There’s so much that goes into being the leadoff hitter.
You want to see as many pitches as possible, so your teammates have an opportunity to see what the pitcher is throwing and how good his stuff is that day.
You are responsible for getting things going for the rest of the order, needing to get on base however possible to set up your bigger run producing hitters.
Oneil Cruz is an interesting study when it comes to his position in the lineup, as I’ve talked about before. He has the speed to be a threat on the bases like you’d imagine from a traditional leadoff hitter, but also has the power to be in a more run-producing role.