The matter of who goes into the No. 2 hole in the order is often overcomplicated in baseball, and at times, certain hitters are glorified as ideal “No. 2 hitters,” (see: Luis Castillo), when it’s just a sort of backhanded compliment for an okay slap hitter. And that’s not even what the ideal No. 2 hitter should be.

The No. 2 spot is not about intangibles; it’s not about David Eckstein-level scrappiness. It’s about getting on base, period. Perhaps this is just a generalization, but it seems like half the time these scrappy slap hitters struggle to have OBPs around .350, which is hardly exemplary. For example, Eckstein, a leadoff hitter for the most part, has a career OBP of .351. Castillo’s career OBP is better, .368, but that is inflated a bit by great years with the Marlins in 2000 (.418) and 2005 (.391).

The Mets have struggled with the quandry of the No. 2 hole for some time now. Paul Lo Duca was the Mets’ “answer” in 2006 and 2007. How Lo Duca was ever lauded for his No. 2 hitting baffles me. He had an okay OBP in 2006 (.355) based almost entirely on his good batting average (.318). When the batting average left in 2007 (.272) , so did his OBP (.311). That doesn’t even begin to tell Lo Duca’s failure at the No. 2 spot in 2007. He actually batted .234 in 128 ABs in the No. 2 spot in 2007. His overall average was brought up by a .298 average in 151 ABs when batting 7th that year.

Lo Duca was always praised for taking pitches in the No. 2 hole so Jose Reyes could steal bases. However, he took 3.45 pitches per plate appearance in 2006. To put that into perspective, 148 batters take more pitches per plate appearance in 2008 than Lo Duca did in 2006. 2008 Jeff Francoeur is slightly more patient than 2006 Lo Duca.

So the Mets decided to go in a different direction, a platoon for both an offensive upgrade (Castro) and a defensive upgrade (Schneider). But neither was the answer to the No. 2 hole, so the Mets looked to other alternatives, primarily Luis Castillo. For what it’s worth, when healthy, Castillo sports a .372 OBP when batting 2nd in 2008, as opposed to a .318 OBP when batting 8th. Castillo is a step up from Lo Duca, as far as getting on base goes, but that isn’t saying a lot.

It’s fine to try someone like Castillo, who has a history of being this “type” of player, in the No. 2 hole. It’s fine to try some of your better hitters. When it becomes braindead managing is when anyone is just thrown into the role, basically treating the No. 2 hole like it’s a second No. 8 hitter. Does that make any sense, especially considering anybody who bats with any regularity in that role would get more at-bats in those games than David Wright? Yet, this is the methodology taken when poor regular hitters like Marlon Anderson have occasional at-bats in the No. 2 spot or youngsters like Nick Evans are just flung right into the role.

Another common misconception about the No. 2 hitter is that it should be for just any speedster on the roster, regardless of hitting prowess. This is another reason why Castillo is viewed as an ideal hitter, despite the fact that he’s hardly a stolen-base leader these days. Just the capacity to steal bases is the key. Take for example, Endy Chavez, who has collected a whopping 103 at-bats at the No. 2 spot in the lineup in 2008. The speed demon is batting a respectable .291 in those ABs, but his OBP is just .324. And like Castillo, he’s another guy that immediately goes to the No. 8 spot when not batting 2nd.

Someone like Ryan Church doesn’t fit the typical No. 2 hitter mold, but he was a better fit than Lo Duca, Castillo, and Chavez in his limited time there. He scalded the ball at a .322 clip with a .400 OBP. Part of the reasoning why he didn’t become a fixture at the spot was that the Mets lineup ached for power hitters at the time, and Church’s bat was the most potent. It’s a good argument, but I’d expect Church’s power numbers would have eroded a bit, and he would have fit the No. 2 mold even more over time.

The current No. 2 hitter, Carlos Beltran, has of course had the “Bobby Abreu argument” bandied around his name for virtually his entire Mets’ stay. When Beltran is slugging with the best of them, I agree, he probably should not be batting 2nd. But in 2005, with the way he produced, he might as well have batted 2nd. With his 2008, a dip from his 2006 and 2007 mammoth slugging, it’s right that he’s batting 2nd again.

With the way the lineup is stacked up currently, it’s gotta be Beltran in that No. 2 spot. A manager cannot give away at-bats to glorified 8-hole hitters when Beltran is clearly more adept at getting on base. Batting him fifth, as became the custom when Carlos Delgado took over the No. 4 spot, was foolhardy. It was backwards logic. Why have an OBP guy batting towards the bottom of the order? It made no sense. Even with a .266 average, Beltran still sports a .364 OBP, which would obviously shoot up with any hot streak. Beltran is a guy who has effortlessly maintained an above-average OBP throughout most of his career, even when his batting average and power have dipped. Things can change as players get on and off hot streaks, but this is the right move for right now.