I've been assured they are domestic terrorists, which I guess you can tell by the string of dead bodies surrounding the NYC subway entries they have left in their wake.
I agree. I don't mind happy talk if it doesn't overwhelm the game action, at least in contestable games. Not everybody likes Dan's "I take baseball seriously like a job" approach, but I like it just fine, and it suits him great.
That's probably why all the best lineups in these analyses always says best your best hitter leadoff, your second-best second, third-best third, etc. FWIW, cricket works exactly like that.
I assume you mean where you bat the same nine guys? That's research they did a decade or two ago and that did come to the conclusion that stressing over batting order is overblown because the difference in run production is small as you say.
I hate watching the game on MLB.tv where I have to reach for the volume knob basically every break because they play the same four spots over. And over. And over. And over. etc.
I prefer watching the game on Extra Innings where I have at least a chance to see some semi-charming local Detroit spots.
That works if you have a plus-hitter you can play at DH on the regular. If you don't have that and you wanna keep decent hitters in the game while giving them time off the field, rotating through the DH spot works well for that.
Also, not for nothing, remember how we were praising Tork’s defense out of the box the first week or so? Looks like his numbers have caught up with the eye test (20 innings/position minimum):
https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders/major-league?lg=all&type=1&season=2024&season1=2024&ind=0&rost=&age=&filter=&players=0&startdate=&enddate=&stats=fld&team=6&pos=all&month=0&sortcol=12&sortdir=default&qual=20
Only one plate appearance into his Tigers career and Buddy Kennedy is already fifth on the team in offense above replacement:
https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders/major-league?lg=all&qual=0&type=8&season=2024&season1=2024&ind=0&rost=&age=&filter=&players=0&startdate=2024-03-19&enddate=2024-11-01&stats=bat&month=1000&team=6&sortcol=19&sortdir=default&pos=np
Sadly, Colt Keith is dead last, even below Javy./
I definitely think it will be. At whatever point we are peaking, we'll probably have something like five or six everyday guys who will get spelled maybe once every ten or so games, and six or so guys to rotate regularly among the other two or three slots.