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November 01, 2006
Reviewing the Ranger Lineup: #4 Hitters
Check here for stat descriptions.
Texas #4 Hitters:
| Player | % of Team PA |
OPS |
L-OPS+ |
OBP |
L-OBP+ |
SLG |
L-SLG+ |
R |
HR |
RBI |
BB |
SO |
Net SB |
| M Teixeira | 35% |
.966 |
119 |
.396 |
107 |
.570 |
112 |
37 |
15 |
40 |
37 |
44 |
2 |
| P Nevin | 25% |
.737 |
69 |
.326 |
88 |
.411 |
81 |
24 |
7 |
27 |
21 |
34 |
0 |
| H Blalock | 20% |
.658 |
53 |
.317 |
86 |
.341 |
67 |
19 |
2 |
17 |
15 |
11 |
1 |
| C Lee | 18% |
.929 |
111 |
.382 |
104 |
.547 |
107 |
18 |
6 |
20 |
12 |
14 |
4 |
| The Rest | 1% |
.750 |
75 |
.375 |
102 |
.375 |
74 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
| TEAM | - |
.837 |
91 |
.360 |
98 |
.477 |
94 |
100 |
30 |
104 |
85 |
104 |
7 |
| AL Average* | - |
.879 |
- |
.369 |
- |
.510 |
- |
100 |
32 |
117 |
78 |
124 |
0 |
| Team Rank in AL | - |
- |
10 |
- |
9 |
- |
12 |
7 |
8 |
12 |
6 |
4 |
1 |
As I wrote back in May, Phil Nevin didn’t earn his cleanup at-bats so much as back into them: Texas wanted some return on its $10 million investment, he hit just well enough in Spring Training to get a chance to play regularly, and, if not him, it’s Blalock or Mench in the #4 spot. Five games after I noted that Texas’s OPS+ at cleanup had actually deteriorated from 2005’s league-worst performance, the Rangers replaced Nevin with Blalock.
Blalock was worse. On June 22nd, he and Nevin had combined to hit .232/.319/.380, good for a lineup-adjusted OPS+ of 62. Sixty-Two! Texas cleanup hitters were on pace for 20 homers and 97 RBI. That may not seem so terrible, but both figures would have ranked dead last in the AL had they held up.
Buck Showalter then moved Michael Young to third and Mark Teixeira to fourth, and Teixeira and Carlos Lee occupied the cleanup spot for the rest of the season. Both hit very well, combining for a .391 OBP, 21 homers and 60 RBI. Lee won’t play in Arlington next year but did his job with the bat and would make an ideal DH.
On the whole, Texas cleanup batters ranked between Baltimore and Tampa Bay in OPS+, not company they would willingly keep.
American League #4 Hitters:
| TEAM | OPS |
L-OPS+ |
OBP |
L-OBP+ |
SLG |
L-SLG+ |
R |
HR |
RBI |
| Boston | .984 |
127 |
.416 |
113 |
.567 |
114 |
105 |
39 |
123 |
| Cleveland | .956 |
125 |
.411 |
113 |
.545 |
112 |
112 |
34 |
131 |
| Chicago Sox | .971 |
120 |
.398 |
108 |
.573 |
112 |
117 |
40 |
130 |
| LA Angels | .902 |
110 |
.373 |
102 |
.528 |
108 |
89 |
30 |
123 |
| NY Yankees | .890 |
107 |
.389 |
107 |
.501 |
100 |
121 |
35 |
124 |
| Oakland | .878 |
105 |
.372 |
102 |
.506 |
102 |
98 |
41 |
136 |
| Toronto | .896 |
103 |
.368 |
100 |
.528 |
102 |
114 |
41 |
112 |
| Seattle | .841 |
97 |
.344 |
95 |
.497 |
103 |
99 |
34 |
122 |
| Baltimore | .832 |
93 |
.364 |
99 |
.468 |
94 |
79 |
22 |
98 |
| Texas | .837 |
91 |
.360 |
98 |
.477 |
94 |
100 |
30 |
104 |
| Tampa Bay | .824 |
90 |
.344 |
94 |
.480 |
96 |
88 |
29 |
100 |
| Detroit | .805 |
87 |
.341 |
93 |
.464 |
95 |
85 |
26 |
113 |
| Minnesota | .764 |
81 |
.337 |
94 |
.428 |
87 |
101 |
20 |
107 |
| Kansas City | .755 |
71 |
.319 |
85 |
.436 |
86 |
94 |
24 |
113 |
Best #4 Hitting: Let Manny be Manny. Even with fourteen of his teammates combining to hit a lackluster .267/.337/.412 in 36 games, Boston’s cleanup hitters led the field. Cleveland (Hafner, Martinez, and some Garko) and Chicago (mostly Konerko, a little Thome and Dye) also excelled.
Worst: Royals in a landslide. Emil Brown, Mike Sweeney and Mark Teahen combined for just over one-half of Kansas City’s cleanup appearances and hit roughly equivalent to Texas (.283/.344/.495). The rest (Reggie Sanders, Matt Stairs, assorted flavors) hit .218/.290/.369. Keep in mind that Kaufmann Stadium played very generously to hitters this season.
Posted by Lucas at November 1, 2006 06:11 PM