It must be Data Table time.
As we all remember, the 2008 Blue Jays had a below average offense.
That's putting it kindly. They scored a measly 714 runs - only three AL teams scored fewer and none of them played in the AL East. An average AL team scored 775 runs. Behold...
It should be noted that the saga of the 2008 Jays offense is a two-part story. In the first 74 games, they scored 297 runs. That projects to a total of just 650 runs over the course of the season - almost as bad as (gasp! shudder!) Oakland. John Gibbons and Gary Denbo walked the plank at that point. Cito Gaston and Gene Tenace took over, Adam Lind was summoned to put Brad Wilkerson (and all the rest of his) out of our collective misery, and PRESTO! Over the last 88 games, the Jays scored 417 runs.
How good is that? Consider this, me hearties - had they scored like that all year long, they would have plated 867 runs. Only one team in the AL scored more. The Jays did this despite being without their best hitter in 2008 (Vernon Wells) for 27 of those 88 games. (Wells missed an identical stretch of games in the season's first half as well.)
Gaston, as everyone knows, is a former hitting coach. He also has two former ML hitting coaches on his staff. This didn't hurt, but it was more likely his managerial approaches that helped turn the offense around. It was pretty simple - they stopped giving away baserunners by hitting into double plays and getting thrown out stealing. Through June 20, the day of the managerial change, Jays had grounded into a grisly 84 double plays in those first 74 games. Had they continued at that pace, they would have hit into 183 of the accursed things and comfortably established a new major league record for GDPs. Happily, that record survives, and you'll be keen to know its 174 and it was set by the 1990 Boston Red Sox, who - surprise, surprise - were a largely RH hitting team who didn't strike out a whole lot.
Anyway, Toronto grounded into just 66 DPs in the 88 games after Gaston took over - that's one of the better rates at staying out the DP in the entire league. It works out to about 121 GDPs over a full season.
Okay, let's go round the league by position and see where there's room for improvement. (Hint - "everywhere!")
You will also note that AL catchers combined to hit 17 triples last season, not quite as many as Jose Reyes of the Mets managed all by himself.
Anyway, it will be very interesting to see what Michael Barrett makes of his new lease on life. Barrett used to be a very good hitter for a catcher - certainly better than Barajas (or Gregg Zaun, for that matter). It wasn't all that long ago. He didn't hit a lick in San Diego, but that been known to happen, San Diego's current park being the toughest place to hit in major league history. Barrett's a man coming back after a life-changing and career-threatening experience. He's still only 32 years old - younger than Rod Barajas (never mind Zaun.) Catcher, however, is the one position that Gaston has consistently favoured the better defender over the better hitter.
Is it a one-year blip? Is it a bit of carry-over from having his hand broken and a season ruined by a left-hander? Is this something that happens to you when you turn 31? A bit of all three? I don't expect a strict platoon here, but I expect Overbay will be "rested" against the tougher lefties. I think Gaston will give him a chance, though, to show that he can still carry the whole job. If he can't, we'll see some Jose Bautista.
If Aaron Hill comes back and hits the way he did in 2007 - all will be well. But if he comes back and hits the way he did in 2006, the Jays could be better off with Mighty Joe Inglett. This is Hill's age 27 season and he should be highly motivated (nothing like having the game taken away from you to make you appreciate it - see Michael Barrett for the same story.)
Meanwhile, don't you think someone in Baltimore was calling Cal Ripken and saying "come back, Cal! Please! I don't care how old you are, you can still hit better than these guys." Juan Castro, Freddie Bynum, and Brandon Fahey were the culprits.
Vernon Wells was generally outstanding at the plate in 2008. Problem is, he missed two months of the season, and for some reason Alex Rios stopped hitting when he moved over to replace him. Rios played 62 games in CF, and hit .257 with 4 HR. That's probably random chance - his slumps coincided with Wells' injuries (let's not get into the impact of Wells' absence from the batting order behind him - but hey, who knows?)
While Alex Rios was having a nice productive season as a right fielder (.312/.361/.499) he did have to move over to CF for two months, which left RF to be patrolled by the Ghost of Brad Wilkerson. The Texas right field situation is an interesting story. This was the best production any AL team received from any position, and what makes it odd is that the Rangers didn't have anything remotely close to a regular right fielder. David Murphy, who gets listed as the regular, only started 43 games in RF. Josh Hamilton and Marlon Byrd each started 33 games there, Nelson Cruz 31 times and Milton Bradley 19.
Those Seattle numbers boggle the mind. The only positions in the entire American League that performed worse than the Seattle designated hitters were the Yankee catchers and the Oriole shortstops. Jose Vidro accounts for about half of those at bats and as bad as he was, the other guys they tried were even worse. Jeff Clement, who had the next biggest chunk of DH at bats, batted .111 in the role. Ibanez, Beltre, and Johjima combined to hit .167 when they were DHing on their days off.
In Toronto, neither Frank Thomas nor Matt Stairs could reproduce their fine 2007 seasons. I didn't quite see that coming, although curiously enough I also seem to be unable to reproduce any of my own outstanding triumphs from back when I was young and full of vigour. In retrospect, it seems clear that pulling the plug so quickly on Frank Thomas was the smartest thing J.P. Ricciardi did in 2008. We all thought so at the time, as I recall.
Anyway. I don't think this is a league average offense. I think it's a little better than that. It's probably not quite as good as what we saw over the final 88 games, but I think they should score roughly 100 more runs than they did in 2007. I think they'll get over 800 anyway. The pitchers are going to have a little more room to work with this time around.
As we all remember, the 2008 Blue Jays had a below average offense.
That's putting it kindly. They scored a measly 714 runs - only three AL teams scored fewer and none of them played in the AL East. An average AL team scored 775 runs. Behold...
The Blue Jays came by their ineptitude the old-fashioned way - they earned it. They received below-average production from all nine offensive positions, a feat matched only by the utterly pathetic hitters who work for the Oakland A's, whose offense was as far behind Toronto's as the Jays were behind the AL average.
TOTAL AB R H TB 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS SH SF HBP GDP BAVG OBP SLG OPS RC RC/27
Texas 5728 901 1619 2647 376 35 194 867 595 1207 81 25 37 54 63 117 .283 .354 .462 .816 944 5.73
Boston 5596 845 1565 2503 353 33 173 807 646 1068 120 35 28 62 70 147 .280 .358 .447 .805 903 5.59
Minnesota 5641 829 1572 2301 298 49 111 791 529 979 102 42 52 72 36 142 .279 .340 .408 .748 779 4.74
Detroit 5641 821 1529 2504 293 41 200 780 572 1076 63 31 30 44 44 144 .271 .340 .444 .784 838 5.11
Chicago Sox 5553 811 1458 2485 296 13 235 785 540 1016 67 34 28 47 63 157 .263 .332 .448 .780 802 4.91
Cleveland 5543 805 1455 2351 339 22 171 772 560 1213 77 29 43 49 103 123 .262 .339 .424 .763 803 4.89
NY Yankees 5572 789 1512 2381 289 20 180 758 535 1015 118 39 31 39 80 149 .271 .342 .427 .769 805 4.97
Baltimore 5559 782 1486 2384 322 30 172 750 533 990 81 37 27 48 42 111 .267 .333 .429 .762 793 4.87
AL AVERAGE 5580 775 1493 2344 306 29 162 738 537 1060 94 35 34 49 58 136 .267 .335 .420 .755 781 4.78
Tampa Bay 5541 774 1443 2341 284 37 180 735 626 1224 142 50 23 52 68 111 .260 .340 .422 .762 812 4.96
LA Angels 5540 765 1486 2287 274 25 159 721 481 987 129 48 32 50 52 140 .268 .330 .413 .743 743 4.58
Toronto 5503 714 1453 2198 303 32 126 681 521 938 80 27 48 56 59 150 .264 .331 .399 .731 722 4.43
Kansas City 5608 691 1507 2226 303 28 120 650 392 1005 79 38 32 36 50 144 .269 .320 .397 .717 687 4.20
Seattle 5643 671 1498 2195 285 20 124 631 417 890 90 32 36 42 38 137 .265 .318 .389 .707 683 4.12
Oakland 5451 646 1318 2009 270 23 125 610 574 1226 88 21 30 35 48 126 .242 .318 .369 .686 647 3.93
It should be noted that the saga of the 2008 Jays offense is a two-part story. In the first 74 games, they scored 297 runs. That projects to a total of just 650 runs over the course of the season - almost as bad as (gasp! shudder!) Oakland. John Gibbons and Gary Denbo walked the plank at that point. Cito Gaston and Gene Tenace took over, Adam Lind was summoned to put Brad Wilkerson (and all the rest of his) out of our collective misery, and PRESTO! Over the last 88 games, the Jays scored 417 runs.
How good is that? Consider this, me hearties - had they scored like that all year long, they would have plated 867 runs. Only one team in the AL scored more. The Jays did this despite being without their best hitter in 2008 (Vernon Wells) for 27 of those 88 games. (Wells missed an identical stretch of games in the season's first half as well.)
Gaston, as everyone knows, is a former hitting coach. He also has two former ML hitting coaches on his staff. This didn't hurt, but it was more likely his managerial approaches that helped turn the offense around. It was pretty simple - they stopped giving away baserunners by hitting into double plays and getting thrown out stealing. Through June 20, the day of the managerial change, Jays had grounded into a grisly 84 double plays in those first 74 games. Had they continued at that pace, they would have hit into 183 of the accursed things and comfortably established a new major league record for GDPs. Happily, that record survives, and you'll be keen to know its 174 and it was set by the 1990 Boston Red Sox, who - surprise, surprise - were a largely RH hitting team who didn't strike out a whole lot.
Anyway, Toronto grounded into just 66 DPs in the 88 games after Gaston took over - that's one of the better rates at staying out the DP in the entire league. It works out to about 121 GDPs over a full season.
Okay, let's go round the league by position and see where there's room for improvement. (Hint - "everywhere!")
Hey, you think the Yankees missed Jorge Posada? Well, screw 'em. If you're taken by surprise wjem a 36 year old catcher gets injured, I've got to ask one question: you expect to live forever?
CATCHER AB R H TB 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS SH SF HBP GDP BAVG OBP SLG OPS RC RC/27
Minnesota 629 108 206 275 36 3 9 96 84 56 1 1 1 11 2 25 .328 .402 .437 .839 110 6.42
Cleveland 595 93 165 274 43 0 22 86 56 167 0 0 4 3 15 16 .277 .353 .461 .813 95 5.56
Texas 598 90 165 254 41 0 16 91 55 157 2 5 4 5 9 6 .276 .343 .425 .768 88 5.10
Chicago Sox 653 73 182 263 34 1 15 65 24 87 1 0 4 5 9 14 .279 .311 .403 .714 79 4.19
LA Angels 513 74 117 223 17 1 29 92 66 160 9 5 10 10 8 5 .228 .320 .435 .755 76 4.63
Tampa Bay 594 65 164 237 34 0 13 77 47 82 0 4 5 5 3 19 .276 .330 .399 .729 73 4.25
AL AVERAGE 586 70 151 230 32 1 15 73 50 117 3 2 4 5 8 16 .257 .321 .392 .714 72 4.16
Detroit 581 61 147 225 24 6 14 65 49 126 8 2 7 5 5 11 .253 .314 .387 .701 71 4.08
Toronto 580 71 142 224 34 0 16 75 51 101 2 1 5 5 7 15 .245 .311 .386 .697 69 3.90
Baltimore 584 60 142 222 27 1 17 77 44 91 0 0 2 6 6 12 .243 .300 .380 .680 66 3.73
Kansas City 585 65 138 224 42 1 14 78 43 151 7 3 0 5 8 15 .236 .295 .383 .678 64 3.61
Oakland 607 57 158 209 29 2 6 47 45 106 2 3 3 1 11 22 .260 .322 .344 .667 63 3.56
Seattle 576 50 145 217 28 1 14 68 29 72 2 2 3 4 10 14 .252 .297 .377 .674 62 3.59
Boston 565 47 123 193 28 0 14 55 69 172 0 1 1 3 6 19 .218 .308 .342 .650 58 3.34
NY Yankees 547 62 126 183 33 0 8 45 36 108 4 0 8 5 12 24 .230 .290 .335 .625 50 2.92
You will also note that AL catchers combined to hit 17 triples last season, not quite as many as Jose Reyes of the Mets managed all by himself.
Anyway, it will be very interesting to see what Michael Barrett makes of his new lease on life. Barrett used to be a very good hitter for a catcher - certainly better than Barajas (or Gregg Zaun, for that matter). It wasn't all that long ago. He didn't hit a lick in San Diego, but that been known to happen, San Diego's current park being the toughest place to hit in major league history. Barrett's a man coming back after a life-changing and career-threatening experience. He's still only 32 years old - younger than Rod Barajas (never mind Zaun.) Catcher, however, is the one position that Gaston has consistently favoured the better defender over the better hitter.
A funny thing happened to Lyle Overbay in 2008 - the southpaws caught up to him. Prior to last season, Overbay had always hung in reasonably well against the sinister fellows - he sacrificed most of his power, but always managed to maintain most of his batting average. Even after last season's dismal performance against lefties (.215 with 0 homers), he still sports a career .272 mark against southpaws (he's .284 against the Normal Guys.)
FIRST BASE AB R H TB 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS SH SF HBP GDP BAVG OBP SLG OPS RC RC/27
Detroit 644 91 195 349 42 2 36 125 58 128 3 0 0 8 3 18 .303 .359 .542 .901 122 6.80
Boston 622 95 194 323 44 5 25 109 64 115 4 5 0 8 11 16 .312 .382 .519 .901 121 7.06
Tampa Bay 590 91 144 287 32 3 35 116 111 177 5 1 0 9 11 8 .244 .369 .486 .855 114 6.41
Minnesota 630 98 185 309 48 5 22 124 74 89 0 1 0 11 3 20 .294 .365 .490 .855 111 6.19
LA Angels 610 92 185 301 39 1 25 93 56 52 6 1 0 8 10 21 .303 .367 .493 .860 107 6.32
NY Yankees 565 78 139 260 26 1 31 106 76 143 2 2 1 12 20 10 .246 .349 .460 .809 95 5.54
AL AVERAGE 599 83 160 268 33 2 24 92 69 117 2 2 2 7 8 16 .265 .345 .446 .791 92 5.26
Baltimore 601 91 149 263 27 0 29 89 81 100 0 1 0 7 3 10 .248 .337 .438 .774 91 5.06
Cleveland 600 69 157 245 26 1 20 100 64 107 0 1 1 7 15 15 .262 .344 .408 .752 85 4.81
Chicago Sox 581 79 133 248 24 2 29 86 88 122 3 0 1 6 8 19 .229 .335 .427 .762 84 4.71
Texas 602 89 155 273 38 1 26 87 53 138 1 3 5 2 4 16 .257 .321 .453 .774 83 4.68
Toronto 584 78 153 235 33 2 15 69 76 124 1 2 3 5 4 25 .262 .348 .402 .751 79 4.54
Kansas City 606 75 168 240 26 2 14 70 38 86 4 4 1 3 5 20 .277 .324 .396 .720 72 4.15
Oakland 569 68 134 206 29 5 11 63 68 119 1 1 8 5 5 8 .236 .320 .362 .682 69 3.93
Seattle 587 62 142 214 25 1 15 57 60 138 3 6 6 3 4 15 .242 .315 .365 .680 65 3.67
Is it a one-year blip? Is it a bit of carry-over from having his hand broken and a season ruined by a left-hander? Is this something that happens to you when you turn 31? A bit of all three? I don't expect a strict platoon here, but I expect Overbay will be "rested" against the tougher lefties. I think Gaston will give him a chance, though, to show that he can still carry the whole job. If he can't, we'll see some Jose Bautista.
SECOND BASE AB R H TB 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS SH SF HBP GDP BAVG OBP SLG OPS RC RC/27Around this time last year the Jays were thinking - geez, five teams in the AL East and we got the worst production of the five out of our second baseman? And this was after Aaron Hill's outstanding 2007 campaign. Since when do we find the best hitters in the infield at second base, anyway? But that's how it was. It was as if it was 1920 or something, when the sluggers were at second base and the glove wizards played third. It was a very tough group in the AL East back in 2007- you had Roberts in Baltimore, Pedroia in Boston, Cano in New York, and Upton in Tampa. A few things have changed. Upton's an outfielder now, and Cano stopped hitting like Alex Rios.
Boston 680 123 218 329 56 2 17 85 53 55 20 1 7 10 7 19 .321 .371 .484 .854 122 6.50
Texas 687 125 208 327 48 7 19 83 56 91 29 3 10 7 8 17 .303 .359 .476 .835 119 6.11
Baltimore 648 112 194 295 56 9 9 61 83 112 40 10 3 7 2 10 .299 .377 .455 .832 118 6.47
Detroit 665 107 206 283 40 5 9 73 53 59 9 1 6 4 10 16 .310 .367 .426 .793 104 5.65
Tampa Bay 675 100 186 263 32 9 9 56 75 139 8 6 4 4 6 2 .276 .351 .390 .741 98 5.01
AL AVERAGE 638 91 180 261 38 4 12 70 52 93 15 4 8 6 6 13 .281 .338 .408 .746 89 4.82
Kansas City 636 69 193 260 46 3 5 55 39 82 7 4 5 4 6 13 .303 .347 .409 .756 88 4.98
Toronto 642 81 179 250 35 3 10 76 54 85 11 2 12 5 7 9 .279 .339 .389 .728 88 4.67
Seattle 644 82 187 272 41 1 14 85 34 78 9 1 7 9 2 12 .290 .324 .422 .746 87 4.71
Minnesota 648 104 179 249 31 3 11 72 57 99 13 5 22 7 3 15 .276 .334 .384 .719 84 4.29
LA Angels 598 79 162 226 40 3 6 58 41 121 22 5 1 6 7 16 .271 .322 .378 .700 72 4.16
Chicago Sox 596 76 158 259 25 2 24 92 26 86 11 8 8 4 4 14 .265 .298 .435 .733 71 4.05
NY Yankees 622 73 165 251 35 3 15 74 27 72 2 4 2 5 5 20 .265 .299 .404 .702 68 3.74
Cleveland 583 74 145 191 23 4 5 63 64 118 8 4 17 5 10 9 .249 .331 .328 .658 67 3.74
Oakland 606 72 136 204 26 3 12 52 70 107 19 3 6 2 6 13 .224 .310 .337 .647 67 3.55
If Aaron Hill comes back and hits the way he did in 2007 - all will be well. But if he comes back and hits the way he did in 2006, the Jays could be better off with Mighty Joe Inglett. This is Hill's age 27 season and he should be highly motivated (nothing like having the game taken away from you to make you appreciate it - see Michael Barrett for the same story.)
THIRD BASE AB R H TB 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS SH SF HBP GDP BAVG OBP SLG OPS RC RC/27It sure wasn't Scott Rolen who turned around the Toronto offense when Gaston took over on June 20. In the month of July, Rolen batted a lusty .163 with zero home runs. In early August they put him out of his misery and moved him to the DL. On the field, they shuffled Marco Scutaro over to third base and put John McDonald into the everyday lineup. This switch - McDonald for Rolen - actually represented a marginal offensive improvement, as McDonald did manage to bat .225 in August. I submit that the previous sentence is the most humilating thing that has happened to Scott Rolen in his professional career. At any rate, he returned in September with a "new swing," and by gosh - he hit .307 in September. Counting on him to play 140 games seems delusional - that's why Jose Bautista is on the team. It won't be John McDonald picking up those at bats. Not this time.
NY Yankees 612 107 173 313 38 0 34 104 68 135 18 4 0 4 12 19 .283 .364 .511 .875 112 6.47
Tampa Bay 621 81 171 322 44 4 33 106 62 150 8 2 0 8 8 15 .275 .345 .519 .863 110 6.12
Boston 626 87 176 296 46 1 24 116 66 99 3 2 1 10 7 18 .281 .351 .473 .824 102 5.66
Baltimore 645 96 184 308 39 2 27 117 50 92 4 6 3 7 11 17 .285 .344 .478 .821 101 5.47
Kansas City 602 88 160 262 39 3 19 72 72 146 11 2 2 6 6 8 .266 .347 .435 .782 95 5.40
Texas 590 84 166 277 40 4 21 90 51 140 3 2 4 6 4 13 .281 .339 .469 .809 92 5.42
Detroit 591 94 153 254 35 3 20 89 73 129 8 7 2 6 7 13 .259 .344 .430 .774 87 5.00
AL AVERAGE 600 83 160 259 36 3 19 85 60 121 9 4 2 6 6 13 .266 .337 .430 .767 87 4.94
Seattle 624 81 160 269 34 3 23 78 56 111 8 2 0 4 3 13 .256 .319 .431 .750 85 4.63
Toronto 585 84 149 231 35 4 13 72 65 94 12 3 2 6 13 16 .255 .339 .395 .734 80 4.59
Chicago Sox 575 69 152 254 35 2 21 84 48 94 1 7 3 5 4 14 .264 .323 .442 .765 77 4.57
Minnesota 576 69 163 230 34 6 7 91 47 97 4 4 1 15 1 14 .283 .330 .399 .730 75 4.45
Cleveland 572 80 149 217 33 1 11 70 47 123 4 2 9 1 7 7 .260 .324 .379 .703 72 4.22
LA Angels 630 82 162 193 16 3 3 34 69 121 32 15 3 0 6 10 .257 .336 .306 .643 68 3.68
Oakland 555 59 124 194 31 0 13 65 70 162 5 0 3 4 1 8 .223 .310 .350 .659 64 3.70
SHORTSTOP AB R H TB 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS SH SF HBP GDP BAVG OBP SLG OPS RC RC/27The Jays were almost league average in production at shortstop, despite the fact that John McDonald started 52 games there (and went .211/.259/.274 while he was at it.) Marco Scutaro had a thoroughly average year by his own standards, and he's 33 years old now. He gives you competent defense (he's still a better second baseman) and league average offense for the position. A bit of slippage is possible, but I'd be shocked if it's enough to get Johnny Mac anything close to regular playing time. Which is always a good thing for the offense.
Texas 699 111 198 285 37 4 14 88 59 117 10 0 2 5 2 20 .283 .339 .408 .746 95 4.77
Cleveland 641 110 181 309 48 4 24 97 48 134 4 3 4 6 4 27 .282 .333 .482 .815 94 5.09
NY Yankees 651 96 192 262 28 3 12 72 59 103 10 5 9 4 8 27 .295 .359 .402 .761 89 4.81
Chicago Sox 685 96 193 254 35 1 8 58 56 72 21 6 3 9 1 16 .282 .333 .371 .704 85 4.31
Tampa Bay 589 66 161 229 28 5 10 57 35 99 22 5 5 5 11 12 .273 .323 .389 .712 75 4.35
Boston 556 57 149 200 37 4 2 59 70 107 13 5 5 10 14 19 .268 .358 .360 .718 74 4.49
LA Angels 630 87 169 239 30 5 10 74 32 94 16 4 12 3 6 9 .268 .308 .379 .688 74 3.97
Detroit 599 89 161 237 26 4 14 67 50 83 7 3 6 5 1 19 .269 .324 .396 .719 73 4.17
AL AVERAGE 612 79 163 230 32 3 9 65 45 95 11 4 7 6 5 18 .265 .317 .373 .690 71 3.94
Toronto 589 64 151 193 33 0 3 58 48 71 5 1 16 6 12 10 .256 .322 .328 .650 65 3.62
Oakland 616 73 149 220 45 1 8 70 53 111 8 4 0 4 3 18 .242 .303 .357 .660 64 3.47
Seattle 599 72 164 227 36 3 7 52 24 51 6 5 6 6 2 23 .274 .301 .379 .680 61 3.47
Minnesota 573 63 145 198 27 4 6 62 42 102 14 5 9 11 3 15 .253 .302 .346 .648 60 3.40
Kansas City 619 78 154 217 26 5 9 56 28 100 10 4 3 4 1 16 .249 .281 .351 .631 57 3.09
Baltimore 518 46 113 143 18 3 2 44 27 92 3 5 13 4 3 18 .218 .259 .276 .535 34 2.04
Meanwhile, don't you think someone in Baltimore was calling Cal Ripken and saying "come back, Cal! Please! I don't care how old you are, you can still hit better than these guys." Juan Castro, Freddie Bynum, and Brandon Fahey were the culprits.
LEFT FIELD AB R H TB 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS SH SF HBP GDP BAVG OBP SLG OPS RC RC/27Damn, that was ugly. Travis Snider has to be better than that. Right?
Chicago Sox 610 116 165 325 30 2 42 112 77 112 10 5 2 4 21 19 .270 .369 .533 .902 118 6.69
Boston 651 112 185 298 35 3 24 98 69 153 16 6 1 7 9 12 .284 .357 .458 .815 108 5.82
Seattle 644 85 188 304 46 2 22 110 60 111 4 4 0 5 3 14 .292 .353 .472 .825 105 5.79
Baltimore 606 80 164 285 29 4 28 89 55 114 4 2 2 2 4 5 .271 .334 .470 .805 97 5.53
NY Yankees 644 83 183 275 32 3 18 92 60 108 17 5 3 2 5 12 .284 .349 .427 .776 97 5.29
AL AVERAGE 622 86 166 267 32 4 20 87 62 122 10 5 2 6 6 14 .266 .336 .430 .766 89 4.91
Oakland 597 72 143 241 27 1 23 94 92 171 6 2 2 6 5 12 .240 .343 .404 .747 87 4.79
Cleveland 612 82 163 258 43 2 16 78 58 119 4 5 2 6 13 14 .266 .340 .422 .761 87 4.83
Kansas City 632 73 178 260 40 6 10 77 52 101 9 6 3 4 3 17 .282 .337 .411 .749 84 4.66
Texas 617 84 152 248 35 5 17 87 67 134 11 2 3 8 6 10 .246 .322 .402 .724 83 4.46
Detroit 604 85 144 272 31 2 31 82 67 159 2 6 0 5 4 14 .238 .316 .450 .767 83 4.55
Tampa Bay 641 104 166 257 23 10 16 80 54 112 29 9 0 5 4 14 .259 .318 .401 .719 81 4.31
LA Angels 619 71 162 249 30 3 17 86 51 106 7 5 1 12 4 21 .262 .316 .402 .719 75 4.06
Minnesota 634 85 174 244 29 4 11 72 40 116 14 5 1 5 7 20 .274 .322 .385 .707 75 4.10
Toronto 593 68 153 228 22 10 11 56 61 98 8 3 4 9 2 18 .258 .325 .384 .709 73 4.12
CENTRE FIELD AB R H TB 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS SH SF HBP GDP BAVG OBP SLG OPS RC RC/27
Cleveland 658 105 180 334 43 6 33 90 91 133 36 6 0 4 10 5 .274 .368 .508 .876 133 7.02
Detroit 664 121 183 312 33 15 22 78 79 146 16 4 5 2 4 8 .276 .355 .470 .825 115 5.99
Texas 643 101 180 308 39 7 25 117 71 137 8 3 2 6 5 9 .280 .353 .479 .832 111 6.01
Boston 622 102 181 269 33 8 13 66 60 93 40 11 9 4 5 13 .291 .356 .432 .788 98 5.50
Tampa Bay 609 98 158 232 37 2 11 71 105 153 46 16 5 7 3 14 .259 .367 .381 .748 93 5.10
LA Angels 627 92 171 280 42 2 21 87 56 124 21 5 0 2 6 18 .273 .337 .447 .784 92 5.13
AL AVERAGE 629 90 169 259 32 5 16 75 58 121 25 7 4 4 5 14 .269 .333 .412 .744 87 4.73
Toronto 655 92 185 287 38 2 20 89 43 84 17 6 0 8 4 28 .282 .327 .438 .765 86 4.56
Seattle 637 88 178 232 31 4 5 49 49 89 32 4 5 2 5 14 .279 .335 .364 .699 80 4.40
NY Yankees 612 76 160 239 20 4 17 66 50 90 27 5 5 4 5 13 .261 .320 .391 .711 78 4.32
Chicago Sox 579 82 138 240 34 1 22 73 69 136 7 2 4 3 1 19 .238 .319 .415 .734 75 4.24
Minnesota 667 85 173 243 29 7 9 71 31 155 34 12 4 3 7 9 .259 .298 .364 .662 72 3.67
Baltimore 620 81 165 240 25 7 12 68 35 128 14 4 2 5 8 18 .266 .311 .387 .698 72 3.95
Oakland 600 61 156 218 30 7 6 61 31 130 22 4 4 5 1 14 .260 .295 .363 .658 63 3.56
Kansas City 612 72 164 197 12 3 5 70 37 94 24 10 13 5 8 11 .268 .316 .322 .638 63 3.46
Vernon Wells was generally outstanding at the plate in 2008. Problem is, he missed two months of the season, and for some reason Alex Rios stopped hitting when he moved over to replace him. Rios played 62 games in CF, and hit .257 with 4 HR. That's probably random chance - his slumps coincided with Wells' injuries (let's not get into the impact of Wells' absence from the batting order behind him - but hey, who knows?)
RIGHT FIELD AB R H TB 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS SH SF HBP GDP BAVG OBP SLG OPS RC RC/27
Texas 638 107 202 364 52 4 34 134 69 123 8 2 1 8 5 13 .317 .383 .571 .954 140 8.01
Baltimore 618 110 188 301 51 1 20 88 101 115 10 7 0 1 2 10 .304 .403 .487 .890 125 7.37
Boston 615 106 167 286 34 8 23 94 93 123 20 4 2 6 6 13 .272 .369 .465 .834 111 6.20
Detroit 638 84 198 318 38 2 26 113 62 96 1 5 0 5 3 23 .310 .371 .498 .870 110 6.33
Chicago Sox 638 101 180 339 44 2 37 102 51 122 4 3 0 5 8 20 .282 .340 .531 .872 109 5.99
NY Yankees 648 100 188 292 39 4 19 104 73 112 22 10 0 2 1 13 .290 .362 .451 .812 105 5.81
AL AVERAGE 625 94 176 287 37 4 22 90 64 119 12 5 2 4 5 15 .281 .351 .459 .809 99 5.57
Toronto 626 85 178 279 46 8 13 79 52 130 21 6 1 10 3 8 .284 .337 .446 .783 97 5.37
Minnesota 619 112 170 262 30 10 14 91 75 114 20 8 8 3 8 12 .275 .359 .423 .782 96 5.35
LA Angels 635 91 184 299 37 3 24 94 54 98 7 6 0 3 2 25 .290 .346 .471 .817 95 5.31
Cleveland 600 99 155 261 38 4 20 83 53 136 13 3 5 4 11 14 .258 .328 .435 .763 85 4.80
Kansas City 634 79 172 274 41 5 17 81 44 135 5 4 1 3 7 15 .271 .324 .432 .756 85 4.66
Oakland 647 83 169 263 31 3 19 78 45 118 11 1 1 4 10 17 .261 .317 .406 .724 82 4.33
Tampa Bay 557 77 136 246 18 4 28 74 66 148 14 3 1 2 6 13 .244 .330 .442 .771 82 4.92
Seattle 638 75 180 232 20 4 8 40 55 96 17 6 4 4 4 10 .282 .341 .364 .705 81 4.44
While Alex Rios was having a nice productive season as a right fielder (.312/.361/.499) he did have to move over to CF for two months, which left RF to be patrolled by the Ghost of Brad Wilkerson. The Texas right field situation is an interesting story. This was the best production any AL team received from any position, and what makes it odd is that the Rangers didn't have anything remotely close to a regular right fielder. David Murphy, who gets listed as the regular, only started 43 games in RF. Josh Hamilton and Marlon Byrd each started 33 games there, Nelson Cruz 31 times and Milton Bradley 19.
DH AB R H TB 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS SH SF HBP GDP BAVG OBP SLG OPS RC RC/27
Texas 565 100 170 279 39 2 22 80 104 147 8 5 2 6 18 11 .301 .421 .494 .915 125 7.87
Boston 590 106 161 289 39 1 29 116 98 115 3 0 1 3 5 17 .273 .379 .490 .869 111 6.56
NY Yankees 571 94 161 263 34 1 22 80 77 108 12 4 1 1 12 9 .282 .378 .461 .839 103 6.40
Baltimore 591 89 162 290 44 3 26 108 51 105 4 2 1 8 3 9 .274 .331 .491 .821 96 5.58
Chicago Sox 562 102 138 272 29 0 35 97 95 161 3 2 0 4 4 21 .246 .356 .484 .840 95 5.69
Minnesota 580 87 156 254 29 6 19 94 67 123 0 1 1 5 2 10 .269 .344 .438 .782 88 5.25
AL AVERAGE 580 83 148 253 30 2 24 88 69 125 5 2 1 5 7 15 .256 .339 .435 .774 86 4.99
LA Angels 597 83 162 261 21 3 24 89 52 90 7 2 2 5 3 13 .271 .330 .437 .767 85 4.92
Tampa Bay 570 72 140 244 32 0 24 78 56 131 8 4 0 7 12 10 .246 .322 .428 .751 80 4.66
Oakland 564 84 129 224 18 1 25 64 89 163 4 0 0 4 5 12 .229 .337 .397 .734 79 4.60
Cleveland 584 73 138 227 38 0 17 85 65 143 4 4 0 10 16 13 .236 .324 .389 .713 75 4.20
Toronto 579 73 143 242 24 3 23 94 61 135 2 2 2 2 7 20 .247 .325 .418 .743 75 4.35
Kansas City 598 71 160 267 29 0 26 86 32 90 0 1 0 2 5 26 .268 .309 .446 .756 73 4.23
Detroit 583 74 127 226 19 1 26 77 74 127 9 3 0 3 5 22 .218 .310 .388 .697 68 3.76
Seattle 589 58 130 197 20 1 15 77 39 118 3 1 3 4 5 17 .221 .273 .334 .608 51 2.81
Those Seattle numbers boggle the mind. The only positions in the entire American League that performed worse than the Seattle designated hitters were the Yankee catchers and the Oriole shortstops. Jose Vidro accounts for about half of those at bats and as bad as he was, the other guys they tried were even worse. Jeff Clement, who had the next biggest chunk of DH at bats, batted .111 in the role. Ibanez, Beltre, and Johjima combined to hit .167 when they were DHing on their days off.
In Toronto, neither Frank Thomas nor Matt Stairs could reproduce their fine 2007 seasons. I didn't quite see that coming, although curiously enough I also seem to be unable to reproduce any of my own outstanding triumphs from back when I was young and full of vigour. In retrospect, it seems clear that pulling the plug so quickly on Frank Thomas was the smartest thing J.P. Ricciardi did in 2008. We all thought so at the time, as I recall.
Anyway. I don't think this is a league average offense. I think it's a little better than that. It's probably not quite as good as what we saw over the final 88 games, but I think they should score roughly 100 more runs than they did in 2007. I think they'll get over 800 anyway. The pitchers are going to have a little more room to work with this time around.
