Best Lineup - New York Yankees

In my previous post, I looked at the best lineup for the Cincinatti Reds.  Next up are the New York Yankees in my Best Lineup series.  The Yankees have had many injuries along with a few new faces this pre-season.  I will compare the lineup that MLB Depth Charts lists as their most likely lineup against what the simulator thinks is the best lineup and this will be done both against a RH and LH pitcher.  In order to do this the simulator plays one game millions of times and picks the game with the highest winning percentage as the best lineup.  And a last note before the results are shown.  The injury to Mark Teixeira happened after I had started the Yankees portion of this exercise.  I will address a lineup without Teixeira in a later post.  Below are the results.

Important Reading Source: Optimizing Your Lineup By The Book


MLB Depth Charts Default Lineup
1. Ichiro Suzuki (L)
2. Derek Jeter
3. Robinson Cano (L)
4. Mark Teixeira (S)
5. Kevin Youkilis
6. Travis Hafner (L)
7. Juan Rivera
8. Brett Gardner (L)
9. Chris Stewart

Simulator's Best Lineup vs RHP
1. Brett Gardner (L)
2. Kevin Youkilis
3. Robinson Cano (L)
4. Mark Teixeira (S)
5. Ichiro Suzuki (L)
6. Derek Jeter
7. Travis Hafner (L)
8. Juan Rivera
9. Chris Stewart
Wins/162 Games Better Than Default Lineup: 0.21

Simulator's Best Lineup vs LHP
1. Ichiro Suzuki (L)
2. Derek Jeter
3. Robinson Cano (L)
4. Mark Teixeira (S)
5. Kevin Youkilis
6. Juan Rivera
7. Travis Hafner (L)
8. Chris Stewart
9. Brett Gardner (L)
Wins/162 Games Better Than Default Lineup: 0.06

Skinny:
There is not much difference between the MLB Depth Chart lineup and what the simulator thinks is the best lineup. Against RHP the simulator thinks that Brett Gardner, not Ichiro Suzuki should bat leadoff and that Kevin Youkilis should bat 2nd with Derek Jeter dropped to 6th. The three batters that the simulator does not change lineup order for are Robinson Cano (3rd), Mark Teixeira (4th) and Travis Hafner (7th).