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November 04, 2006
Reviewing the Ranger Lineup: #5 Hitters
Check here for stat descriptions.
Texas #5 Hitters:
| Player | % of Team PA |
OPS |
L-OPS+ |
OBP |
L-OBP+ |
SLG |
L-SLG+ |
R |
HR |
RBI |
BB |
SO |
Net SB |
| H Blalock | 63% |
.789 |
87 |
.345 |
96 |
.445 |
91 |
52 |
13 |
67 |
33 |
70 |
0 |
| M DeRosa | 26% |
.834 |
99 |
.380 |
106 |
.454 |
93 |
18 |
3 |
23 |
15 |
28 |
1 |
| K Mench | 6% |
.735 |
78 |
.370 |
103 |
.366 |
75 |
4 |
0 |
2 |
4 |
9 |
0 |
| The Rest | 5% |
.628 |
42 |
.190 |
53 |
.438 |
89 |
4 |
2 |
6 |
0 |
8 |
0 |
| TEAM | - |
.789 |
87 |
.348 |
97 |
.442 |
90 |
78 |
18 |
98 |
52 |
115 |
1 |
| AL Average* | - |
.849 |
- |
.359 |
- |
.490 |
- |
88 |
26 |
102 |
66 |
109 |
-1 |
| Team Rank in AL | - |
- |
11 |
- |
10 |
- |
12 |
9 |
12 |
5 |
14 |
10 |
6 |
I could write all day about Hank Blalock and probably will soon. I’ll save most of it for the discussion of batters by defensive position. As with Michael Young, let’s review Blalock’s overall season line of .266/.325/.401 as if he’d spent the entire year in the same spot in the order:
Bat Pos. |
L-OPS+ |
L-obp+ |
L-slg+ |
| 1 |
86 |
93 |
93 |
| 2 |
87 |
94 |
93 |
| 3 |
74 |
91 |
83 |
| 4 |
67 |
88 |
79 |
| 5 |
72 |
91 |
82 |
| 6 |
90 |
100 |
90 |
| 7 |
92 |
100 |
92 |
| 8 |
101 |
101 |
100 |
| 9 |
113 |
107 |
107 |
Hammerin’ Hank’s 2006 would have been a liability everywhere outside the bottom two spots in the order. Considering that he spent over 90% of the season batting fourth or fifth, the actual liability was pretty severe. He did perform best in the #5 spot, batting .290/.345/.445.
The one adequate Ranger in this slot was the unlikely Mark DeRosa, who batted fifth during much of June and usually only against lefties thereafter. Like Blalock he didn’t offer much power, but his terrific OBP (fueled by a .319 batting average) amply compensated. After Phil Nevin’s disposal, Kevin Mench spent a few games at fifth as a singles-and-walks machine. “The Rest” (mostly Nevin, one game each from Barajas, Laird and Kinsler) largely did not distinguish themselves.
American League #5 Hitters:
| TEAM | OPS |
L-OPS+ |
OBP |
L-OBP+ |
SLG |
L-SLG+ |
R |
HR |
RBI |
| Chicago Sox | 1.002 |
133 |
.391 |
109 |
.610 |
124 |
103 |
45 |
140 |
| NY Yankees | .934 |
124 |
.402 |
113 |
.532 |
110 |
98 |
33 |
141 |
| Minnesota | .920 |
122 |
.375 |
107 |
.545 |
115 |
104 |
32 |
127 |
| Detroit | .869 |
110 |
.382 |
107 |
.487 |
103 |
105 |
18 |
86 |
| Toronto | .886 |
107 |
.354 |
99 |
.532 |
107 |
92 |
32 |
118 |
| LA Angels | .849 |
105 |
.372 |
104 |
.476 |
101 |
88 |
27 |
92 |
| Kansas City | .862 |
102 |
.365 |
100 |
.498 |
102 |
94 |
23 |
89 |
| Cleveland | .806 |
96 |
.350 |
99 |
.456 |
97 |
93 |
20 |
98 |
| Seattle | .801 |
95 |
.335 |
95 |
.466 |
100 |
76 |
30 |
94 |
| Oakland | .782 |
90 |
.353 |
100 |
.430 |
91 |
78 |
22 |
88 |
| Texas | .789 |
87 |
.348 |
97 |
.442 |
90 |
78 |
18 |
98 |
| Tampa Bay | .780 |
85 |
.322 |
90 |
.458 |
95 |
69 |
28 |
87 |
| Baltimore | .758 |
82 |
.330 |
92 |
.428 |
89 |
77 |
21 |
98 |
| Boston | .683 |
65 |
.321 |
90 |
.362 |
76 |
76 |
14 |
75 |
Texas's closest neighbors in #5 batting were Oakland, Tampa Bay and Baltimore. Once again, bad company.
Best #5 Hitting: The White Sox. Jermaine Dye batted .315/.380/.628 in just under 400 appearances, Paul Konerko helped, and A.J. Pierzynski (.365/.419/.552) and Joe Crede (.429/.448/.730!) were crazy-good in limited action.
Worst: Boston, easily and surprisingly. Trot Nixon (.278/.388/.400) got on base while accruing about 45% of the plate appearances. Everyone else – Varitek, Lowell, Youkilis, Pena, Hinske, Kapler – was staggeringly awful, combining to hit .195/.266/.324.
Posted by Lucas at November 4, 2006 02:10 PM