Do the Miami Marlins have the best top of the batting order in the NL East based on WRC+?

Do the Miami Marlins have the best top and middle of the batting order in the NL East? The top of the batting order is of course the all-important lead-off spot, the increasingly crucial #2 spot (where many teams now put their best hitters, the traditional best hitter #3 spot, the clean-up #4 spot and finally the #5 spot. Here’s some reading on two of our key top of the batting order hitters.

The Miami Marlins have a better batting order than many think. Let’s start with of division rivals first though… Before we continue, here’s a quick primer on WRC+, which is basically a rating of a hitter’s hitting ability and value per at-bat. The Atlanta Braves have RF Ronald Acuña Jr. in their lead-off spot and he has a 136 WRC+. SS Dansby Swanson is in the #2 spot with a 115 WRC+. DH Marcell Ozuna is in the #3 spot with a 90 WRC+. 3B Austin Riley bats clean-up and has a 138 WRC+. 2B Ozzie Albies is in the #5 spot with a 93 WRC+. I’ll combine them for a number of 572 and 114.4 WRC+ per player.

Let’s look at the New York Mets. CF Brandon Nimmo bats lead-off and has a 132 WRC+. He is followed by RF Starling Marte and his 119 WRC+. #3 is SS Francisco Lindor and his 126 WRC+. Then there’s 1B Pete Alonso and his 144 WRC+. Finally there’s 2B Jeff McNeil and his 141 WRC+. The total is 662 and the average is 132.4. The Philadelphia Phillies are next… LF Kyle Schwarber and his 107 WRC+, then 3B Alex Bohm and his 107 WRC+, then RF Bryce Harper (DH this season due to injury) and his 154 WRC+, then DH Nick Castellanos and his 107 WRC+ and finally 1B Rhys Hoskins and his 98 WRC+. Philly’s total is 573 and average is 114.6.

The Washington Nationals are not doing too good… 2B César Hernández starts things off with a 91 WRC+, followed by C Keibert Ruiz and his 95 WRC+, then  RF Juan Soto and his 126 WRC+, DH Nelson Cruz with an 86 WRC+ and finally 1B Josh Bell and his 132 WRC+. Washington’s total is 530 and the average is 106.

Finally the Miami Marlins: 2B Jazz Chisholm Jr. starts things off with a 140 WRC+. He’s followed by DH Jesús Aguilar and his 108 WRC+. Next up is LF Jorge Soler and his 121 WRC+, 1B Garrett Cooper with a 128 WRC+ and finally RF Avisaíl García and his 57 WRC+. Miami’s total is 554 and the average is 110.8.

What was the result of this experimental study? The New York Mets finished first with 662 total WRC+, followed by Atlanta with 572, Philly with 573, The Fish with 554 and Washington with 530. If Someone other than Avi was #5, we’d be #2, so that’s something to think about. This was an experiment, but says a lot about the state of offenses.