Here are offensive player rankings at each position for each league. It includes only players who (through June 12) would qualify for a batting title.
The numbers after their name are their total rank for Hittability and Strikeability at their position. For example, among the 11 qualifying catchers, Kurt Suzuki ranked seventh in slugging percentage and first in W/K ratio (7+1=8).
Catchers
AL-1. Kurt Suzuki, Twins 8, 2. Salvador Perez, Royals 9, 3. Yan Gomes, Indians 13, 4. A.J. Pierzynski, Red Sox 19, 5. Brian McCann, Yankees 19, 6. Jason Castro, Astros 20.
NL-1. Jonathan Lucroy, Brewers 4, 2. Miguel Montero, D-backs 6, 3. Buster Posey, Giants 11, 4. Carlos Ruiz, Phillies 11, 5. Yadier Molina, Cardinals 12.
First Basemen
AL-1. Edwin Encarnacion, Blue Jays 6, 2. Miguel Cabrera, Tigers 17, 3. Albert Pujols, Angels 18, 4. Adam Dunn, White Sox 18, 5. Brandon Moss, Athletics 21, 6. James Loney, Rays 25, 7. Mike Napoli, Red Sox 26, 8. Jose Abreu, White Sox 27, 9. Alberto Callaspo, Athletics 27, 10. Chris Davis, Orioles 31, 11, Joe Mauer, Twins 35, 12. Chris Carter, Astros 37, 13. Nick Swisher, Indians 37, 14. Justin Smoak, Mariners 44, 15. Eric Hosmer, Royals 45.
NL-1. Adam LaRoche, Nationals 8, 2. Anthony Rizzo, Cubs 10, 3. Freddie Freeman, Braves 15, 4. Paul Goldschmidt, D-backs 23, 5. Adrian Gonzalez, Dodgers 25, 6. Justin Morneau, Rockies 28, 7. Lucas Duda, Mets 28, 8. Garrett Jones, Marlins 32, 9. Mark Reynolds, Brewers 37, 10. Yonder Alonso, Padres 38, 11. Ryan Howard, Phillies 44.
Second Basemen
AL-1. Brian Dozier, Twins 7, 2. Jose Altuve, Astros 11, 3. Robinson Cano, Mariners 12, 4. Dustin Pedroia, Red Sox 14, 5. Ben Zobrist, Rays 18, 6. Ian Kinsler, Tigers 20, 7. Howie Kendrick, Angels 23, 8. Brian Roberts, Yankees 28, 9. Jonathan Schoop, Orioles 39.
NL-1. Anthony Rendon, Nationals 11, 2. Chase Utley, Phillies 12, 3. Daniel Murphy, Mets 12, 4. Neil Walker, Pirates 17, 5. Dee Gordon, Dodgers 24, 6. Scooter Gennett, Brewers 25, 7. Aaron Hill, D-backs 28, 8. D.J. LeMahieu, Rockies 30, 9. Brandon Phillips, Reds 31, 10. Brandon Hicks, Giants 31, 11. Danny Espinosa, Nationals 36, 12. Emilio Bonifacio, Cubs 36, 13. Jedd Gyorko, Padres 41.
Third Basemen
AL-1. Josh Donaldson, Athletics 7, 2. Yangervis Solarte, Yankees 7, 3. Adrian Beltre, Rangers 9, 4. Kurt Seager, Mariners 12, 5. Carlos Santana, Indians 19, 6. Trevor Plouffe, Twins 20, 7. Brett Lawrie, Blue Jays 22, 8. Evan Longoria, Rays 23, 9. Nick Castellanos, Tigers 26, 10. Matt Dominguez, Astros 26.
NL-1. Todd Frazier, Reds 10, 2. Pedro Alvarez, Pirates 15, 3. Matt Carpenter, Cardinals 16, 4. Casey McGehee, Marlins 18, 5. Pablo Sandoval, Giants 19, 6. Martin Prado, D-backs 28, 7. David Wright, Mets 30, 8. Chris Johnson, Braves 35.
Shortstops
AL-1. Alexei Ramirez, White Sox 9, 2. Jose Reyes, Blue Jays 15, 3. Erick Aybar, Angels 16, 4. Jed Lowrie, Athletics 17, 5. Yunel Escobar, Rays 22, 6. Xander Bogaerts, Red Sox 24, 7. Asdrubal Cabrera, Indians 25, 8. Elvis Andrus, Rangers 26, 9. Alcides Escobar, Royals 29, 10. Derek Jeter, Yankees 33, 11. J.J. Hardy, Orioles 37, 12. Brad Miller, Mariners 44.
NL-1. Troy Tulowitzki, Rockies 3, 2. Brandon Crawford, Giants 15, 3. Jimmy Rollins, Phillies 17, 4. Jhonny Peralta, Cardinals 19, 5. Ian Desmond, Nationals 22, 6. Starlin Castro, Cubs 22, 7. Hanley Ramirez, Dodgers 22, 8. Andrelton Simmons, Braves 24, 9. Chris Owings, D-backs 28, 10. Jean Segura, Brewers 42, 11. Adeiny Hechavarria, Marlins 44, 12. Everth Cabrera, Padres 47, 13. Zack Cozart, Reds 48.
Left Fielders
AL-1. Michael Brantley, Indians 8, 2. Nelson Cruz, Orioles 9, 3. Alex Gordon, Royals 14, 4. Melky Cabrera, Blue Jays 17, 5. Shin-soo Choo, Rangers 18, 6. Yoenis Cespedes, Athletics 20, 7. Matt Joyce, Rays 23, 8. Brett Gardner, Yankees 30, 9. Dustin Ackley, Mariners 30, 10. Rajai Davis, Blue Jays 31, 11. Alejandro De Aza, White Sox 34, 12. Alfonso Soriano, Yankees 37.
NL-1. Seth Smith, Padres 7, 2. Justin Upton, Braves 13, 3. Christian Yelich, Marlins 19, 4. Matt Holliday, Cardinals 20, 5. Michael Morse, Giants 21, 6. Carlos Gonzalez, Rockies 25, 7. Khris Davis, Brewers 27, 8. Junior Lake, Cubs 32, 9. Domonic Brown, Phillies 33, 10. Starling Marte, Pirates 37.
Center Fielders
AL-1. Coco Crisp, Athletics 7, 2. Mike Trout, Angels 9, 3. Dexter Fowler, Astros 14, 4. Jacoby Ellsbury, Yankees 16, 5. Austin Jackson, Tigers 19, 6. Desmond Jennings, Rays 23, 7. Adam Jones, Orioles 24, 8. Michael Bourn, Indians 27, 9. Adam Eaton, White Sox 28, 10. Leonys Martin, Rangers 32, 11. Jackie Bradley Jr., Red Sox 34.
NL-1. Andrew McCutchen, Pirates 5, 2. Angel Pagan, Giants 13, 3. Denard Span, Nationals 14, 4. Carlos Gomez, Brewers 15, 5. Matt Kemp, Dodgers 18, 6. Marcell Ozuna, Marlins 23, 7. B.J. Upton, Braves 31, 8. Billy Hamilton, Reds 33, 9. Ben Revere, Phillies 35.
Right Fielders
AL-1. Jose Bautista, Blue Jays 4, 2. David Murphy, Indians 15, 3. Nick Markakis, Orioles 16, 4. George Springer, Astros 23, 5. Alex Rios, Rangers 23, 6. Norichika Aoki, Royals 26, 7. Dayan Viciedo, White Sox 30, 8. Torii Hunter, Tigers 31, 9. Wil Myers, Rays 31.
NL-1. Yasiel Puig, Dodgers 7, 2. Giancarlo Stanton, Marlins 10, 3. Hunter Pence, Giants 15, 4. Ryan Braun, Brewers 18, 5. Charlie Blackmon, Rockies 18, 6. Jayson Werth, Nationals 20, 7. Jason Heyward, Braves 24, 8. Curtis Granderson, Mets 26, 9. Marlon Byrd, Phillies 28, 10. Gerardo Parra, D-backs 28, 11. Allen Craig, Cardinals 33, 12. Nate Schierholtz, Cubs 39.
Designated Hitters
AL-1. Victor Martinez, Tigers 2, 2. David Ortiz, Red Sox 4, 3. Billy Butler, Royals 6.
Notes: Yangervis Solarte seems intent on proving me wrong.
In case of ties, I gave the advantage to the player with the higher slugging percentage.
Showing posts with label Brian Dozier. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brian Dozier. Show all posts
Saturday, June 14, 2014
Saturday, April 26, 2014
It's time to start looking at fast starts
The first month of the season has gotten away from me.
It has been a busy time -- with hockey and basketball coverage, the Final Four, my wedding and by my count so far five Rangers games and eight RoughRiders.
I've had an unusual Friday and Saturday off from any pro sports coverage -- though I did watch parts of the Stars and Rangers games, and the end of Blues-Blackhawks last night after a lengthy nap.
I'll be back at it Sunday with Stars playoff game six, Monday with Mavericks playoff game four, Tuesday with possibly high school softball playoffs and Wednesday with Rangers-Athletics.
Sunday also will be the end of Week 4 of the 26-week major league season.
My rule of thumb for fantasy baseball is not to make major moves until the season is five weeks old, so now is the time for me to be thinking about some possible moves.
My teams, by the way, are scuffling in the middle of the pack in all three leagues. I expect to have more specifics for you Monday after I've compiled the Week 4 stats.
After five weeks, I believe there is enough information to make informed decisions about which veterans might be losing it, which rookies are more than a flash in the pan and which players may have physical ailments that are holding them back and could cost them playing time.
If you go to mlb.com these days, you can find information encouraging you to vote for the All-Star starters. To me, it's too early to do something like that.
Remember the outrage last year when Dodgers OF Yasiel Puig wasn't on the All-Star team? Aside from the fact that about 50 players per league get on the team either from the original selections or as fill-ins for guys who beg out of the game, Puig really didn't belong in the game because his incredibly hot start was just that: a hot start. Small sample size, you know.
His 2014 start, dotted with the kind of inconsistent play and punctuality that seems to bother managers, Puig is batting .263. He has hit three home runs and stolen one base, but that's hardly All-Star caliber.
Here's another guy whose career seems to be going in the opposite direction: Rangers LHP Martin Perez.
I've been seeing him pitch for the last five seasons, mostly in the minors. During that time, Perez has shown flashes of competence, if not brilliance, but mostly inconsistency. That's inconsistent not just from game to game but often from inning to inning.
My opinion of Perez changed with his shutout of the White Sox April 18. It was an easy 12-0 victory, but it was also the first American League shutout or even complete game this season and the kind of game when his concentration might have lapsed in the past. He was economical with his pitches, and he threw ground ball after ground ball.
The AL's next shutout came five days later, when Perez pitched another three-hitter in Oakland. That stretched his winning streak to his last four starts and his scoreless streak to 26 innings. It was a fairly tense 3-0 win; the type of game when in the past one bad inning could have blown up a well pitched game.
Perez has matured, at a time when Texas needed him to shore up an injury-depleted rotation.
Now RHP Colby Lewis is back, if not in mid-season form. LHP Matt Harrison is scheduled for his first start this weekend. I saw him being brilliant in eight scoreless innings in his final rehab start for Double-A Frisco. Granted, it was against Texas League batters, but Harrison's approach was impeccable. In another couple of months, LHP Derek Holland will have recovered from his knee surgery. And until now, this paragraph hasn't included the Rangers' ace, RHP Yu Darvish.
Now, here's a preview of the kinds of things I'll be looking for in evaluating players at the five-week mark.
I look for batters with the best walk:strikeout ratios. The five major league batters with the most walks so far all have walked more often than they have struck out -- Blue Jays OF Jose Bautista 27:18 (or 1.50), Pirates OF Andrew McCutchen 21:16, Indians 3B/C Carlos Santana 20:19, Athletics SS Jed Lowrie 19:10 (1.90) and Reds 1B Joey Votto 19:18.
Three of those are no surprise. Lowrie started fast last season, but faded; he also could be a relatively low-investment shortstop, say if Rockies SS Troy Tulowitzki is injured again. Expect Santana's ratio to decrease. He's batting .133, so his team will expect him to be more aggressive to raise that average. He can't help you much now, but keep in mind that if he begins hitting he also will exercise pretty good strike-zone judgment.
Next in line in walks are Tulowitzki himself at 17:11, and Twins SS Brian Dozier with 17 walks but 24 strikeouts. Dozier impressed me last season as a much better player than I expected until I saw him. He has improbable statistics this year: six stolen bases and seven homers, but a mere nine RBI and a .222 average. He's a player likely to do worse if his team plays well. If Minnesota becomes a contender, pitchers would work him more closely, respecting his power, instead of giving him fastballs to hit in blowouts.
I've also looked at my pitching leading indicators. It's clear that pitchers' K:W ratios are out of whack because of small sample sizes. The leaders are Phillies LHP Cliff Lee 19.00, Yankees RHP Masahiro Tanaka 17.50, Giants RHP Tim Hudson 12.50, Mariners RHP Feliz Hernandez 10.75 and Rays LHP David Price 10.00. If any of them finish the season with ratios even half as high, they would be having an exceptional year. But the early returns indicate that the Yanks and Giants made good off-season signings.
The leaders in opponents' batting average are mixed between top pitchers and likely pretenders: Reds RHP Johnny Cueto .140, Braves RHP Aaron Harang .143, Phillies LHP Cole Hamels .151, somebody's RHP Garrett Richards .155 and Cardinals RHP Adam Wainwright .165.
At the opposite end are mostly some surprising pitchers: Twins RHP Ricky Nolasco .347, Reds RHP Homer Bailey .345, Orioles LHP Wei-chin Chen .330, Twins RHP Kevin Correia .327 and Giants LHP Madison Bumgarner .314. In the next few weeks, expect to see at least two among Nolasco, Bailey, Chen and Bumgarner to go on the disabled list.
The low-end K:W pitchers are Astros RHP Scott Feldman 1.00, White Sox LHP John Danks 1.08, Phillies RHP A.J. Burnett and Twins RHP Kyle Gibson 1.18 and Orioles RHP Ubaldo Jimenez 1.24. Most of them have seen better days than they'll have this season. Gibson is off to a good start he might not be able to maintain with such a low ratio.
It has been a busy time -- with hockey and basketball coverage, the Final Four, my wedding and by my count so far five Rangers games and eight RoughRiders.
I've had an unusual Friday and Saturday off from any pro sports coverage -- though I did watch parts of the Stars and Rangers games, and the end of Blues-Blackhawks last night after a lengthy nap.
I'll be back at it Sunday with Stars playoff game six, Monday with Mavericks playoff game four, Tuesday with possibly high school softball playoffs and Wednesday with Rangers-Athletics.
Sunday also will be the end of Week 4 of the 26-week major league season.
My rule of thumb for fantasy baseball is not to make major moves until the season is five weeks old, so now is the time for me to be thinking about some possible moves.
My teams, by the way, are scuffling in the middle of the pack in all three leagues. I expect to have more specifics for you Monday after I've compiled the Week 4 stats.
After five weeks, I believe there is enough information to make informed decisions about which veterans might be losing it, which rookies are more than a flash in the pan and which players may have physical ailments that are holding them back and could cost them playing time.
If you go to mlb.com these days, you can find information encouraging you to vote for the All-Star starters. To me, it's too early to do something like that.
Remember the outrage last year when Dodgers OF Yasiel Puig wasn't on the All-Star team? Aside from the fact that about 50 players per league get on the team either from the original selections or as fill-ins for guys who beg out of the game, Puig really didn't belong in the game because his incredibly hot start was just that: a hot start. Small sample size, you know.
His 2014 start, dotted with the kind of inconsistent play and punctuality that seems to bother managers, Puig is batting .263. He has hit three home runs and stolen one base, but that's hardly All-Star caliber.
Here's another guy whose career seems to be going in the opposite direction: Rangers LHP Martin Perez.
I've been seeing him pitch for the last five seasons, mostly in the minors. During that time, Perez has shown flashes of competence, if not brilliance, but mostly inconsistency. That's inconsistent not just from game to game but often from inning to inning.
My opinion of Perez changed with his shutout of the White Sox April 18. It was an easy 12-0 victory, but it was also the first American League shutout or even complete game this season and the kind of game when his concentration might have lapsed in the past. He was economical with his pitches, and he threw ground ball after ground ball.
The AL's next shutout came five days later, when Perez pitched another three-hitter in Oakland. That stretched his winning streak to his last four starts and his scoreless streak to 26 innings. It was a fairly tense 3-0 win; the type of game when in the past one bad inning could have blown up a well pitched game.
Perez has matured, at a time when Texas needed him to shore up an injury-depleted rotation.
Now RHP Colby Lewis is back, if not in mid-season form. LHP Matt Harrison is scheduled for his first start this weekend. I saw him being brilliant in eight scoreless innings in his final rehab start for Double-A Frisco. Granted, it was against Texas League batters, but Harrison's approach was impeccable. In another couple of months, LHP Derek Holland will have recovered from his knee surgery. And until now, this paragraph hasn't included the Rangers' ace, RHP Yu Darvish.
Now, here's a preview of the kinds of things I'll be looking for in evaluating players at the five-week mark.
I look for batters with the best walk:strikeout ratios. The five major league batters with the most walks so far all have walked more often than they have struck out -- Blue Jays OF Jose Bautista 27:18 (or 1.50), Pirates OF Andrew McCutchen 21:16, Indians 3B/C Carlos Santana 20:19, Athletics SS Jed Lowrie 19:10 (1.90) and Reds 1B Joey Votto 19:18.
Three of those are no surprise. Lowrie started fast last season, but faded; he also could be a relatively low-investment shortstop, say if Rockies SS Troy Tulowitzki is injured again. Expect Santana's ratio to decrease. He's batting .133, so his team will expect him to be more aggressive to raise that average. He can't help you much now, but keep in mind that if he begins hitting he also will exercise pretty good strike-zone judgment.
Next in line in walks are Tulowitzki himself at 17:11, and Twins SS Brian Dozier with 17 walks but 24 strikeouts. Dozier impressed me last season as a much better player than I expected until I saw him. He has improbable statistics this year: six stolen bases and seven homers, but a mere nine RBI and a .222 average. He's a player likely to do worse if his team plays well. If Minnesota becomes a contender, pitchers would work him more closely, respecting his power, instead of giving him fastballs to hit in blowouts.
I've also looked at my pitching leading indicators. It's clear that pitchers' K:W ratios are out of whack because of small sample sizes. The leaders are Phillies LHP Cliff Lee 19.00, Yankees RHP Masahiro Tanaka 17.50, Giants RHP Tim Hudson 12.50, Mariners RHP Feliz Hernandez 10.75 and Rays LHP David Price 10.00. If any of them finish the season with ratios even half as high, they would be having an exceptional year. But the early returns indicate that the Yanks and Giants made good off-season signings.
The leaders in opponents' batting average are mixed between top pitchers and likely pretenders: Reds RHP Johnny Cueto .140, Braves RHP Aaron Harang .143, Phillies LHP Cole Hamels .151, somebody's RHP Garrett Richards .155 and Cardinals RHP Adam Wainwright .165.
At the opposite end are mostly some surprising pitchers: Twins RHP Ricky Nolasco .347, Reds RHP Homer Bailey .345, Orioles LHP Wei-chin Chen .330, Twins RHP Kevin Correia .327 and Giants LHP Madison Bumgarner .314. In the next few weeks, expect to see at least two among Nolasco, Bailey, Chen and Bumgarner to go on the disabled list.
The low-end K:W pitchers are Astros RHP Scott Feldman 1.00, White Sox LHP John Danks 1.08, Phillies RHP A.J. Burnett and Twins RHP Kyle Gibson 1.18 and Orioles RHP Ubaldo Jimenez 1.24. Most of them have seen better days than they'll have this season. Gibson is off to a good start he might not be able to maintain with such a low ratio.
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