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November 11, 2005

Reviewing the Ranger Lineup: #5 Hitters

Explanation of stats here.

American League #5 Hitters and Ballpark Adjustment

Category
On-Base %
Slugging %
OPS
American League #5 Hitters .338 .452 .790
Park Factor - The Ballpark 1.011 1.042 ---
Adjusted for The Ballpark .342 .471 .813

The league's #5 hitters have the third highest OPS in the league. Not until the #6 spot does the quality really decline. For the Rangers, the question is whether Alfonso Soriano performed well in the #5 position as opposed to his preferred location atop the order.

Texas Rangers #5 Hitters: The Team

Category
Texas
AL Rank
OPS and L-OPS+
.829 / 102
4
On-Base % and L-OBP+
.321 / 94
12
Slugging % and L-SLG+
.508 / 108
4
Runs
108
2
Homers
36
2
RBI
111
2
Walks
47
9
Strikeouts
120
10
Steals
25
1
Steal %
93%
1
(R-HR) %
38%
1

Texas Rangers #5 Hitters: The Players

NAME
% of Team PA
OPS
L-OPS+
BA
OBP
L-OBP+
SLG
L-SLG+
R
HR
RBI
BB
SO
SB
CS
A. Soriano 76% .838 103 .270 .315 92 .523 111 82 30 93 27 93 24 2
R. Hidalgo 8% .609 50 .192 .263 77 .346 73 8 2 7 4 16 0 0
K. Mench 8% .810 101 .267 .365 107 .444 94 4 1 2 7 2 0 0
D. Dellucci 5% 1.100 171 .333 .471 138 .630 134 11 2 4 7 5 1 0
Other 3% .828 100 .238 .304 89 .524 111 3 1 5 2 4 0 0

Soriano produced to expectations, reaching base consderably below the park-adjusted league average but compensating with a thunderous stick. He also personally stole more bases from the #5 spot than any other team's players combined. I haven't done any research, but I'd guess that speed in the #5 spot comes in quite handy as it provides the later, lesser hitters to drive him in with just one single. Hidalgo flopped here (as elsewhere), Mench batted capably, and Dellucci spent a week here early in the season while inhabiting Jason Giambi's younger, healthier body.

Would Soriano have reached base at the league average anywhere else in the lineup? He would not. Even batting ninth he'd have an L-OBP+ of 99. In his favor, he'd also have an L-SLG+ of at least 103 at any lineup spot. Soriano is what he is. Better to bat him fifth than first or third, where he spent most of 2004.

American League #5 Hitters

TEAM
OPS
L-OPS+
rank
OBP
L-OBP+
rank
SLG
L-SLG+
rank
NY Yankees .974 143
1
.399 117
1
.575
126
1
Detroit .834 110
2
.334 98
9
.500
111
2
Boston .803 103
3
.363 107
2
.440
96
9
Texas .829 101
4
.321 94
12
.508
108
3
Minnesota .787 101
5
.336 100
6
.450
101
5
Baltimore .784 100
6
.337 100
8
.447
101
4
Cleveland .774 100
7
.338 101
5
.436
99
7
Tampa Bay .776 99
8
.335 100
7
.441
99
6
Oakland .764 95
9
.357 105
3
.407
90
13
Kansas City .747 92
10
.326 96
10
.422
96
11
Chicago Sox .781 92
11
.329 96
11
.451
96
10
Seattle .744 92
12
.312 93
13
.433
99
8
Toronto .765 91
13
.344 101
4
.421
90
14
LA Angels .707 82
14
.306 91
14
.402
90
12

New York's Hideki Matsui spent just over half the season in the five hole and batted .333/.397/.557. Alex Rodriguez played 41 games there and batted, ahem, .347/.461/.728. Steve Finley, Juan Rivera and Darin Erstad accounted for most of LA's middle-of-the-order wretchedness. Only Bengie Molina managed to hit well over a decent number of plate appearances.

Posted by Lucas at November 11, 2005 08:36 PM