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December 19, 2005
Reviewing the Ranger Lineup by Fielding Position
In ten prior entries, I detailed how the Rangers hit relative to the rest of the American League in terms of batting order. The tripartite time-suckers of work, holidays and closing on a house will limit my discussion of batting by fielding position to a couple of entries.
A quick explanation of a few derived statistics. You probably already know OPS and OPS+. If not, OPS is the sum of a player’s on-base percentage and slugging percentage, while OPS+ converts that number to an index based on the league average and player’s home park. 100 is always average, higher is better. OPS can mislead since it considers players with a .300 OBP and .500 SLG and those with a .400 OBP and .400 SLG to be equals. They aren't, as an extra point of OBP creates more runs than an extra point of slugging percentage. Therefore, I also like to display OBP+ and SLG+, the same type of indices as OPS+ but measuring separately a player’s effectiveness in on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
The operative comparison for fielding position is not to the league as a whole but rather other players at the same position. For example, the average AL ballplayer batted .268/.330/.424 in 2005, but an average catcher batted only .256/.313/.392. An average catcher for Texas had to hit .267/.317/.408 because The Ballpark greatly assists hitters.
I use the term “P-OBP+,” P-SLG+” and “P-OPS+” to describe a player’s performance in terms of his fielding position instead of the entire league (P = position). If a Ranger catcher has a slugging percentage of .425, he’d have a plain vanilla SLG+ of 96 but a higher P-SLG+ of 104.
Ranger Offense by Fielding Position
| Pos | OPS |
BA |
OBP |
SLG |
R |
HR |
RBI |
BB |
SO |
SB |
SB% |
| C | .725 | .256 | .303 | .423 | 69 | 21 | 76 | 33 | 88 | 0 | 0% |
| 1B | .936 | .297 | .378 | .558 | 109 | 41 | 136 | 74 | 126 | 4 | 100% |
| 2B | .830 | .270 | .314 | .515 | 107 | 38 | 107 | 37 | 127 | 31 | 94% |
| 3B | .745 | .261 | .317 | .429 | 82 | 25 | 92 | 51 | 140 | 1 | 100% |
| SS | .891 | .328 | .380 | .510 | 114 | 24 | 95 | 56 | 95 | 5 | 71% |
| LF | .850 | .268 | .336 | .514 | 95 | 34 | 89 | 61 | 109 | 5 | 71% |
| CF | .698 | .241 | .298 | .400 | 85 | 17 | 73 | 53 | 121 | 11 | 85% |
| RF | .737 | .235 | .305 | .433 | 93 | 31 | 88 | 56 | 124 | 5 | 56% |
| DH | .756 | .244 | .330 | .427 | 97 | 26 | 69 | 71 | 151 | 4 | 57% |
| TEAM | .798 | .267 | .329 | .468 | 865 | 260 | 834 | 495 | 1112 | 67 | 82% |
Rankings vs American League
| Pos | OPS+ |
AVG+ |
OBP+ |
SLG+ |
R |
HR |
RBI |
BB |
SO |
SB |
SB% |
| C | 7 |
10 |
11 |
6 |
9 |
4 |
6 |
9 |
6 |
9 |
9 |
| 1B | 3 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
4 |
10 |
4 |
1 |
| 2B | 2 |
9 |
12 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
9 |
12 |
1 |
1 |
| 3B | 8 |
13 |
9 |
9 |
6 |
4 |
3 |
8 |
12 |
13 |
1 |
| SS | 3 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
7 |
9 |
11 |
9 |
| LF | 4 |
12 |
9 |
3 |
5 |
2 |
4 |
3 |
11 |
9 |
7 |
| CF | 12 |
14 |
14 |
11 |
6 |
5 |
6 |
6 |
12 |
10 |
2 |
| RF | 13 |
14 |
14 |
12 |
4 |
4 |
8 |
6 |
10 |
9 |
11 |
| DH | 10 |
13 |
9 |
9 |
3 |
6 |
12 |
4 |
14 |
5 |
8 |
| TEAM | 4 |
13 |
10 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
3 |
5 |
14 |
9 |
1 |
Texas first basemen and shortstops ranked second in the American League in P-OBP+. At no other position did they rate better than ninth out of the league's fourteen teams, and they were dead last in CF and RF. As I'd mentioned in prior entries discussing the batting order, the team's seemingly low walk total of 495 actually ranked fifth in the league. Texas batters showed adequate patience in 2005; no position was exceptionally good or bad at drawing walks relative its peers. Where they struggled was getting the bat on the ball. Texas hit .267 in a hitter's park in a league that hit .268. They held off Toronto for the league's worst AVG+ by .0009.
Texas led the league in homers. No position finished worse than sixth. Only their catchers ranked worse than sixth in runs scored, and only the right fielders and designated hitters ranked lower than sixth in RBI. Ranger up-the-middle players (C, 2B, SS, CF) belted exactly 100 homers, fifteen more than runner-up Cleveland. Excluding Texas, the league average was 57.
The Rangers led the league with the most strikeouts. Only their catchers ranked among the top half relative to positional peers.
Ranger Batters By Fielding Position
| CATCHER | % of PA |
OPS |
P-OPS+ |
BA |
OBP |
P-OBP+ |
SLG |
P-SLG+ |
R |
HR |
RBI |
BB |
SO |
SB |
CS |
| R. Barajas | 72% | .771 | 111 | .254 | .306 | 97 | .466 | 114 | 53 | 21 | 60 | 26 | 70 | 0 | 0 |
| S. Alomar | 22% | .644 | 80 | .278 | .311 | 98 | .333 | 82 | 11 | 0 | 14 | 5 | 11 | 0 | 0 |
| G. Laird | 7% | .500 | 40 | .205 | .244 | 77 | .256 | 63 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 1ST BASE | % of PA |
OPS |
P-OPS+ |
BA |
OBP |
P-OBP+ |
SLG |
P-SLG+ |
R |
HR |
RBI |
BB |
SO |
SB |
CS |
| M. Teixeira | 95% | .955 | 130 | .302 | .383 | 110 | .572 | 120 | 107 | 40 | 133 | 71 | 121 | 4 | 0 |
| A. Gonzalez | 4% | .612 | 51 | .214 | .290 | 84 | .321 | 67 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Others | 1% | .400 | 0 | .200 | .200 | 58 | .200 | 42 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2ND BASE | % of PA |
OPS |
P-OPS+ |
BA |
OBP |
P-OBP+ |
SLG |
P-SLG+ |
R |
HR |
RBI |
BB |
SO |
SB |
CS |
| A. Soriano | 95% | .822 | 114 | .269 | .311 | 95 | .511 | 119 | 101 | 35 | 101 | 33 | 124 | 30 | 2 |
| M. DeRosa | 4% | .967 | 152 | .240 | .367 | 112 | .600 | 140 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Others | 0% | 1.333 | 259 | .667 | .667 | 203 | .667 | 156 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 3RD BASE | % of PA |
OPS |
P-OPS+ |
BA |
OBP |
P-OBP+ |
SLG |
P-SLG+ |
R |
HR |
RBI |
BB |
SO |
SB |
CS |
| H. Blalock | 97% | .751 | 93 | .263 | .318 | 95 | .432 | 97 | 79 | 25 | 90 | 51 | 130 | 1 | 0 |
| Others | 3% | .545 | 40 | .227 | .227 | 68 | .318 | 72 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| SHORTSTOP | % of PA |
OPS |
P-OPS+ |
BA |
OBP |
P-OBP+ |
SLG |
P-SLG+ |
R |
HR |
RBI |
BB |
SO |
SB |
CS |
| M. Young | 96% | .905 | 137 | .332 | .385 | 115 | .520 | 122 | 111 | 24 | 91 | 55 | 87 | 5 | 2 |
| M. DeRosa | 4% | .585 | 55 | .250 | .273 | 81 | .313 | 73 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| LEFT FIELD | % of PA |
OPS |
P-OPS+ |
BA |
OBP |
P-OBP+ |
SLG |
P-SLG+ |
R |
HR |
RBI |
BB |
SO |
SB |
CS |
| K. Mench | 66% | .848 | 112 | .279 | .338 | 100 | .511 | 112 | 52 | 21 | 57 | 34 | 56 | 3 | 1 |
| D. Dellucci | 28% | .870 | 116 | .231 | .332 | 98 | .538 | 118 | 37 | 12 | 27 | 25 | 41 | 2 | 1 |
| G. Matthews | 3% | 1.031 | 156 | .400 | .381 | 113 | .650 | 143 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| J. Botts | 3% | .551 | 45 | .235 | .316 | 93 | .235 | 52 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| CENTER FIELD | % of PA |
OPS |
P-OPS+ |
BA |
OBP |
P-OBP+ |
SLG |
P-SLG+ |
R |
HR |
RBI |
BB |
SO |
SB |
CS |
| G. Matthews | 60% | .729 | 95 | .247 | .317 | 97 | .412 | 98 | 53 | 11 | 40 | 39 | 70 | 7 | 2 |
| L. Nix | 35% | .667 | 77 | .241 | .268 | 82 | .399 | 94 | 28 | 6 | 32 | 9 | 45 | 2 | 0 |
| Others | 5% | .521 | 44 | .154 | .290 | 89 | .231 | 55 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 0 |
| RIGHT FIELD | % of PA |
OPS |
P-OPS+ |
BA |
OBP |
P-OBP+ |
SLG |
P-SLG+ |
R |
HR |
RBI |
BB |
SO |
SB |
CS |
| R. Hidalgo | 49% | .730 | 81 | .229 | .298 | 89 | .432 | 92 | 43 | 16 | 43 | 25 | 67 | 1 | 2 |
| K. Mench | 22% | .660 | 67 | .227 | .308 | 92 | .352 | 75 | 19 | 4 | 16 | 15 | 11 | 1 | 2 |
| G. Matthews | 13% | .824 | 102 | .247 | .318 | 95 | .506 | 108 | 13 | 5 | 11 | 8 | 16 | 2 | 0 |
| M. DeRosa | 12% | .783 | 94 | .250 | .325 | 97 | .458 | 97 | 14 | 4 | 8 | 8 | 18 | 1 | 0 |
| Others | 4% | .815 | 95 | .259 | .259 | 77 | .556 | 118 | 4 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 |
| DH | % of PA |
OPS |
P-OPS+ |
BA |
OBP |
P-OBP+ |
SLG |
P-SLG+ |
R |
HR |
RBI |
BB |
SO |
SB |
CS |
| D. Dellucci | 43% | .877 | 120 | .266 | .392 | 115 | .485 | 105 | 53 | 14 | 27 | 45 | 67 | 2 | 2 |
| A. Gonzalez | 19% | .706 | 73 | .231 | .270 | 79 | .436 | 94 | 14 | 5 | 14 | 7 | 31 | 0 | 0 |
| P. Nevin | 15% | .580 | 45 | .176 | .250 | 73 | .330 | 71 | 15 | 3 | 8 | 8 | 27 | 2 | 0 |
| C. Allen | 7% | .675 | 70 | .286 | .318 | 93 | .357 | 77 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 1 |
| M. Teixeira | 5% | .932 | 126 | .294 | .314 | 92 | .618 | 134 | 5 | 3 | 11 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| M. Young | 3% | .659 | 72 | .278 | .381 | 111 | .278 | 60 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Others | 8% | .558 | 43 | .205 | .286 | 84 | .273 | 59 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 11 | 0 | 0 |
Rod Barajas performed admirably on offense and defense, easily earning the $1.8 million that John Hart granted him (because Hart would rather swallow a live beetle than go to arbitration). His 2004 was a mirage: six amazing weeks followed by the usual .230/.270/.360 slop. In 2005 he hit pretty well all season long; not great, but good enough. He hit better on the road (.838 OPS) and after the All-Star break, both highly atypical for a Ranger. I sure didn't see that coming.
Mark Teixeira's 2005 in Ranger single-season history: tenth in slugging percentage, fourth in total bases, tenth in doubles, third in RBI, second in extra-base hits, seventh in times on base.
Alfonso Soriano's OBP of .309 would rate below average even if he were a catcher, the weakest offensive position in the league. Conversely, his .512 slugging percentage would rate well above average even ar first base, the strongest position. In the AL, left fielders bested second basemen by .009 in OBP and .025 in slugging, so Soriano would effectively lose that much value with his bat if he moves to left in 2006. If he can provide merely mediocre defense there as opposed to his usual horror show at second, it's a wash.
The casual fan might judge Blalock on his .263 average with 25 homers and 92 RBI; solid, right? Well, no, he finished ninth in both OBP and slugging relative to his position, so clearly he didn't bat terribly well. But, 92 RBI! Third in the league! Quite so, but on the other hand he also lost .013 of batting average, four doubles, seven homers and 26 walks from his 2004 campaign. Also, relative to other cleanup hitters, he performed exceptionally poorly. But, but, 25 homers by a third baseman! And so forth. Try to avoid these arguments with drunks in bars. (Incidentally, I don't mean to deride casual fans of baseball. I enjoy watching football but instantly nod off when announcers expound upon the intracacies of "Cover 2." As with any pastime or hobby, fans enjoy baseball with varying levels of intensity. Because my enjoyment is intense and my nerdliness* profound, I usually express my love of baseball in spreadsheet form.)
Infielders not named Teixeira, Soriano, Blalock or Young garnered a grand total of 123 plate appearances, of which Mark Derosa had 75.
Pity poor Marshall McDougall, the ostensible backup infielder who batted all of eight times while making two appearances at second base, one at short and five at third.
Gary Matthews didn't quite hit or field well enough to score positively in Batting Runs Above Average (BRAA) or its counterpart in fielding (FRAA) according to Baseball Prospectus. The last Ranger center fielder to do both? Not Tom Goodwin. Not Daryl Hamilton, who really wasn't great as a Ranger, just an improvement on his predecessors. Not, ahem, Juan Gonzalez, who actually came pretty close in 1991-1992. Not Gary Pettis. The answer is Oddibe McDowell, who had a BRAA of +1 and an FRAA of +6 in 1987, while yours truly was surviving the golden years of being old enough to vote but not enough to drink. An unfortunate combination, for having to choose between George the Elder and Michael Dukakis compels alcohol consumption.
Just under one-half of the right-field plate appearances went to Richard Hidalgo, who batted .229/.298/.432 (P-OPS+ of 81) and lost his job (technically he got hurt, but why quibble). His replacements hit a depressingly similar .240/.314/.434 (P-OPS+ of 86).
Designated hitters other than David Dellucci made 375 plate appearances and batted a dire .228/.286/.387 (68 P-OPS+). Yes, DH is where Phil Nevin applied his craft, but Adrian Gonzalez and Chad Allen also floundered when assigned hitting-only duties.
* The extent to which one is a nerd. Can be estimated with calipers, but exact measurement requires a piezometer.
Posted by Lucas at December 19, 2005 11:07 PM