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November 07, 2005
Reviewing the Ranger Lineup: #3 Hitters
Explanation of stats here.
American League #3 Hitters and Ballpark Adjustment
| Category | On-Base % | Slugging % | OPS |
| American League #3 Hitters | .340 | .461 | .801 |
| Park Factor - The Ballpark | 1.011 | 1.042 | --- |
| Adjusted for The Ballpark | .344 | .480 | .824 |
The average AL team had an OPS+ of 115 from the #3 spot. The last table in this article reveals a strong correlation between a team's #3 hitters and its overall performance. With the exceptions of Kansas City and Oakland, the rankings of #3 hitters by OPS+ closely resemble each team's runs scored.
Texas Rangers #3 Hitters: The Team
| Category | Texas | AL Rank |
| OPS and L-OPS+ | .940 / 127 | 2 |
| On-Base % and L-OBP+ | .380 / 111 | 3 |
| Slugging % and L-SLG+ | .561 / 117 | 2 |
| Runs | 112 | 3 |
| Homers | 40 | 2 |
| RBI | 146 | 2 |
| Walks | 74 | 3 |
| Strikeouts | 121 | 10 |
| Steals | 4 | 10 |
| Steal % | 100% | 1 |
| (R-HR) % | 30% | 4 |
Texas Rangers #3 Hitters: The Players
| NAME | % of Team PA | OPS | L-OPS+ | BA | OBP | L-OBP+ | SLG | L-SLG+ | R | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | CS |
| Mark Teixeira | 85% | .978 | 136 | .310 | .390 | 113 | .588 | 123 | 98 | 36 | 130 | 65 | 108 | 3 | 0 |
| Michael Young | 15% | .760 | 86 | .271 | .333 | 97 | .427 | 89 | 13 | 2 | 160 | 9 | 11 | 1 | 0 |
| Other | 1% | .000 | -100 | .000 | .000 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
Texas ranked second or third among the AL's #3 hitters in all the major hitting categories. All of the top rankings belong to Boston's David Ortiz. I believe the Rangers will accept Mark Teixeira's line of .310/.390/.588 as a consolation prize.
American League #3 Hitters
| TEAM | OPS | L-OPS+ | rank | OBP | L-OBP+ | rank | SLG | L-SLG+ | rank |
| Boston | .976 | 141 | 1 | .395 | 115 | 1 | .581 | 125 | 1 |
| Texas | .940 | 127 | 2 | .380 | 110 | 3 | .561 | 117 | 2 |
| NY Yankees | .882 | 119 | 3 | .381 | 112 | 2 | .501 | 107 | 5 |
| Baltimore | .855 | 114 | 4 | .343 | 101 | 8 | .513 | 114 | 3 |
| Cleveland | .833 | 112 | 5 | .360 | 107 | 4 | .472 | 105 | 7 |
| Kansas City | .820 | 107 | 6 | .344 | 101 | 7 | .476 | 106 | 6 |
| LA Angels | .817 | 107 | 7 | .349 | 104 | 5 | .469 | 103 | 9 |
| Tampa Bay | .818 | 105 | 8 | .321 | 95 | 11 | .497 | 110 | 4 |
| Detroit | .817 | 103 | 9 | .337 | 99 | 10 | .480 | 105 | 8 |
| Seattle | .746 | 91 | 10 | .336 | 99 | 9 | .410 | 92 | 10 |
| Minnesota | .736 | 88 | 11 | .349 | 103 | 6 | .387 | 85 | 13 |
| Toronto | .732 | 79 | 12 | .311 | 91 | 13 | .421 | 88 | 11 |
| Oakland | .699 | 76 | 13 | .317 | 93 | 12 | .382 | 83 | 14 |
| Chicago Sox | .715 | 73 | 14 | .296 | 86 | 14 | .419 | 87 | 12 |
Yes, the World Champion Chicago White Sox had the worst #1 hitters and the worst #3 hitters in the American League. Carl Everett (.249/.312/.429) and Aaron Rowand (.266/.313/.410) were the primary culprits. The bottom four teams had a sub-100 OPS+ compared to the entire league, not just other #3 hitters.
Posted by Lucas at November 7, 2005 08:05 AM