# Optimal Nine — Baseball lineup stat puzzle

> Baseball lineup stat puzzle (iPhone/iPad app by Salvatore Aparo.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/optimal-nine/id6805286604 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Salvatore Aparo](https://appshunter.io/developer/1392882997)
- Category: Games, Sports, Trivia
- Price: Free with in-app purchases
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 17.0 · 36 MB
- Languages: American English
- Released: 2026-09-18
- Data updated: 2026-09-24

## What is Optimal Nine?

Fill nine slots. Beat the number.

Every day, Optimal Nine deals one board: a franchise, a stat, and an era. Name players who appeared for that team inside the era — one per slot — and build the highest-scoring lineup you can. One season with the club unlocks a player's whole career: Lou Brock was a Cub for three years, and all 3,023 of his hits count on a Cubs board.

THREE MEDALS ON EVERY BOARD
Bronze, silver, and gold targets give beginners something to clear and experts something to chase. Take the one you can.

HOW IT PLAYS
• Search all of MLB history since 1871
• Values reveal when you lock a pick
• Every board opens with four players' initials. Stuck? Hints reveal two players' career years or one name
• Hard mode hides the opening initials. Same medals, no head start
• Give up any time: the board scores as it stands and the optimal nine is revealed

DAILY, ARCHIVE, AND FREE PLAY
Everyone gets the same Daily, resetting at midnight UTC. Free Play deals a random franchise, stat, and era — three boards a day, or watch a short ad for one more. Some boards are a batting lineup, some a pitching staff.

MISSED A DAY? PLAY IT BACK
The Archive is a calendar of every past Daily. Medal dots mark the ones you've cleared; tap any day you missed and play it. Unlock the Archive once and you also get no ads, free hints, and unlimited Free Play.

SHARE THE GRID, SPOIL NOTHING
Your result shares as a nine-square grid with your medal and score — no player names, so nothing gets ruined for friends.

Statistics from the Lahman Baseball Database, maintained by SABR. Career totals through 2025.

Not affiliated with or endorsed by Major League Baseball or any MLB club.

## Pricing and in-app purchases

Base price: Free.

**One-time purchases**

| Purchase | Price | Type |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Unlock the Archive | $2.99 | one-time |


## Is Optimal Nine safe?

Not enough ratings yet to assess Optimal Nine.

## Is Optimal Nine legit?

Optimal Nine has limited verification signals. The AppsHunter Legitimacy Score for Optimal Nine is 58 out of 100 points across 7 verification signals from App Store and developer data.


## Version history (last 2 releases)

### 1.1 — 2026-09-21

Cleaned up a few fielding errors. We now also count anonymous gameplay stats to help tune puzzle difficulty; see the privacy policy.

### 1.0 — 2026-09-18

No release notes.

## More apps by Salvatore Aparo

- [Snortly](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/snortly/id6761087148)

All apps by Salvatore Aparo: https://appshunter.io/developer/1392882997

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-09-24.*