« Transaction | Main | Reviewing the Ranger Lineup: #7 Hitters »

November 13, 2005

Reviewing the Ranger Lineup: #6 Hitters

Explanation of stats here.

American League #6 Hitters and Ballpark Adjustment

Category
On-Base %
Slugging %
OPS
American League #6 Hitters .322 .421 .743
Park Factor - The Ballpark 1.011 1.042 ---
Adjusted for The Ballpark .326 .439 .764

Many managers begin to have trouble filling out their lineups once the six-spot comes up. Known as a slugger's position, AL #6 hitters actually trailed the league slugging percentage average by .003. The Rangers had surprisingly difficulty getting respectable production from this spot in the order. Texas had by far the worst combination of #4 and #6 hitters in the AL, downright bizarre considering they had a good offense on the whole.

Discerning fans might say remember that Kevin Mench spent much of the season batting sixth and had a passable season, though not the breakout performance hoped for. Mench, alas, was not the problem.

Texas Rangers #6 Hitters: The Team

Category
Texas
AL Rank
OPS and L-OPS+
.697 / 82
13
On-Base % and L-OBP+
.291 / 89
13
Slugging % and L-SLG+
.406 / 92
11
Runs 79 7
Homers 24 4
RBI 75 8
Walks 47 10
Strikeouts 98 3
Steals 4 10
Steal % 57% 7
(R-HR) % 32% 4

Texas Rangers #6 Hitters: The Players

NAME
% of Team PA
OPS
L-OPS+
BA
OBP
L-OBP+
SLG
L-SLG+
R
HR
RBI
BB
SO
SB
CS
K. Mench 56% .791 105 .265 .312 96 .479 109 43 17 49 22 45 4 3
R. Hidalgo 10% .442 19 .161 .232 71 .210 48 5 0 2 6 15 0 0
L. Nix 7% .468 25 .196 .229 70 .239 54 7 0 6 2 10 0 0
P. Nevin 7% .439 19 .182 .234 72 .205 47 6 0 2 2 11 0 0
H. Blalock 6% .514 30 .162 .162 50 .351 80 4 2 6 0 5 0 0
A. Gonzalez 6% .734 92 .222 .317 97 .417 95 5 2 3 5 5 0 0
G. Matthews 4% .813 112 .280 .333 102 .480 109 3 1 2 2 3 0 0
Other 4% .925 140 .200 .375 115 .550 125 6 2 5 8 4 0 0

While batting sixth, Mench played like a slower version of Alfonso Soriano, not reaching base steadily but slugging enough to compensate. (Mench unfortunately also ranked among the worst in baseball at hitting with runners in scoring position.) The real problem was five other gentlemen who acquired just over one-third of the plate appearances in the #6 spot. Messieurs Hidalgo, Nix, Nevin, Blalock and Gonzalez combined to hit .182/.233/.271 with one homer per sixty at-bats. That's an L-OPS+ of 33 and an OPS of 35. Steve Carlton had a career OPS+ of 33.

Texas's #4 and #6 batters combined to hit .250/.304/.426; their aggregate L-OPS+ of 80 was easily, very easily, the worst in the American League.

American League #6 Hitters

TEAM
OPS
L-OPS+
rank
OBP
L-OBP+
rank
SLG
L-SLG+
rank
NY Yankees
.861
130
1
.370
114
1
.491
115
1
Cleveland
.817
123
2
.349
109
2
.468
114
2
Chicago Sox
.832
116
3
.335
103
5
.498
113
3
Boston
.782
109
4
.342
106
3
.440
104
6
Minnesota
.757
106
5
.330
103
4
.427
102
7
Detroit
.764
104
6
.311
96
11
.453
108
4
Baltimore
.729
97
7
.300
93
12
.429
104
5
Tampa Bay
.717
96
8
.310
97
9
.407
99
8
Kansas City
.708
94
9
.324
101
8
.383
93
10
Seattle
.689
91
10
.323
101
7
.366
90
12
LA Angels
.697
90
11
.309
97
10
.388
94
9
Toronto
.716
90
12
.329
101
6
.386
89
13
Texas
.697
82
13
.291
89
13
.406
92
11
Oakland
.642
73
14
.287
89
14
.356
85
14

Jason Giambi resuscitated his career and Tino Martinez enjoyed part of his wild ten-homer May while batting sixth. At the other end of the spectrum, Oakland fans looked in horror upon the inefficient fivesome of Scott Hatteberg, Jay Payton, Bobby Kielty, Dan Johnson and Eric Byrnes.

Posted by Lucas at November 13, 2005 10:27 PM