Author Archives: Doug

Leadoff hitters: getting off on the wrong foot

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Last season marked the 6th consecutive campaign with OBP below .330 for major league leadoff hitters. If it happens again in 2016, it will mark the first time since at least 1913 that that’s happened in 7 consecutive seasons. 2015 also marked the fourth straight season with at least 10% of major league teams posting a sub-.300 OBP from the number one hole; it’s the first time that’s happened in more than 40 years.

The good news (I guess) is that poor leadoff hitting didn’t stop the Kansas City Royals from becoming only the sixth team since 1913 to win the World Series with leadoff hitters posting a sub-.300 OBP. More on trends in leadoff hitting after the jump.

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Quiz – Division Champion Relievers (stumped)

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All of these pitchers played for a division champion. But, they also did something else to distinguish themselves from all other relief pitchers since divisional play began in 1969. What is this unusual pitching accomplishment?

The pitchers are:

  1. Wade Davis,
  2. Santiago Casilla,
  3. Zach Britton,
  4. Koji Uehara,
  5. Joaquin Benoit,
  6. Rafael Betancourt,
  7. Cla Meredith,
  8. Michael Jackson,
  9. Dennis Eckersley, and
  10. Dick Hall.

Click MORE for links to these players’ Baseball-Reference pages.

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 3/15/2016.

The solution to the quiz is that these are the only relief pitchers on a division-winning team to face fewer than 3.75 batters per IP in a 50 IP season with zero starts. More on efficient relief seasons after the jump.

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Free Agency by the numbers

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But, not the numbers (with lots of zeros after them) that you’re probably thinking about. Baseball’s annual rite of fall and winter has just about run its course. As of this writing, Baseball-Reference is recording 414 free agent signings since the end of last season, with only 8 more players still on the market.

How did your team do in the free agent sweepstakes? Find out after the jump.

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Quiz – Double Trouble (solved)

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The 2012 Minnesota Twins have the unfortunate distinction of being the only club in more than 35 years with some unusual position players on its roster. What unenviable characteristic distinguishes these clubs from among all other post-war teams?

Rk Year Tm
1 2012 Minnesota Twins
2 1979 Cleveland Indians
3 1976 California Angels
4 1976 San Diego Padres
5 1976 Texas Rangers
6 1972 Montreal Expos
7 1968 San Francisco Giants
8 1959 Philadelphia Phillies
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 3/7/2016.

 

Hint #1: There were twelve such teams from 1920 to 1941, and seven more from 1942 to 1945. Seventeen of those 19 teams were Braves, Phillies, Athletics and Reds clubs.

Hint #2: The recent passing of 1960s Giant third baseman Jim Davenport led me to this topic (though he wasn’t one of the players that put the 1968 Giants on this list).

Congratulations to bstar! He correctly identified that only these post-war teams had two players qualify for the league batting championship with ISO of 0.05 or less. More after the jump.

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Circle of Greats Recap

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Our project at High Heat Stats to elect our version of the Hall of Fame has completed (for now) after 121 rounds of balloting, and 121 players elected to the Circle of Greats (COG). This matches the number of Hall of Fame (HOF) members elected by the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA). As the BBWAA elects additional members in future years, the intention is to resume COG balloting at those times to maintain a matching number of honorees.

This post provides analysis of HOF and COG selections, identifying where our voters agreed with the BBWAA and where we differed. I’ve also provided comparison to Adam Darowski‘s Hall of Stats to see the similarities and differences between Adam’s selections and the HOF and COG honorees.

More after the jump.

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Quiz – Catchers and Infielders (solved)

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The players in this quiz share the distinction of posting the only qualified seasons since 1961 with a certain batting accomplishment. What is it?

Rk Player
1 Brad Ausmus
2 Royce Clayton
3 Tony Pena
4 Ted Simmons
5 John Wathan
6 Marty Perez
7 John Bateman
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 2/17/2016.

 

Hint #1: only one of these players posted such a season before age 30
Hint #2: no outfielder since 1871 has posted such a season

Congratulations to Richard Chester! He correctly identified that only these players have a qualified season since 1961 with times grounded into double plays exceeding 15% of their total bases. Ouch! More on these forgettable seasons after the jump.

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Chicago Cubs: Confident Contenders

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The Cubs were probably last season’s biggest surprise with 97 wins from a lineup heavy on young position players and experienced pitching. Looking to win 90 games again (a repeat Chicago last accomplished when Al Capone was the city’s most prominent citizen), Chicago has made some nice off-season moves that augur well for keeping the Northsiders at or near the top of the NL Central.

More after the jump.

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