U make the line up!!

[Coletrain]

Something to pass the time on a Tuesday! lol

Make the line up for a 8U travel team.

P-contact hitter, line drives, Little bit of power, runs well
C-streaky hitter, will strike out, has good power, runs well
1st-above average power, always puts the ball in play, runs well
2nd-ok power, pulls the ball, runs ok
3rd-above average power, always puts the ball in play, runs ok
SS-not as much power as 1st or 3rd, but close, always puts the ball in play, runs well
LF-streaky hitter, will strike out, runs ok
LC-contact hitter(lefty), runs well(fastest on team), hits the 5/6 hole a good bit
RC-contact hitter, slow runner, not much power
RF-streaky hitter, hits backside a good bit, runs ok

This is machine pitch. Thanks for the help!

[mudvnine]

It doesn't matter, they're 8.......and if they're ALL, truly "travel ball" caliber, you should be able to rotate the lineup and let them all hit throughout it with very little difference......besides the probable "power" difference depending on the players' individual physical development (so to speak).

[va4man]

yep, rotate them every game. The one batter in game one becomes the two batter in game two. The last batter in game one is the first batter in game two and so on.

[Coletrain]

We do rotate them every game. I was just bored and was trying to think of the best possible line up. Thanks!

[tg643]

Just curious, are the pitchers in machine pitch travel better than machine pitch rec ball?

[Coletrain]

Just curious, are the pitchers in machine pitch travel better than machine pitch rec ball?

pitching is the same. lol Our team is a rec team in a rec league,all of our players live with in a few miles of each other, we also like to play in tounaments when they have them close by. So i guess we are rec/travel.

[bbrages]

We do rotate them every game. I was just bored and was trying to think of the best possible line up. Thanks!

Ordered from best on-base percentage to worst would probably be better than a random lineup.

[Kings over Queens]

@ 8U? Machine Pitch?

Line them up by birth month.

January through December.

[Standballdad]

I use to determine batting lineup by who got to the field first.

[marklaker]

At 8U lineup should be based upon the hottest mom criteria.

[ck_bolts]

alphabetical by last name!

[JCincy]

Something to pass the time on a Tuesday! lol

Make the line up for a 8U travel team.

Set a lineup. Mark who batted lasted. The kid after bats first the next game, using the same line up. Everyone gets roughly the same number of at bats.

Have them draw names out of a hat.

Have a crazy contest at practice to determine the order.

Let the kids vote the order, but you can't vote for yourself.

If you have a kid with no hits tell the team he is batting first until he gets a hit. Most of the team (maybe the whole team) will start really pulling for him.

[jacjacatk]

Set a lineup. Mark who batted lasted. The kid after bats first the next game, using the same line up. Everyone gets roughly the same number of at bats.

This is what I'd do. If there are run limits per inning (at this age it would be 3 or 5 runs around here), make sure the initial lineup you set separates the worst hitters from each other, as the best way to maximize runs scored then becomes reaching the run limit as often as possible while using at least one or two outs, while avoiding innings where 3 outs get recorded (which will happen every 2nd or 3rd inning with a more traditional lineup).

Ordered from best on-base percentage to worst would probably be better than a random lineup.

This is funny. You won't have the necessary sample size for the OBPs to know if they're meaningful, you won't have good enough scorekeeping to know if the OBPs you have are even right, and for most of the players you won't know on any given day whether the kid is going to play at 100% or 10% of his actual ability (and for a lot of the kids, that'll be about the range of variability to expect).

[tradosaurus]

I would make a lineup based upon the last weeks performance. I would then bribe the kids with a double sno cone if they get a hit. One time I coached 10U one of the parents gave a quarter for every successful steal. I can't remember another game where we had that many steals. :cap:

[dominik]

Rotate them every week. Don't make the 9 spot or playing right field a punishment.