then I like to sacrifice bunt with the pitcher if somebody's on base, or wait for a fastball down the middle if nobody's on base. Meatballs aside, I try not to swing early in the at-bat and will attempt to draw a walk until I'm down to my last strike. But any time I see that juicy, leathery meat coming straight over the plate, I will not hesitate to whack it.

Mike Lowe

I go about it in a bit of a different approach than what's the norm with the biggest difference being that I put more emphasis on my #2 hitter and far less on my #3 hitter. Here is how I breakdown each lineup position:

1) On-base percentage. I don't care about speed here, but it's an added benefit if it so happens to be included. I will never put speed here above OBP.

2) This is typically my second best hitter on the team, and I'll try and start my alternating lefty/righty splits here, but can't always make those perfect splits happen 100 percent of the time. I put more emphasis on the #2 hole than the #3 spot because the "#2 hitter comes to bat in situations about as important as the #3 hitter, but more often."

3) I actually put my fifth best hitter here as "the #3 hitter comes to the plate with, on average, fewer runners on base than the #4 or #5 hitters." My #3 hitter ideally bats the same handedness as my leadoff guy.

4) This is my best hitter with power, pure and simple. "The #4 hitter comes to bat in the most important situations out of all nine spots, but is equal in importance to the #2 hole once you consider the #2 guy receives more plate appearances." My cleanup hitter will hopefully be the same handeness as my #2 hitter, and the alternating continues on down the lineup.

5) A power bat, even at the sacrifice of batting average. He is likely our third best hitter behind #2 and #4, but might have more power than both guys.

6) My best basestealer who can also get on-base at a decent clip. The reason I use this guy here and not in the leadoff spot is due to the guys coming after him. I'm not expecting much more than a single, so if we can move this guy up into scoring position it can be an extra run here and there, which means an extra win here and there too.

7) My next best hitter, especially someone who can protect the plate and make contact with two strikes -- he may be sacrificing a strike with a stolen base attempt (see #6).

8) My next best hitter, very similar to #7. I will rarely -- if ever -- put the pitcher in the eight-hole since I want the extra opportunity to single home my #6 hitter after he's hopefully stolen a base or two.

9) Worst hitter remaining or pitcher. If it's a DH lineup, it could also be someone who defends well and perhaps allows a better hitter to be in the lineup in one of those 2-5 spots. I don't believe in a "second leadoff hitter" either. And even if I did, he would be batting sixth or even third for me. I would rather use a defensive player in a spot that averages at least three-plus defensive opportunities per game, which means CF, SS, 2B or perhaps LF.

Quotes taken from Beyond the Boxscore.

Chase Becotte

To differentiate from these other two peeps, I'm going to put an example of a player I would put in each spot in the lineup, as well as a very brief explanation:

1) John Jaso - High on-base percentage is all I'm after here. If I have to platoon, that's fine as well.

2) Joey Votto - I'm looking to put my best hitter here, and in many ways I'm looking to continue the trend from my leadoff hitter. In other words, I want to keep making the pitcher work early and often.

3) George Springer - I like some pop here, but I'm also looking to put someone in the three-hole who is versatile. It won't ever be one of my best hitters in the three-hole, but it will be someone who is dangerous. I also like a little more speed here to setup what comes next.

4) Carlos Gonzalez - This will generally be my second-best hitter, and it's a bonus if he has plus-power. I'll allow someone who is a bit more free swinging to hang here as well.

5) Mark Trumbo - Boom or bust, let's do it.

6) Jacoby Ellsbury - At this point, looking again for someone who can work the bat, and if he can run then all the better.

7) Francisco Cervelli - Again, I want someone I can trust with the bat here. I need him to work the count and be able to hit with two strikes.

8) A pitcher doing pitcher things.

9) Billy Burns - Let's flip this lineup over and entrust a spark plug of a player to cause some chaos as the big boys come back to the plate.

So what about you? What is your strategy for putting together a batting order? Sound off in the comments below!