What does it mean when a batter is said to be "protecting" the hitter in front of him in the lineup?
by 
sandtats
ANSWERS: 2
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What that means is putting someone behind another in the batting order so they'll be less inclined to pitch around them. Carlos Delgado hits 4th in the batting order right behind Carlos Beltran. Beltran is more likely to see good pitches to hit because the pitcher doesn't want to walk him with Delgado up next. If someone the caliber of Delgado wasn't hitting behind Beltran, Beltran would never see any good pitches to hit, much like what Barry Bonds sees in SF. With noone dangerous hitting behind Bonds, teams constantly walk him because theres no threat behind him in the order.
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The idea is to deter the fielding team from giving an intentional walk to the player in front of him. The usual way to do so is to try and place an even better hitter next in the batting order after the player being "protected".
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