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November 17, 2005
Reviewing the Ranger Lineup: #7 Hitters
Explanation of stats here.
American League #7 Hitters and Ballpark Adjustment
| Category | On-Base % |
Slugging % |
OPS |
| American League #7 Hitters | .312 | .393 | .705 |
| Park Factor - The Ballpark | 1.011 | 1.042 | --- |
| Adjusted for The Ballpark | .315 | .410 | .725 |
Even the better-hitting teams rarely have such a thing as an "everyday #7 hitter." Like the eighth and ninth spots, the #7 spot is usually filled with youngsters of varying promise, substitutes, and regulars who just don't hit well. Indeed, in 2005 the difference in OPS between the league's #7, #8 and #9 hitters was only .015.
The Rangers didn't have an outright depressing performance from the #7 spot as they did at cleanup and #6, but they certainly didn't hit well. Their batting average of .240 corrupted respectable totals in homers and walks.
Texas Rangers #7 Hitters: The Team
| Category | Texas |
AL Rank |
| OPS and L-OPS+ | .704 / 92 |
12 |
| On-Base % and L-OBP+ | .303 / 96 |
10 |
| Slugging % and L-SLG+ | .402 / 98 |
11 |
| Runs | 76 | 7 |
| Homers | 19 | 3 |
| RBI | 72 | 9 |
| Walks | 51 | 6 |
| Strikeouts | 138 | 13 |
| Steals | 5 | 9 |
| Steal % | 83% | 2 |
| (R-HR) % | 32% | 6 |
Texas Rangers #7 Hitters: The Players
| NAME | % of Team PA |
OPS |
L-OPS+ |
BA |
OBP |
L-OBP+ |
SLG |
L-SLG+ |
R |
HR |
RBI |
BB |
SO |
SB |
CS |
| L. Nix | 21% | .687 | 87 | .227 | .262 | 83 | .424 | 104 | 17 | 4 | 19 | 7 | 29 | 1 | 0 |
| K. Mench | 16% | .791 | 120 | .287 | .376 | 119 | .415 | 101 | 15 | 2 | 10 | 12 | 11 | 0 | 0 |
| A. Gonzalez | 15% | .714 | 93 | .239 | .258 | 82 | .457 | 112 | 10 | 4 | 13 | 3 | 27 | 0 | 0 |
| R. Hidalgo | 13% | .727 | 100 | .247 | .307 | 97 | .420 | 103 | 10 | 4 | 13 | 4 | 18 | 0 | 0 |
| G. Matthews | 11% | .540 | 53 | .212 | .297 | 94 | .242 | 59 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 17 | 3 | 0 |
| R. Barajas | 6% | 1.080 | 193 | .343 | .395 | 125 | .686 | 168 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| P. Nevin | 5% | .622 | 69 | .138 | .242 | 77 | .379 | 93 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 11 | 1 | 0 |
| C. Allen | 4% | .490 | 38 | .231 | .259 | 82 | .231 | 56 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 1 |
| Other | 6% | .723 | 103 | .242 | .359 | 114 | .364 | 89 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
Laynce Nix and Adrian Gonzalez both spent just over one-half of their lackluster seasons batting seventh. Mench hit very well here, and Richard Hidalgo partially compensated for his nightly displays of agony in the #5 and #6 slots. Texas used a not-atypical fifteen batters in this slot in the lineup.
American League #7 Hitters
| TEAM | OPS |
L-OPS+ |
rank |
OBP |
L-OBP+ |
rank |
SLG |
L-SLG+ |
rank |
| Tampa Bay | .764 |
120 |
1 |
.341 |
110 |
1 |
.424 |
110 |
1 |
| Boston | .743 |
110 |
2 |
.333 |
106 |
4 |
.410 |
104 |
6 |
| Cleveland | .711 |
105 |
3 |
.302 |
97 |
9 |
.410 |
107 |
2 |
| Toronto | .733 |
104 |
4 |
.338 |
107 |
2 |
.395 |
97 |
11 |
| Oakland | .720 |
104 |
5 |
.327 |
104 |
5 |
.393 |
100 |
9 |
| Minnesota | .713 |
104 |
6 |
.318 |
103 |
6 |
.395 |
102 |
7 |
| Kansas City | .711 |
104 |
7 |
.309 |
99 |
7 |
.401 |
105 |
4 |
| NY Yankees | .719 |
103 |
8 |
.335 |
107 |
3 |
.384 |
97 |
12 |
| Detroit | .718 |
103 |
9 |
.305 |
97 |
10 |
.413 |
106 |
3 |
| Baltimore | .707 |
102 |
10 |
.307 |
98 |
8 |
.401 |
104 |
5 |
| Texas | .704 |
94 |
11 |
.303 |
96 |
12 |
.402 |
98 |
10 |
| LA Angels | .678 |
94 |
12 |
.285 |
92 |
13 |
.393 |
102 |
8 |
| Seattle | .646 |
88 |
13 |
.300 |
97 |
11 |
.346 |
91 |
13 |
| Chicago Sox | .604 |
67 |
14 |
.271 |
86 |
14 |
.333 |
81 |
14 |
The AL's best #7 hitters belonged to Tampa Bay, a mishmash of mostly improbable performances from Alex Gonzalez, Nick Green, Damon Hollins, Jonny Gomes, Travis Lee and Toby Hall. Way, way down at the other end are the Chicago White Sox, who endured the out-rific fun of A.J. Pierzynski, Aaron Rowand, Juan Uribe, Joe Crede, Timo Perez, and Chris Widger.
Posted by Lucas at November 17, 2005 11:17 PM