Where do you think Roman Anthony primarily will bat in the lineup in 2026?
December 28, 2025
Where do you think Roman Anthony primarily will bat in the lineup in 2026?
32 comments
I personally believe that in a perfect world we see Jarren Duran hitting well enough to be at the #1 spot in the lineup again and Roman Anthony sliding down to #2 to get the RBI opportunities and a RH hitter in the #3.
On the other hand, there’s a really strong argument to just leave Roman at #1 and if Duran is hitting well just let him bat in the #3 spot and have a RH hitter slide into the #2 spot – Jarren did produce very well in that spot in 2025.
This all assumes that Duran doesn’t get traded of course. What do you all think?
No later than 2nd.
Cora really liked him leading off, I’d expect there
Call me old school: I don’t want Roman leading off. It’s one at bat per game where he is guaranteed to not be at the plate with a runner on base. Bat him 2nd if anything
If Duran is on the team, I think Duran/Anthony should be 1-2. If Duran is traded, Anthony needs to be #1
1st or 2nd. Gotta see if the power continues to develop and then in a year or two he’s probably the 3 or 4 hole hitter.
I think it’ll depend who else they sign. Ideally you’d have Roman up with runners on base but the offense was so much better with him leading off it might just make sense to keep him there.
He’ll lead off almost certainly
I really like a scenario where he bats second. Your best hitter should bat second. I don’t love Duran batting first. Not sure who would bat first in this scenario. Maybe someone wild that we’re not expecting, like Story.
Leadoff against lefties. Probably 3 against righties if Duran is going to be on this team opening day.
Edit: if we trade Duran then he can leadoff against righties too. That would make most sense for a balanced LRL lineup, which Cora likes.
he was one of the best hitters in baseball when leading off so i would have to say he will hopefully be hitting there.
He should lead off against lefties and bat 3rd against righties.
First for a few months, then moving to 3rd
2
Leadoff.
Best OBP hitter should lead off. That will probably be Roman
4th
I like him leading off. A .400 OBP in the leadoff spot is an advantage on the vast majority of teams in the league. Only way it’s a problem is if he get significantly more hrs than anyone else on the team.
It depends, I still would assume Duran gets traded, heck even if he doesn’t, Anthony was so successful as the leadoff guy. Duran might seem more prototypical but we were most successful with Anthony as the leadoff guy.
The answer is 1 or 2 imo, but I might lean towards 1.
I would love to see Duran – RHH (Breggy 🙏) – Roman.
But leading off wouldn’t be bad
Duran had a .323 OBP from the leadoff spot last year. That is absolute garbage from a leadoff hitter.
Anthony should leadoff. If they have someone that can get on base in front of him, then I would hit him second. This lineup just doesn’t have a better leadoff hitter right now.
Duran at leadoff with Anthony at 2 would be my preferred option. I like having speedy guys at
1.
3rd, but I predict he leads off a bunch too.
Pretty sure the nerds (and I mean that with love) already figured this whole thing out…he’ll be first if his base running is good enough, or he’ll be second or third based on how many bases he can steal
Roman 1 and Duran did sooooo much better at 3rd.
Cora was chatting about this on the baseball isn’t boring podcast.
2nd or 3rd. He needs to stop leading off.
If Anthony is the best leadoff hitter on the roster, then that’s where he should hit every day. If there’s any way that they can justify him getting into the 2 spot with good OBP skills out of the leadoff spot, then that would be ideal
Anthony will stay as the leadoff hitter. Duran isn’t as aggressive on the bases as he used to be so the stolen base threat doesn’t play that big a role anymore.
2 spot. Maximize at bats but we want speed at the top. As someone else said, a perfect world is Duran getting on base enough to utilize his game breaking speed.
Roman in the 2 spot and a righty with contact+pop at 3 would be great
Don’t care just as long as he’s healthy and in it !!
Primarily Boston
When the Angels had Mike Trout batting second it was to maximize his performance. A lot of at bats per season for a guy that ran extremely well plus allows rbi opportunities. I do think this is the route they should let Anthony be.
32 comments
I personally believe that in a perfect world we see Jarren Duran hitting well enough to be at the #1 spot in the lineup again and Roman Anthony sliding down to #2 to get the RBI opportunities and a RH hitter in the #3.
On the other hand, there’s a really strong argument to just leave Roman at #1 and if Duran is hitting well just let him bat in the #3 spot and have a RH hitter slide into the #2 spot – Jarren did produce very well in that spot in 2025.
This all assumes that Duran doesn’t get traded of course. What do you all think?
No later than 2nd.
Cora really liked him leading off, I’d expect there
Call me old school: I don’t want Roman leading off. It’s one at bat per game where he is guaranteed to not be at the plate with a runner on base. Bat him 2nd if anything
If Duran is on the team, I think Duran/Anthony should be 1-2. If Duran is traded, Anthony needs to be #1
1st or 2nd. Gotta see if the power continues to develop and then in a year or two he’s probably the 3 or 4 hole hitter.
I think it’ll depend who else they sign. Ideally you’d have Roman up with runners on base but the offense was so much better with him leading off it might just make sense to keep him there.
He’ll lead off almost certainly
I really like a scenario where he bats second. Your best hitter should bat second. I don’t love Duran batting first. Not sure who would bat first in this scenario. Maybe someone wild that we’re not expecting, like Story.
Leadoff against lefties. Probably 3 against righties if Duran is going to be on this team opening day.
Edit: if we trade Duran then he can leadoff against righties too. That would make most sense for a balanced LRL lineup, which Cora likes.
he was one of the best hitters in baseball when leading off so i would have to say he will hopefully be hitting there.
He should lead off against lefties and bat 3rd against righties.
First for a few months, then moving to 3rd
2
Leadoff.
Best OBP hitter should lead off. That will probably be Roman
4th
I like him leading off. A .400 OBP in the leadoff spot is an advantage on the vast majority of teams in the league. Only way it’s a problem is if he get significantly more hrs than anyone else on the team.
It depends, I still would assume Duran gets traded, heck even if he doesn’t, Anthony was so successful as the leadoff guy. Duran might seem more prototypical but we were most successful with Anthony as the leadoff guy.
The answer is 1 or 2 imo, but I might lean towards 1.
I would love to see Duran – RHH (Breggy 🙏) – Roman.
But leading off wouldn’t be bad
Duran had a .323 OBP from the leadoff spot last year. That is absolute garbage from a leadoff hitter.
Anthony should leadoff. If they have someone that can get on base in front of him, then I would hit him second. This lineup just doesn’t have a better leadoff hitter right now.
Duran at leadoff with Anthony at 2 would be my preferred option. I like having speedy guys at
1.
3rd, but I predict he leads off a bunch too.
Pretty sure the nerds (and I mean that with love) already figured this whole thing out…he’ll be first if his base running is good enough, or he’ll be second or third based on how many bases he can steal
Roman 1 and Duran did sooooo much better at 3rd.
Cora was chatting about this on the baseball isn’t boring podcast.
2nd or 3rd. He needs to stop leading off.
If Anthony is the best leadoff hitter on the roster, then that’s where he should hit every day. If there’s any way that they can justify him getting into the 2 spot with good OBP skills out of the leadoff spot, then that would be ideal
Anthony will stay as the leadoff hitter. Duran isn’t as aggressive on the bases as he used to be so the stolen base threat doesn’t play that big a role anymore.
2 spot. Maximize at bats but we want speed at the top. As someone else said, a perfect world is Duran getting on base enough to utilize his game breaking speed.
Roman in the 2 spot and a righty with contact+pop at 3 would be great
Don’t care just as long as he’s healthy and in it !!
Primarily Boston
When the Angels had Mike Trout batting second it was to maximize his performance. A lot of at bats per season for a guy that ran extremely well plus allows rbi opportunities. I do think this is the route they should let Anthony be.