I think Runs Scored, in a way may have become more prized then it has in the past, compared to other traditional statistics, even if it isn't broadcast as a top statistic.
That's why nowadays you'll see more slow guys and sluggers at the top of the lineup, if they also happen to be OBP machines. Analytics seems to be more concerned with getting them across the plate, rather then waiting for them to get somebody else across the plate.
Gone are the days when a speedster would head the lineup, simply because he was a speedster. Some of those 80's Cardinal teams, if they were around today, would probably have Vince Coleman hitting much further down the lineup. Maybe 6th or 7th, and you might see Willie McGee, Tommy Herr and even Jack Clark, hitting at the top of the lineup on occasion. Depending on what the pitching match-up was.
A guy like Omar Moreno, would never sniff the top of the lineup today.
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