Most Lethal 'Heart of the Order' Lineups in Major League Baseball Right Now
It's the bottom of the ninth inning in Game 7 of the World Series. You need one run to tie, two runs to win. To get the job done, you can choose the current "heart of the order" from any team in Major League Baseball.
Who do you choose?
Before we dive in to ranking the options, let's first clarify that we are defining the heart of the order as a team's best three-, four-, five- or six-man chunk of consecutive hitters.
[Puts on old person cap] Back in my day, the heart of the order was the guy batting third, the guy batting cleanup and the player either directly before or after that duo, depending on which way that manager preferred to set a lineup. These days, though, some teams put their best hitter in the leadoff spot, or one of their best sluggers in the 6-hole.
Thus, for each team, we'll denote where in the order that the heart typically resides, but we're just searching for the most lethal stretches of current batting orders—the guys you most want coming to the dish with the game on the line.
Unless otherwise noted, statistics are current through the start of play on Monday, May 31.
Honorable Mentions
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A Few Teams with Injured Sluggers
Because we've explicitly put "Right Now" in the headline, it's necessary to filter out any sluggers currently on the injured list. Several teams were still able to make it into our top eight despite currently lacking a star bat, but several others missed the cut because of an injury.
The most painful omission here is the Mike Trout–less Los Angeles Angels. Shohei Ohtani and Jared Walsh have been fantastic all season. However, with Trout (calf strain) out since mid-May and expected to miss up to another month and with Anthony Rendon (.220 AVG, 3 HR) woefully underperforming, the heart of the Angels order doesn't pack enough of a punch.
Two other teams definitively knocked out by injury were the Minnesota Twins (Byron Buxton) and the Philadelphia Phillies (Bryce Harper). Even if we were to include injured guys, though, those teams probably still fall a bit short. Outside of Buxton, Minnesota is basically "Nelson Cruz or Bust." And with Harper out and Alec Bohm disappointing, Philly has struggled to push across runs.
San Francisco Giants
With 10 home runs, a .331 average and an OPS of 1.028, Buster Posey is having himself one hell of a season for what is the most surprising team to have already reached the 30 wins mark. His also-in-their-mid-30s teammates Evan Longoria and Brandon Crawford have also shown a surprising amount of pop, combining for 19 home runs thus far. However, with Brandon Belt and Darin Ruf both on the IL and Mike Yastrzemski sputtering through a bit of a down year, there are more lethal lineups out there.
St. Louis Cardinals
Similar to the Giants, the Cardinals have gotten an unexpectedly impressive season out of their aging catcher. Yadier Molina entered play on Monday with a .301 batting average and seven home runs. Flanked by Nolan Arenado and Tyler O'Neill—each boasting 11 dingers on the year—that's a solid heart of the order.
Here's my objection to putting the Cardinals in the top eight, though: Factor in Paul Goldschmidt and Paul DeJong (when he's healthy), and the entire 3-7 section of the St. Louis batting order is right-handed. Obviously, they're doing just fine in spite of that. But with so little separating the sixth-best heart of the order from the 10th-best one, that minor detail stood out as enough of a reason to leave the Cardinals on the outside looking in.
8. Los Angeles Dodgers
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Heart of the Order
1. Mookie Betts (.240 AVG, .782 OPS, 5 HR)
2. Max Muncy (.281 AVG, 1.005 OPS, 13 HR)
3. Justin Turner (.272 AVG, .825 OPS, 9 HR)
4. Cody Bellinger (.154 AVG, .536 OPS, 0 HR)
5. Will Smith (.277 AVG, .845 OPS, 5 HR)
6. Chris Taylor (.269 AVG, .844 OPS, 6 HR)
The Dodgers bats have been all sorts of snake-bitten by injury. Bellinger is just now back in the lineup after a 46-game absence for a broken leg, making it virtually impossible to adequately judge the former NL MVP's "right now" lethality. Meanwhile, both Corey Seager (hand injury) and A.J. Pollock (hamstring) have been on the IL since mid-May.
That's almost $50 million worth of 2021 salary either currently injured or working its way back from being out for well over a month. Throw in Betts performing well below his elite career norms, and it's borderline flabbergasting that this offense is leading the majors in runs scored.
We're on the hunt for most lethal hearts of the order, though, and for pitchers facing the Dodgers thus far this season, it has been much more "death by a thousand cuts" than any sort of three-headed monster.
Entering play on Sunday, 10 Dodgers had tallied at least 70 ABs, and all 10 were batting somewhere in the .240-.282 range. Nine of the 10 also had an OPS of .750 or better. Not a black hole in the bunch, but with the exception of Muncy, nary a batter tearing the cover off the ball, either.
With the Dodgers, more so than any other team, that could change in the blink of an eye. Bellinger, Betts and Seager had a combined total of 222 extra-base hits in 2019 compared to just 36 thus far this season. If Betts heats up while Bellinger and Seager both heal up, this lineup instantly becomes the absolute terror everyone was forecasting in the preseason.
As things currently stand, though, there are more formidable gauntlets for closers to try to protect a one-run lead against.
7. San Diego Padres
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Heart of the Order
2. Manny Machado (.233 AVG, .737 OPS, 6 HR)
3. Jake Cronenworth (.292 AVG, .799 OPS, 5 HR)
4. Fernando Tatis Jr. (.299 AVG, 1.074 OPS, 15 HR)
5. Eric Hosmer (.289 AVG, .767 OPS, 5 HR)
Half of the difficulty in figuring out where (or if) to rank the Padres was trying to decipher what actually is the heart of their order, as they have yet to use the same 1-8 batting order in back-to-back games at any point this season.
In the nearly two weeks since Tatis' return from a COVID-19-related stint on the IL, though, they have pretty consistently gone with Cronenworth, Tatis and Hosmer at 3-5, which is a fairly lethal trio.
Clearly, Tatis is the heart and soul of the lineup with more than twice as many home runs as his next-closest teammate. But even though Cronenworth and Hosmer aren't huge threats to go yard, having a .292 hitter in front of Tatis and a .289 hitter behind him has been a nice dose of protection.
He is leading the NL in home runs and slugging (and stolen bases), yet he has only been intentionally walked four times this season. (And even though people insist he's going to start getting drilled in every AB if he keeps admiring his moon shots, he hasn't been hit by a pitch yet, either.) Teams are all but forced to pitch to him, whether they want to or not.
And that's only going to get worse if and when Machado's bat springs to life. The 28-year-old entered this season with career marks of .280 AVG and .825 OPS, and he finished third in last year's NL MVP race with 16 home runs in just 254 plate appearances.
San Diego also would have checked in a few rungs higher if we could have factored in usual leadoff hitter Trent Grisham. He's currently on the IL with a foot contusion, but his .301 AVG and .898 OPS will provide quite the boost when they return to the lineup.
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6. Chicago White Sox
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Heart of the Order
3. Yoan Moncada (.289 AVG, .843 OPS, 4 HR)
4. Jose Abreu (.272 AVG, .874 OPS, 11 HR)
5. Yermin Mercedes (.320 AVG, .863 OPS, 7 HR)
Since Luis Robert suffered a torn hip flexor in early May, the White Sox have been desperately trying to figure out something that works at No. 2 in the lineup.
Both Adam Eaton and Yasmani Grandal have made starts at that spot in the order, but they're both batting below .200 on the year. Jake Lamb has made a few appearances there, but he's not an everyday player. Nick Madrigal has done well and is probably the answer until Robert returns, though it's hard to argue he's a "lethal" part of the lineup with just one home run in 292 career plate appearances.
Because of that big question mark at No. 2, there's a gap that keeps leadoff man Tim Anderson—who has a .324/.352/.497 triple slash and a 162-game pace of 26 home runs since the start of the 2019 season—from being considered part of the heart of the order. Include him and the ChiSox climb a few spots higher.
But that's OK, because the true heart of the White Sox order is more than holding its own.
This trio has appeared at 3-4-5 (not always in that same order) in 34 of the team's 52 games. And in each of their last 10 games, it has been Moncada, Abreu and Mercedes, in that order. For all the criticisms of Tony La Russa since he was hired as manager this past offseason, at least he's wise enough to appreciate you don't tinker with a good thing.
In 2019, Moncada hit .315 with 25 home runs. Last year, Abreu hit .317 with 19 home runs and was named AL MVP in the process. Both guys got out to a bit of a slow start this April, but from May 17-30 they were both highly effective. Moncada's OPS during that two-week window was 1.052. Abreu was ever so slightly better at 1.054.
Mercedes went in the opposite direction, batting .415 in April before cooling off considerably in May. But he was so darn good for that first month that his year-to-date numbers still have "AL Rookie of the Year" written all over them. If he heats back up over the summer, the White Sox could well run away with the No. 1 seed in the AL playoffs.
5. Houston Astros
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Heart of the Order
3. Alex Bregman (.297 AVG, .839 OPS, 6 HR)
4. Yordan Alvarez (.310 AVG, .869 OPS, 7 HR)
5. Yuli Gurriel (.309 AVG, .892 OPS, 7 HR)
6. Carlos Correa (.274 AVG, .814 OPS, 8 HR)
7. Kyle Tucker (.230 AVG, .769 OPS, 11 HR)
Houston's heart is a classic "whole is greater than the sum of its parts" situation.
If you're making a list of the top options for a home run derby, or if you're looking for one person to deliver a game-tying hit, you're almost certainly looking elsewhere. At any rate, Houston doesn't have anyone who is currently a serious threat to contend for AL MVP.
But all five of these Astros are well above-average hitters, which makes for one heck of a gauntlet.
Going through four guys with an OPS north of .800 only to then run into the team leader in home runs is a decidedly not-fun proposition for any pitcher. It's why the Astros have scored multiple runs in all but two games this season, including each of their past 27 contests.
And, let's be real, we all know these guys have more power than they have displayed thus far.
Alvarez, Bregman and Correa are each slugging at least 100 points worse than they did in 2019. Gurriel also hit 31 home runs two years ago, which is 10 more than his current pace. Even Tucker had 58 home runs and 50 stolen bases at the Triple-A level between the 2018 and 2019 seasons, as well as 27 extra-base hits last year. He should be slugging better than .465.
Even though all five members of this heart are operating at below-career-best levels, it's still a top five trio/quartet/quintet if you're in dire need of a late-inning rally.
4. Atlanta Braves
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Heart of the Order
1. Ronald Acuna Jr. (.278 AVG, .982 OPS, 15 HR)
2. Freddie Freeman (.239 AVG, .838 OPS, 12 HR)
3. Ozzie Albies (.235 AVG, .797 OPS, 9 HR)
4. Austin Riley (.313 AVG, .955 OPS, 10 HR)
The heart of Atlanta's order got a little bit of addition by subtraction when slumping Marcell Ozuna (.213 AVG, .645 OPS) suffered two fractured fingers last Tuesday. The injury was expected to keep him out for up to six weeks, but his absence from the lineup became much more indefinite following Saturday's arrest for aggravated assault and misdemeanor battery.
Up until the fractures, he had started every game at either No. 3 or No. 4 in the order while providing barely replacement-level production. That's quite the unfortunate 180 degree turnaround from last year when he hit .338 with an NL-best 18 home runs. However, 1-4 of the Atlanta order looks more formidable with his mediocre 2021 bat out of the picture.
Here's a fun way to look at the NL East home run tallies:
Philadelphia Phillies: 52
Washington Nationals: 48
The quartet of Acuna-Freeman-Albies-Riley: 46
Miami Marlins: 45
New York Mets: 39
The scary thing is Atlanta could be even more lethal, though.
Acuna has been phenomenal batting leadoff, per usual in recent years, and Riley has broken through in a huge way in the AVG and OBP departments, becoming an everyday staple in the lineup. Best of luck trying to find a better leadoff/cleanup combo in the majors right now.
But both Freeman and Albies are a bit below their usual levels of excellence. Freeman led the NL with 191 hits in 2018. Albies did the same the following year with 189 hits. And Freeman won NL MVP last year, batting .341 with a 1.102 OPS. They've each hit a good number of home runs, but seeing them both hovering in the .235-.240 range of batting average is a bit bizarre.
Even if Riley tapers off a bit, as long as Freeman and Albies can bring their averages back closer to what we're accustomed to seeing from them, it would go a long way toward bringing Atlanta back from its sub-.500 50-game start to the year.
3. Cincinnati Reds
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Heart of the Order
1. Eugenio Suarez (.163 AVG, .625 OPS, 12 HR)
2. Jesse Winker (.348 AVG, 1.046 OPS, 13 HR)
3. Nick Castellanos (.359 AVG, 1.063 OPS, 12 HR)
4. Tyler Naquin (.252 AVG, .817 OPS, 10 HR)
When they were healthy, the Reds had Joey Votto (.226 AVG, 5 HR) hitting third with Mike Moustakas (.241 AVG, 4 HR) batting either fourth or fifth. But with both of those veterans recently sidelined by minor injuries, Cincinnati has been forced to tinker with its lineup, including putting Suarez's disastrous batting average in the leadoff spot in five of the past six games.
Against all odds, the move has at least temporarily fixed his bat. Suarez is 6-for-20 with three home runs in that leadoff spot, setting things up nicely for the two players (Winker and Castellanos) currently leading the majors in batting average.
To put it lightly, that has been an unexpected development. Castellanos entered 2021 as a career .274 hitter, including a woeful .225 mark last season. Winker wasn't much better at .280 and .255, respectively. Yet, they have done one heck of a Ted Williams and Johnny Pesky impression, battling each other for the league batting title on a nightly basis.
Naquin has capitalized on those frequent ducks on the pond to the tune of 10 home runs and a team-best 33 runs batted in.
Cincinnati's batting prowess tapers off in a hurry from there, and the pitching staff has been just plain awful for most of the season. That's why—despite being the only team in the majors with at least four batters with at least 10 home runs—the Reds are nowhere close to the playoff picture. But if you desperately needed to score a run or two and could call upon 3-5 hitters from any lineup in the National League, this is the one you want.
2. Toronto Blue Jays
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Heart of the Order
1. Marcus Semien (.297 AVG, .915 OPS, 13 HR)
2. Bo Bichette (.263 AVG, .787 OPS, 11 HR)
3. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (.323 AVG, 1.065 OPS, 16 HR)
4. Teoscar Hernandez (.317 AVG, .887 OPS, 8 HR)
5. Randal Grichuk (.289 AVG, .820 OPS, 9 HR)
Ain't no rest for the wicked when facing Toronto, and it's getting even tougher to stifle the Blue Jays bats now that Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (.370 AVG in his last 14 games) appears to have snapped out of his annual ice cold start to the season.
Much like Fernando Tatis Jr. in San Diego, Vladi Jr. is the undisputed general of this brigade. Guerrero is leading the majors in both home runs and OPS, and would be running away with the AL MVP race right now were it not for Shohei Ohtani. Guerrero hit .429 through the first 14 games of the year, and then had another 14-game stretch (May 11-25) in which he clubbed nine home runs and had a mind-blowing OPS of 1.361.
And Guerrero is flanked by way more support than Tatis has.
Semien finished third in the 2019 AL MVP race, but he has been slightly better in his first year with Toronto than he was in that previous season with Oakland. And his numbers are a heck of a lot more impressive if you ignore his slow start to the year. Since batting .174 in those first 17 games, he has hit .357 with a 1.073 OPS over his last 35 contests.
Bichette's numbers pale in comparison to those of Semien and Guerrero, but a 34–home run pace for what is currently the fifth-best slugger on the roster is quite the luxury for Toronto. Bichette is also leading the majors in run scored (43), because getting on base in front of Guerrero, Hernandez and Grichuk is the equivalent of playing a video game on the easiest setting. If he reaches base, he scores more often than not.
The most ridiculous part of Toronto's hitting prowess is that they've done this without the services of their highest-paid player. They inked former Houston Astro George Springer to a six-year, $150 million deal in January, but he has appeared in just four games this season because of a quad injury.
If the current 1-5 stays healthy, Springer gets healthy, and Gurriel continues his recent hot streak, 1-7 in the Toronto order is going to spark a "best in decades" debate.
1. Boston Red Sox
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Heart of the Order
3. J.D. Martinez (.328 AVG, .986 OPS, 12 HR)
4. Xander Bogaerts (.326 AVG, .952 OPS, 10 HR)
5. Rafael Devers (.284 AVG, .961 OPS, 14 HR)
Toronto's 1-5 has been excellent, but Boston's 3-5 is just in a world of its own.
Entering play on Monday, Martinez, Bogaerts and Devers each ranked top five in the American League (top 11 in the majors) in OPS, averaging a collective 3.6 hits, 0.7 home runs and 2.3 runs batted in per game.
On one particularly ridiculous occasion, they went a combined 9-for-16 with five home runs in an April 11 victory over Baltimore. But you can just about take it to the bank that this trio will combine for multiple hits on any given night.
This isn't exactly new information for Martinez, Bogaerts and Devers. They were equally impressive in 2019, pacing the Red Sox to a fourth-best-in-the-majors mark of 901 runs scored. That year, they each hit at least 32 home runs, drove in at least 105 runs and had an OPS of .916 or better.
However, this dominance does come as a surprise in light of how poorly last year went. They each played in at least 54 games of the 60-game campaign, but they hit a collective .258 with nowhere near the same amount of power. Martinez was particularly disappointing with a .680 OPS.
They are back with a vengeance this year, though, unexpectedly pacing the Red Sox to the fourth-best record in the majors as we close out the month of May.
We would be remiss if we didn't also mention Alex Verdugo's production. With a .287 average and seven home runs, Boston's usual No. 2 hitter is more than worthy of "heart of the order" status in just about any other lineup. In Boston's loaded heart, though, he's like the Mario Chalmers of the Miami Heat that LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh carried to back-to-back titles.
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