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November 08, 2005
Reviewing the Ranger Lineup: #4 Hitters
Explanation of stats here.
American League #4 Hitters and Ballpark Adjustment
| Category | On-Base % |
Slugging % |
OPS |
| American League #4 Hitters | .346 | .471 | .817 |
| Park Factor - The Ballpark | 1.011 | 1.042 | --- |
| Adjusted for The Ballpark | .350 | .491 | .841 |
AL #4 hitters had the highest on-base percentage and slugging percentage of any spot in the order.
Texas Rangers #4 Hitters: The Team
| Category | Texas |
AL Rank |
| OPS and L-OPS+ | .762 / 81 |
14 |
| On-Base % and L-OBP+ | .317 / 90 |
14 |
| Slugging % and L-SLG+ | .445 / 91 |
11 |
| Runs | 84 | 12 |
| Homers | 27 | 7 |
| RBI | 92 | 8 |
| Walks | 47 | 14 |
| Strikeouts | 142 | 12 |
| Steals | 5 | 8 |
| Steal % | 100% | 1 |
| (R-HR) % | 28% | 13 |
Would you believe that the Rangers had the worst cleanup hitting in the American League in 2005? At best, Texas tied with Minnesota for that distinction. Texas #4 hitters were dead last in OPS+ and OBP+ (adjusted for home field), last in walks, twelfth in strikeouts, twelfth in runs scored, and eighth in RBI (with 92, only two more than the next-to-last Orioles).
Texas Rangers #4 Hitters: The Players
| NAME | % of Team PA |
OPS |
L-OPS+ |
BA |
OBP |
L-OBP+ |
SLG |
L-SLG+ |
R |
HR |
RBI |
BB |
SO |
SB |
CS |
| H. Blalock | 76% | .755 | 80 | .273 | .323 | 92 | .432 | 88 | 60 | 18 | 71 | 36 | 107 | 1 | 0 |
| M. Teixeira | 14% | .812 | 91 | .253 | .317 | 91 | .495 | 101 | 14 | 6 | 14 | 7 | 16 | 1 | 0 |
| A. Soriano | 5% | .682 | 59 | .216 | .250 | 71 | .432 | 88 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 11 | 2 | 0 |
| P. Nevin | 4% | .808 | 90 | .250 | .308 | 88 | .500 | 102 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 0 |
| Other | 1% | .857 | 98 | .286 | .286 | 82 | .571 | 116 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
Hank Blalock rarely has hit well against lefties or on the road, but in 2005 he floundered against both: .231/.276/.335 away from Arlington, .196/.228/.356 vs. lefties (including just seven walks and 53 strikeouts) . He also exhibited another sharp second-half decline (.236/.283/.375). Thus, in 2005 he was an effective hitter only at home, against righties, and prior to mid-July. During the other 125 games, he struggled. Showalter and company have a serious problem if Blalock doesn't improve. Texas benched him against lefties during most of 2003 and might face the unwelcome prospect of doing so again in 2006.
Blalock wasn't entirely responsible for the gloomy production from the #4 slot. Mark Teixeira began the season batting cleanup and started slowly, while Soriano and Nevin offered little support.
American League #4 Hitters
| TEAM | OPS |
L-OPS+ |
rank |
OBP |
L-OBP+ |
rank |
SLG |
L-SLG+ |
rank |
| Boston | .957 | 130 | 1 |
.377 | 108 | 1 |
.580 | 122 |
1 |
| Cleveland | .906 | 124 | 2 |
.363 | 106 | 4 |
.543 | 118 |
2 |
| Seattle | .889 | 121 | 3 |
.361 | 105 | 5 |
.528 | 116 |
3 |
| Chicago Sox | .912 | 117 | 4 |
.376 | 107 | 2 |
.536 | 109 |
4 |
| NY Yankees | .861 | 109 | 5 |
.370 | 106 | 3 |
.491 | 103 |
7 |
| LA Angels | .840 | 108 | 6 |
.352 | 103 | 6 |
.488 | 105 |
5 |
| Oakland | .835 | 103 | 7 |
.343 | 99 | 9 |
.492 | 104 |
6 |
| Detroit | .797 | 96 | 8 |
.348 | 100 | 8 |
.449 | 96 |
9 |
| Baltimore | .791 | 95 | 9 |
.333 | 96 | 12 |
.458 | 99 |
8 |
| Kansas City | .777 | 94 | 10 |
.353 | 102 | 7 |
.424 | 92 |
10 |
| Tampa Bay | .748 | 87 | 11 |
.334 | 97 | 10 |
.414 | 90 |
14 |
| Toronto | .777 | 87 | 12 |
.338 | 97 | 11 |
.439 | 90 |
13 |
| Minnesota | .736 | 82 | 13 |
.315 | 92 | 13 |
.421 | 90 |
12 |
| Texas | .762 | 81 | 14 |
.317 | 90 | 14 |
.445 | 91 |
11 |
Seattle and Chicago had weak offenses with excellent cleanup hitting, courtesy mostly of Richie Sexson and Paul Konerko. Unsurprisingly, Boston's Manny Ramirez showed up the competition.
Posted by Lucas at November 8, 2005 08:13 PM