Traditionally, before sabermetrics, line-ups were pretty standard. Your leadoff hitter was a contact hitter who could get on base and steal. The batter who hit second was a contact hitter, who usually wasn’t all that good.
The guy who batted third was your second best player, and your clean-up hitter was the power hitter.
However, with the increase in data and advanced stats, that is no longer the traditional way a line-up is created. Look at Joe Maddon and the Cubs and how he is batting Kyle Schwarber lead-off. Fivethirtyeight.com wrote an
Fivethirtyeight.com wrote an excellent piece in 2014 about how to construct the most potent offense using sabermetrics, and they suggested using your best hitters in the 1,2 and 4 spots.