Paul Articulates - Not aligned with the line-up

I have always been fascinated by the numerous ways a manager can put together a lineup to maximize the winning potential of the players available.  There are many strategy to employ, such as:

• Table setters followed by RBI bats
• Speed at the top and bottom so when the lineup turns over there are better chances to put runners in scoring position before the heart of the order
• Alternating left and right-handed batters to make it difficult for opponents to set up favorable matches with relief pitchers
• Moving up the hot hand to take advantage of a streak
• All the variations enabled by the vast amount of analytics available in today's game.

I am sure there are other approaches that are also effective, but nowhere in my list is the one where you bat a slumping .200 hitter in the cleanup slot.  Yes, I am talking about last night's lineup where Carlos Mendoza put Brandon Nimmo in the 4 hole.  The same Brandon Nimmo that batted .188 in July and .221 in August.  The prior night he had Nimmo batting third.  I am confused.

I am a fan of Brandon Nimmo, so I usually like to see him at bat.  However, he has been in a terrible funk since the all-star break (.180/.287/.287) and despite one 3-for-5 night he does not appear to have figured it out.  Nimmo's OPS is .574 since the break, and that does not qualify him for any of the 3-5 positions in the lineup.  Jeff McNeil has been on a tear since the all-star break (.296/.366/.593) and he was out of the lineup Wednesday after batting eighth on Tuesday.

I understand that there are some batters that have terrific splits against certain pitchers, but there cannot be a justification for these misplacements.  Carlos Mendoza has to be better than this when the team is in a race for a playoff spot and facing one of those teams that they must pass.

Mendoza has done some very good things as the manager of this team, and his decision to move Francisco Lindor to the top of the lineup really sparked the team.  Lindor was not hitting .200 when that move was made.  Lindor has a history of batting leadoff, he has the speed and base-running savvy to do it, and was hitting well over .250 before the move.

The lineup produced five runs last night, but could have scored more against a faltering pitcher but the lineup did not produce.  With a bigger lead, the Mets would not have been in the position where they had to bring in Diaz early and he was clearly not ready to come in.