In baseball, a leadoff hitter is a batter who bats first in the lineup. It can also refer to any batter who bats first in any inning.
Strategy Traditionally, the leadoff hitter has been utilized as a contact-oriented position. The leadoff hitter is usually tasked with being able to reach base at a proficient on-base percentage and generate runs for the team. Secondary goals for such a player include wearing down a pitcher's stamina and providing a dangerous presence along the basepaths to create more offensive opportunities. As a result, the prototypical leadoff hitter is small ball oriented, with elements such as contact ability, speed, patience, and occasionally defense elevated to an important level. Power hitters, instead, would be put in the third and fourth slots to drive in the leadoff hitter and produce more runs as a result, thus deemphasizing the necessity for power amongst leadoff hitters. The correlation between leadoff hitters and small ball stretches as far back as 1898 with mentions of a "small, active fellow who can hit, run and steal bases" as being fit for the position. Players such as Rickey Henderson, Ichiro Suzuki, and Kenny Lofton are often considered as archetypal leadoff hitters.
In recent years, however, leadoff hitters are shifting away from the traditional makeup to generally more well-rounded players. Numerous teams have opted to utilize hitters with strong on-base skills and power potential at the top of the batting order in exchange for speed and pure contact ability. Non-typical leadoff hitters such as Kyle Schwarber and George Springer have all seen time in the position in recent years.
Records +Key*Member of the Baseball Hall of Fame. Most times on base as leadoff hitter Below is a list of Major League Baseball players with the most times on base from the leadoff spot as of the end of the 2020 season. RankPlayerTOB1Rickey Henderson *5,4122Pete Rose 4,1813Eddie Yost3,2434Brett Butler 3,2375Ichiro Suzuki *3,202 RankPlayerTOB6Lou Brock *3,0807Kenny Lofton3,0188Craig Biggio * 2,7779Paul Molitor *2,73210Johnny Damon2,701
Most games played as leadoff hitter Below is a list of Major League Baseball players with the most games played in the leadoff spot as of the end of the 2020 season. RankPlayerG1Rickey Henderson *2,8862Pete Rose 2,3133Lou Brock *1,9014Brett Butler1,8585Ichiro Suzuki *1,827 RankPlayerG6Eddie Yost1,7417Kenny Lofton1,7118Johnny Damon 1,5849Paul Molitor *1,57310Harry Hooper *1,568
Most plate appearances as leadoff hitter Below is a list of Major League Baseball players with the most plate appearances from the leadoff spot as of the end of the 2020 season. RankPlayerPA1Rickey Henderson *13,1222Pete Rose 10,7103Lou Brock *8,6534Ichiro Suzuki *8,4515Brett Butler8,432 RankPlayerPA6Eddie Yost8,0237Kenny Lofton7,9298Johnny Damon 7,4119Craig Biggio *7,29710Paul Molitor *7,291
See also Opening batsmen
References
ja:リードオフヒッター