The Hardball Times has an interesting read on constructing line-ups. Link. Here's what he had to say: That's really interesting. He uses the A's as his example, but if I take PECOTA's projections for the likely Cubs starting nine and simply use OPS to rank the hitters 1-9, the players rank in this order: Lee, Ramirez, Barrett, Jones, Walker, Murton, Pierre, and Cedeno. Following that formula, Lee, Ramirez and Barrett should occupy the #1, #2, and #4 spot in the line-up. Jones and Walker should be in the #3 and #5 positions and then 6-9 would be Murton, Pierre, Cedeno, and the pitcher respectively. Basically, if following this premise, the Cubs line-up would be : 1. Lee 2. Ramirez 3. Walker 4. Barrett 5. Jones 6. Murton 7. Pierre 8. Cedeno 9. Pitcher Interesting concept and nothing like anything we've ever seen.