Cleveland Indians’ ideal lineup to close out the 2020 season

Shortstop, Switch Hitter

In all honesty, putting Francisco Lindor in the fifth spot in the batting order just felt wrong. But, as much as we love Frankie, it’s difficult to deny that he is having a down season compared to what we’ve come to know from him.

Although he normally would be a shoe-in for the top third of the order, Lindor’s small slip this season falls perfectly into what a five-hole batter should bring to the lineup.

The key component of this spot in the order is to make the dangerous fourth batter even more dangerous by refusing an avenue of pitching around them. When it comes to lineup security blankets, Lindor would make one of the best in the league.

This year, Lindor is batting just .274 with a .337 on-base percentage, both near career-lows for him thus far in the majors. When those stats begin to rise, and I’m confident in saying they will, he would bring pop to the middle of the order that can get the bottom half going.

Putting a switch hitter, like Lindor, behind Reyes also makes pitching matchups harder to plan for opposing managers. It’s not often that the guy who is regarded as the team’s best player is slotted in at the fifth spot, but given his struggles and what he could ultimately bring to the lineup, this is where Lindor belongs.