CaramonLS: Can you do a comparative analaysis of other teams #3 hitters combined?
Magpie31: When I get home!
CaramonLS: I'd like to see where the Jays rank, because I was going over the teams in the AL Central/AL East... Out of those 10, Jays would rank last.
Magpie delivers! A Data Table, what else!
Anyway, I had a caveat, which I expressed immediately:
Magpie31: It's not so much the batting order spot as his role in the offense. I don't mind a Wells quality hitter batting third. But I don't much like a Wells quality hitter being the best hitter on the team.
See, I naturally suspected that this query had something to do with Vernon Wells. I wasn't born yesterday. Caramon's been posting for a while, and he's very much a root-and-bough kind of guy. He has suggested that Josh Towers isn't exactly the ideal number two starter, and that Vernon Wells isn't exactly the ideal number three hitter. I don't think these are remotely outrageous notions.
However, Caramon's solutions, if I understand him correctly, are to discard these guys - he has suggested not offering Towers arbitration this off-season - and replace them with something better. I agree that it would be a consummation devoutly to be wished if someone better than Towers could be the number two starter: because then Towers could be the third starter. Or fourth! Or fifth! Whatever.
And the same with Wells. I wouldn't want to replace Wells with an ideal three hitter - I'd much rather replace Rios with such a player.
Well, who wouldn't?
But anyway - here are the numbers for all the third hole hitters in the majors this year. They're sorted by Runs Created per Game, which remains my preferred metric, and I'm just using the RC/G figure found on the ESPN splits pages. I don't know that it's using the Runs Created formula I'm using for my next Data Table.
TEAM G TPA AB R H 2B 3B HR TB RBI SB CS BAVG OBP SLG OPS RC RC27 St. Louis 150 680 577 123 191 38 2 40 353 114 18 2 .331 .426 .612 1.038 142 9.29 Colorado 147 650 535 89 172 43 1 22 283 82 5 2 .321 .438 .529 .967 123 8.71 Chicago Cubs 149 668 588 115 183 47 3 40 356 88 12 3 .311 .383 .605 .988 131 8.27 Boston 148 684 567 111 163 33 2 43 329 143 2 0 .287 .395 .580 .975 128 8.07 Philadelphia 149 677 569 97 161 34 3 25 276 104 29 7 .283 .388 .485 .874 114 7.23 NY Yankees 147 670 578 107 166 32 0 33 297 115 11 2 .287 .379 .514 .893 114 7.19 Texas 149 677 600 103 177 33 4 36 326 130 4 0 .295 .372 .543 .916 115 7.02 Pittsburgh 148 660 571 97 161 42 5 27 294 75 17 0 .282 .371 .515 .886 111 6.95 Atlanta 149 664 569 100 164 41 2 27 290 104 11 3 .288 .383 .510 .893 109 6.84 LA Dodgers 148 652 549 94 150 31 1 27 264 75 5 2 .273 .379 .481 .860 102 6.59 Florida 149 669 589 94 175 36 1 30 303 112 1 0 .297 .368 .514 .882 108 6.58 Baltimore 147 655 607 79 181 38 5 29 316 101 9 1 .298 .344 .521 .864 104 6.26 LA Angels 148 662 596 85 179 34 5 21 286 107 14 2 .300 .359 .480 .838 102 6.18 Houston 149 650 563 87 154 40 3 23 269 85 6 0 .274 .365 .478 .842 98 6.17 Cincinnati 149 675 606 91 191 32 0 23 292 85 2 0 .315 .372 .482 .854 101 6.05 Arizona 149 676 585 87 160 36 0 23 265 77 4 1 .274 .365 .453 .818 97 5.82 Cleveland 148 658 579 79 159 39 0 23 267 94 0 0 .275 .352 .461 .813 94 5.81 Tampa Bay 149 655 613 82 177 36 5 28 307 108 14 1 .289 .325 .501 .826 98 5.73 NY Mets 148 659 587 84 165 37 3 17 259 77 21 6 .281 .347 .441 .788 92 5.57 Kansas City 146 639 583 91 168 43 1 21 276 89 4 0 .288 .340 .473 .814 90 5.49 Detroit 147 660 611 81 179 36 5 21 288 71 1 2 .293 .336 .471 .808 91 5.35 San Diego 147 663 563 83 149 26 4 17 234 70 12 7 .265 .364 .416 .779 88 5.31 Seattle 148 650 586 98 164 32 1 17 249 87 8 3 .280 .343 .425 .768 87 5.31 Milwaukee 148 656 576 84 150 35 1 20 247 79 2 0 .260 .342 .429 .771 86 5.23 Minnesota 147 661 587 64 159 31 4 11 231 71 15 3 .271 .348 .394 .741 85 5.14 Washington 149 665 581 78 151 37 2 19 249 83 1 2 .260 .343 .429 .772 84 4.98 Toronto 147 655 608 64 161 30 6 18 257 80 3 2 .265 .307 .423 .730 77 4.41 Chicago Sox 147 650 581 74 139 23 0 28 246 97 6 7 .239 .300 .423 .723 73 4.16 Oakland 148 667 601 91 151 31 3 14 230 73 1 0 .251 .315 .383 .698 73 4.15 San Francisco 148 652 591 65 140 28 1 12 206 58 2 2 .237 .302 .349 .650 61 3.47I am still gathering the information on who is responsible for most of these three-spot at bats on each team, and will add that when I have it.
