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November 12, 2006
Reviewing the Ranger Lineup: #7 Hitters
AL #7 hitters dropped off very little from #6s this season: .001 in on-base percentage and .008 in slugging. The difference is that teams rarely have “regular” #7 hitters. Only one team had a player with more than a half-season’s worth of starts batting seventh (Seattle with Kenji Johjima). Teams have enough trouble finding six quality hitters; Number 7 is usually the best of what’s left.
Check here for stat descriptions.
Texas #7 Hitters:
| Player | % of Team PA |
OPS |
L-OPS+ |
OBP |
L-OBP+ |
SLG |
L-SLG+ |
R |
HR |
RBI |
BB |
SO |
Net SB |
| B Wilkerson | 25% |
.817 |
115 |
.356 |
110 |
.460 |
105 |
29 |
6 |
13 |
18 |
49 |
-4 |
| I Kinsler | 19% |
.875 |
129 |
.357 |
110 |
.518 |
118 |
18 |
5 |
19 |
9 |
19 |
6 |
| M Stairs | 13% |
.637 |
67 |
.268 |
83 |
.368 |
84 |
6 |
3 |
11 |
5 |
20 |
0 |
| K Mench | 9% |
.939 |
146 |
.393 |
121 |
.545 |
125 |
8 |
2 |
9 |
5 |
5 |
0 |
| G Laird | 8% |
.637 |
69 |
.291 |
90 |
.346 |
79 |
8 |
0 |
5 |
1 |
12 |
2 |
| M DeRosa | 8% |
.771 |
102 |
.327 |
101 |
.444 |
101 |
6 |
2 |
8 |
5 |
10 |
-2 |
| R Barajas | 7% |
.936 |
144 |
.378 |
117 |
.558 |
127 |
5 |
2 |
4 |
2 |
6 |
0 |
| The Rest | 10% |
.328 |
-11 |
.178 |
55 |
.150 |
34 |
5 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
19 |
0 |
| TEAM | - |
.755 |
99 |
.324 |
100 |
.432 |
99 |
85 |
20 |
70 |
49 |
140 |
2 |
| AL Average* | - |
.762 |
- |
.324 |
- |
.438 |
- |
77 |
20 |
74 |
45 |
111 |
2 |
| Team Rank in AL | - |
- |
8 |
- |
6 |
- |
9 |
2 |
7 |
8 |
6 |
13 |
6 |
Seven Rangers hit from the #7 spot in at least ten games. After a disastrous week-plus leading off, Brad Wilkerson spent most of the next month batting seventh and hit pretty well. Ian Kinsler also hit well, batting seventh sparingly during the summer and more frequently in September. In briefer appearances, Kevin Mench and Rod Barajas performed well above average, and Mark DeRosa held the position.
On the downside, Matt Stairs occupied the seventh position almost exclusively during his brief stay in Texas and did little. Laird also didn’t hit much here, and “The Rest” – Adrian Brown, Laynce Nix, Hank Blalock, and several others – hit .117 in 60 at-bats.
American League #7 Hitters:
| TEAM | OPS |
L-OPS+ |
OBP |
L-OBP+ |
SLG |
L-SLG+ |
R |
HR |
RBI |
| Oakland | .868 |
133 |
.368 |
115 |
.500 |
118 |
91 |
27 |
89 |
| NY Yankees | .858 |
129 |
.368 |
115 |
.489 |
114 |
83 |
22 |
99 |
| Toronto | .830 |
117 |
.352 |
109 |
.478 |
108 |
83 |
24 |
69 |
| Boston | .804 |
114 |
.346 |
107 |
.458 |
107 |
83 |
19 |
75 |
| Baltimore | .768 |
103 |
.310 |
96 |
.457 |
107 |
82 |
24 |
65 |
| Seattle | .738 |
101 |
.323 |
101 |
.415 |
100 |
72 |
17 |
69 |
| Detroit | .750 |
100 |
.300 |
93 |
.450 |
107 |
85 |
30 |
94 |
| Texas | .755 |
99 |
.324 |
100 |
.432 |
99 |
85 |
20 |
70 |
| Minnesota | .736 |
99 |
.312 |
99 |
.424 |
100 |
73 |
20 |
84 |
| Cleveland | .699 |
90 |
.313 |
98 |
.386 |
92 |
73 |
14 |
83 |
| LA Angels | .685 |
85 |
.304 |
94 |
.381 |
91 |
71 |
14 |
58 |
| Chicago Sox | .695 |
82 |
.291 |
90 |
.404 |
92 |
75 |
21 |
77 |
| Kansas City | .687 |
81 |
.312 |
95 |
.375 |
86 |
69 |
9 |
63 |
| Tampa Bay | .650 |
74 |
.291 |
90 |
.359 |
84 |
55 |
16 |
46 |
Best #7 hitting: Oakland should bat its whole team seventh. Nick Swisher (.333/.437/.686) and Dan Johnson (.295/.375/.538) compensated for the team’s terrible hitting in most of the order’s higher spots.
Worst: Tampa Bay. First baseman Travis Lee batted .220/.308/.322 in 133 appearances. Damon Hollins, B.J. Upton, Josh Paul, Dionner Navarro and Greg Norton were worse. Only Toby Hall and Russ Branyan kept the spot becoming a black hole.
Posted by Lucas at November 12, 2006 07:05 PM