At 15U-18U, batting order construction mirrors professional strategy — OBP at the top, OPS in the middle, and matchup awareness throughout. Your lineup at this age should be built on data from 30+ games, account for pitcher-batter matchups when available, and balance short-term competitive needs with long-term player development for college-bound athletes.

The modern approach to lineup construction at this level is data-first. Recent research (and MLB practice) shows that the traditional "bunt-and-run" style 2-hole hitter is outdated. Your best hitter should bat second or third. Your highest-OBP player should lead off. Here's the framework:

The old school says: leadoff gets on, #2 bunts him over, #3-4 drive him in. Data says: your best hitter should bat second because that spot gets the most at-bats with runners on in the first inning AND the most total at-bats over a full game.

At 15U-18U, if your best hitter has an OPS of .950 and your second-best has .820, put the .950 hitter in the 2-hole. He'll see more pitches, get more at-bats in high-leverage situations, and produce more runs over a season than he would hitting third or fourth.

At 15U-18U with 40+ games of data, platoon splits become meaningful. Some hitters perform significantly differently against left-handed and right-handed pitchers. If you're tracking games in Rizzler, AI stats analysis surfaces these splits automatically.

In tournament play, matchup data matters even more. If you've faced a team before, Rizzler's in-game intel shows pitcher-batter history from previous games. Adjust your lineup to put hitters in spots where they've historically performed against that day's starter.