Sunday, November 19, 2006

Runs Created by Position (Part2)

Yesterday, I started a runs created positional analysis with catchers, first basemen and second basemen. Today, I’ll continue the analysis with three more positions. Table 4 ranks the American League shortstops.



Table 4: Runs Created by AL Shortstops


Rnk

Player

Team

PA

R/G

RC

1

Jeter

NYA

715

8.0

130

2

Guillen

DET

622

7.5

111

3

Lugo

TB

322

6.8

54

4

Tejada

BAL

709

6.5

114

5

Bartlett

MIN

372

5.2

48

6

Cabrera

LAA

675

5.2

90

7

Young

TEX

748

5.2

98

8

Scutaro

OAK

423

4.6

50

9

Betancourt

SEA

584

4.4

69

10

Peralta

CLE

632

4.1

69

11

Gonzalez

BOS

429

4.0

46

12

Cintron

CHA

304

3.9

32

13

Uribe

CHA

495

3.5

50

14

Crosby

OAK

398

3.3

36

15

Berroa

KC

503

2.3

33

Derek Jeter led all AL shorstops with 8 runs created per game. In second place was the unheralded Carlos Guillen with 7.5 RC/G. Guillen stayed healthy this year and was by far the best hitter on the Tigers. Guillen also had 7.5 RC/G when he was last healthy in 2004 so it would not be outrageous to expect a repeat performance in 2007.


Now for the Third basemen:



Table 5: Runs Created by AL Third Basemen


Rnk

Player

Team

PA

R/G

RC

1

Rodriguez

NYA

674

7.1

114

2

Teahen

KC

439

6.8

73

3

Izturis

LAA

399

5.6

56

4

Glaus

TOR

634

5.5

89

5

Beltre

SEA

681

5.4

95

6

Crede

CHA

586

5.3

81

7

Lowell

BOS

631

5.2

84

8

Chavez

OAK

576

5.1

74

9

Mora

BAL

705

5.1

89

10

Inge

DET

601

5.0

79

11

Punto

MIN

524

4.8

64

12

Blalock

TEX

646

4.2

70

13

Boone

CLE

392

4.1

43


Alex Rodriguez (7.1 RC/G) and Mark Teahen (6.8 RC/G) were the league’s most productive third sackers. Brandon Inge finished 10th in the league with 5 runs created per game but was close to the league median of 5.2 as several players were tightly bunched. Inge’s production has remained fairly steady since moving to third base so we can expect a similar season in 2007.

Table 6 lists the left fielders.



Table 6: Runs Created by AL Left fielders


Rnk

Player

Team

PA

R/G

RC

1

Ramirez

BOS

558

9.3

113

2

Thames

DET

390

6.9

66

3

Johnson

TOR

517

6.8

82

4

Rivera

LAA

494

6.6

81

5

Ibanez

SEA

699

6.5

113

6

Crawford

TB

653

6.5

107

7

DeJesus

KC

552

5.8

79

8

Catalanotto

TOR

499

5.7

69

9

Brown

KC

601

5.7

85

10

Cabrera

NYA

524

5.2

68

11

Anderson

LAA

588

5.1

77

12

Monroe

DET

585

4.9

77

13

Payton

OAK

588

4.8

74

14

Michaels

CLE

548

4.7

66

15

Podsednik

CHA

592

4.0

63

16

Wilkerson

TEX

365

4.0

38



Manny Ramirez was the run away winner among left fielders with 9.3 runs created per game. The streaky but powerful Marcus Thames finished second with 6.9 runs created in 390 plate appearances. It’s unlikely that Thames could keep up that kind of production for a full season but he was very valuable as part-time player. It will be difficult for him to get a lot of playing time after the acquisition of Sheffield and is rumored to be on the trading block. Sheffield is better than Thames of course but that’s a lot of production to be giving up if he’s traded. Thames has 6.4 RC/G lifetime.


Even with his red hot summer, Craig Monroe (4.8 RC/G) still finished well below the league median of 5.7. Monroe is a better fielder than Thames and will be the starting left fielder again 2007. I think Monroe would be more productive with 400 plate appearances rather than close to 600. They could use a good 4th outfielder who can hit and I suspect they might search for a left-handed bat for the bench. Like Inge, Monroe seems to have reached his level and we can expect more of the same next year.

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