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November 14, 2006
Reviewing the Ranger Lineup: #8 and #9 Hitters
Good #8 and #9 hitters rarely exist for any length of time. Good hitters move to a higher spot in the order, bad ones stay there because the team has no worthy replacement. Catchers, rookies, subs and occasionally pitchers dominate the last two spots in the order. The average AL #8 hitter batted .259/.320/.392; #9s batted .250/.303/.369.
Check here for stat descriptions.
Texas #8 Hitters:
| Player | % of Team PA |
OPS |
L-OPS+ |
OBP |
L-OBP+ |
SLG |
L-SLG+ |
R |
HR |
RBI |
BB |
SO |
Net SB |
| R Barajas | 23% |
.529 |
47 |
.243 |
76 |
.286 |
72 |
15 |
3 |
15 |
8 |
21 |
0 |
| I Kinsler | 20% |
.789 |
119 |
.358 |
111 |
.431 |
108 |
20 |
2 |
15 |
13 |
11 |
-3 |
| G Laird | 17% |
.786 |
116 |
.330 |
103 |
.455 |
114 |
19 |
3 |
6 |
6 |
27 |
-2 |
| B Wilkerson | 13% |
.520 |
46 |
.256 |
80 |
.264 |
66 |
4 |
1 |
9 |
9 |
27 |
0 |
| M DeRosa | 8% |
1.159 |
219 |
.472 |
147 |
.688 |
172 |
11 |
1 |
10 |
4 |
9 |
1 |
| J Botts | 8% |
.727 |
102 |
.327 |
102 |
.400 |
100 |
7 |
1 |
5 |
7 |
15 |
0 |
| The Rest | 12% |
.466 |
31 |
.245 |
76 |
.221 |
55 |
6 |
0 |
8 |
6 |
15 |
0 |
| TEAM | - |
.682 |
90 |
.308 |
96 |
.375 |
94 |
82 |
11 |
68 |
53 |
125 |
-4 |
| AL Average* | - |
.721 |
- |
.322 |
- |
.400 |
- |
74 |
13 |
71 |
48 |
111 |
0 |
| Team Rank in AL | - |
- |
12 |
- |
10 |
- |
11 |
2 |
7 |
10 |
4 |
10 |
11 |
Texas #9 Hitters:
| Player | % of Team PA |
OPS |
L-OPS+ |
OBP |
L-OBP+ |
SLG |
L-SLG+ |
R |
HR |
RBI |
BB |
SO |
Net SB |
| R Barajas | 27% |
.827 |
141 |
.333 |
109 |
.494 |
131 |
28 |
6 |
21 |
7 |
23 |
0 |
| N Cruz | 18% |
.732 |
113 |
.296 |
97 |
.436 |
116 |
13 |
5 |
19 |
6 |
22 |
1 |
| G Laird | 13% |
.859 |
149 |
.325 |
107 |
.534 |
142 |
15 |
3 |
9 |
4 |
13 |
1 |
| I Kinsler | 11% |
.999 |
191 |
.408 |
134 |
.590 |
157 |
11 |
4 |
10 |
7 |
9 |
0 |
| J Hairston | 8% |
.619 |
84 |
.308 |
101 |
.311 |
83 |
9 |
0 |
5 |
6 |
11 |
-1 |
| D Jimenez | 6% |
.526 |
54 |
.235 |
77 |
.290 |
77 |
2 |
1 |
6 |
3 |
4 |
0 |
| Pitchers | 2% |
.067 |
-78 |
.067 |
22 |
.000 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
7 |
0 |
| The Rest | 15% |
.616 |
81 |
.267 |
88 |
.349 |
93 |
11 |
1 |
9 |
2 |
25 |
-2 |
| TEAM | - |
.750 |
119 |
.310 |
102 |
.439 |
117 |
89 |
20 |
79 |
35 |
114 |
-1 |
| AL Average* | - |
.681 |
- |
.304 |
- |
.376 |
- |
70 |
11 |
62 |
39 |
112 |
1 |
| Team Rank in AL | - |
- |
3 |
- |
6 |
- |
3 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
10 |
9 |
9 |
Largely because of Rod Barajas, Texas had lousy #8 hitting and fantastic #9 hitting. Barajas batted .188/.243/.286 in eighth and .295/.333/.494 in ninth. Imagine what he’d accomplish batting tenth, or twelfth. Ian Kinsler and Gerald Laird hit very well from both spots. Jason Botts and Nelson Cruz held their ground strictly in terms of where they batted (and ignoring their fielding positions). Ranger pitchers proved the mathematical possibility of a sub-zero OPS+.
American League #8 Hitters:
| TEAM | OPS |
L-OPS+ |
OBP |
L-OBP+ |
SLG |
L-SLG+ |
R |
HR |
RBI |
| Toronto | .837 |
132 |
.382 |
119 |
.455 |
113 |
78 |
11 |
64 |
| Detroit | .809 |
127 |
.332 |
104 |
.476 |
124 |
81 |
25 |
84 |
| Baltimore | .793 |
124 |
.374 |
117 |
.419 |
107 |
79 |
11 |
88 |
| LA Angels | .765 |
117 |
.327 |
102 |
.439 |
114 |
86 |
18 |
77 |
| Chicago Sox | .739 |
103 |
.301 |
93 |
.438 |
109 |
71 |
21 |
81 |
| Oakland | .710 |
102 |
.330 |
104 |
.379 |
98 |
69 |
11 |
79 |
| Boston | .704 |
98 |
.321 |
100 |
.383 |
98 |
76 |
13 |
76 |
| Minnesota | .685 |
97 |
.325 |
103 |
.360 |
93 |
74 |
8 |
51 |
| NY Yankees | .691 |
94 |
.305 |
96 |
.386 |
98 |
82 |
16 |
70 |
| Seattle | .671 |
93 |
.309 |
97 |
.362 |
95 |
66 |
9 |
53 |
| Cleveland | .670 |
91 |
.297 |
94 |
.374 |
98 |
75 |
12 |
76 |
| Texas | .682 |
90 |
.308 |
96 |
.375 |
94 |
82 |
11 |
68 |
| Kansas City | .616 |
71 |
.289 |
88 |
.327 |
82 |
51 |
10 |
79 |
| Tampa Bay | .593 |
68 |
.283 |
88 |
.311 |
79 |
61 |
11 |
47 |
Best #8 Hitting: Toronto. Aaron Hill started an unusual 93 games in the #8 spot and batted .314/.383/.422. Eric Hinske, Jason Phillips, Alex Rios, Gregg Zaun, and household names like John Hattig and Adam Lind hit extraordinarily well in cameos.
Worst: Tampa Bay, which also had the worst #7 batters and next-to-worst #9 batters. Josh Paul was serviceable, the rest putrid (Tomas Perez, B.J. Upton, Damon Hollins and others).
American League #9 Hitters:
| TEAM | OPS |
L-OPS+ |
OBP |
L-OBP+ |
SLG |
L-SLG+ |
R |
HR |
RBI |
| Detroit | .772 |
130 |
.317 |
105 |
.456 |
126 |
84 |
19 |
75 |
| Cleveland | .764 |
130 |
.326 |
109 |
.438 |
122 |
73 |
16 |
86 |
| Texas | .750 |
119 |
.310 |
102 |
.439 |
117 |
89 |
20 |
79 |
| Minnesota | .685 |
109 |
.330 |
111 |
.355 |
98 |
64 |
3 |
51 |
| LA Angels | .688 |
108 |
.319 |
106 |
.369 |
102 |
61 |
7 |
68 |
| Boston | .688 |
105 |
.312 |
103 |
.377 |
102 |
73 |
10 |
68 |
| Seattle | .665 |
102 |
.288 |
96 |
.377 |
106 |
70 |
9 |
53 |
| Chicago Sox | .683 |
99 |
.292 |
96 |
.391 |
104 |
72 |
21 |
63 |
| Oakland | .648 |
95 |
.303 |
101 |
.345 |
95 |
60 |
10 |
54 |
| Kansas City | .655 |
93 |
.309 |
100 |
.346 |
93 |
70 |
6 |
56 |
| Baltimore | .646 |
93 |
.307 |
101 |
.339 |
92 |
63 |
8 |
60 |
| NY Yankees | .642 |
93 |
.305 |
101 |
.337 |
91 |
75 |
8 |
57 |
| Tampa Bay | .579 |
73 |
.267 |
88 |
.313 |
85 |
63 |
8 |
45 |
| Toronto | .538 |
59 |
.255 |
84 |
.283 |
74 |
61 |
6 |
59 |
Best #9 Hitting: Detroit and Cleveland. Brandon Inge spent half the season batting ninth and produced a line of .278/.329/.509. Aaron Boone (.297/.348/.492) and Casey Blake (.356/.433/.533) seemed comfortable waiting for eight teammates to hit first.
Worst: Toronto. The NL’s Padres, Marlins and Reds had better #9 hitters than Toronto. John McDonald, Russ Adams, and Aaron Hill (in sharp contrast to his job at #8) were the primary culprits.
Posted by Lucas at November 14, 2006 01:42 AM