Opening day is almost here. Every team but the Yankees has named their opening day starter, so here’s a team-by-team look at those selections, with some (hopefully) interesting related tidbits.
More after the jump.
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.
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:
Click MORE for links to these players’ Baseball-Reference pages.
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.
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.
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 |
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.
The indispensable Play Index tool at Baseball-Reference.com has recently been updated to include game log data for the 1913 season.
After the jump, I’ll look at a few of the more unusual game feats from that season.
Google translates “arenado” as Spanish for “sandblasted”. Leaving aside the sand, Rockie third baseman Nolan Arenado had a breakout year in 2015, recording one of the more impressive under-the-radar seasons in recent memory, leading the NL with 42 big blasts, and leading the majors with 130 RBI and 354 total bases.
More after the jump.
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.
Tony Phillips died last week of a heart attack, aged only 56. Phillips exceeded 50 WAR in an 18 year career played primarily with the Athletics and Tigers. One of the most versatile players in major league history, Phillips started his career as a shortstop but ended up playing over 400 games at 2B, 3B and LF.
More on Phillips after the jump. Continue reading
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 |
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.