Fred Lewis batted fifth Sunday afternoon in the 5-3 Giants win over the Cardinals, collecting two hits and a walk. That raised his OBA to .376. With a great OBA and little power (both this year and for his career), Lewis seems like an ideal leadoff man. In fact, Lewis received most of his plate appearances from the leadoff slot, posting a .350 OBA. However, this season he did poorly in the slot, with a .303 OBA in 70 plate appearances.

What’s curious is that Fred does a much better job of getting on base batting in the middle of the order. For his career, his OBA is over .400 in the 3, 5, 6, and 7 slots.

Lewis appears to be the opposite of Alfonso Soriano. The Cubs leftfielder doesn’t get on base enough and hits for too much power for a leadoff hitter, but struggles when he’s not in the leadoff spot. Lewis doesn’t have enough power for the middle of the order, but struggles getting on base batting first in the lineup. Given that lineups don’t make that much of a difference, batting Lewis in a power slot is worth it if he keeps getting on base like that.