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Maybe Miguel Cabrera ISN'T overrated

Posted by Andy
I often feel that Miguel Cabrera slips under the radar despite posting pretty amazing numbers.

Through 2011, his Age 28 season, he has a career OPS+ of 149. Here are batters with a similar OPS+ through their own Age 28 seasons (minimum 3000 plate appearances):


Rk Player OPS+ PA From To Age G AB R H HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
1 Fred McGriff 154 3596 1986 1992 22-28 883 3003 511 839 191 515 553 738 .279 .391 .528 .919
2 Eddie Mathews 153 5810 1952 1960 20-28 1330 4894 929 1373 338 901 837 791 .281 .385 .549 .933
3 Manny Ramirez 152 4095 1993 2000 21-28 967 3470 665 1086 236 804 541 780 .313 .407 .592 .998
4 Reggie Jackson 152 4387 1967 1974 21-28 1074 3757 623 1004 218 629 533 996 .267 .364 .502 .866
5 Home Run Baker 152 3840 1908 1914 22-28 899 3436 573 1103 48 612 266 117 .321 .375 .471 .845
6 George Sisler 151 3920 1915 1921 22-28 905 3569 598 1252 52 507 224 166 .351 .393 .496 .890
7 Ken Griffey 150 5982 1989 1998 19-28 1375 5226 940 1569 350 1018 656 876 .300 .379 .568 .947
8 Miguel Cabrera 149 5777 2003 2011 20-28 1351 5041 852 1597 277 984 643 1009 .317 .395 .555 .950
9 Will Clark 149 4311 1986 1992 22-28 1028 3778 605 1139 162 636 443 676 .301 .374 .507 .881
10 Frank Robinson 149 5735 1956 1964 20-28 1346 4945 934 1501 291 896 628 689 .304 .390 .556 .945
11 Sam Crawford 149 4914 1901 1908 21-28 1153 4493 662 1391 44 652 315 295 .310 .357 .448 .805
12 Vladimir Guerrero 148 4220 1996 2003 21-28 1004 3763 641 1215 234 702 381 484 .323 .390 .588 .978
13 Albert Belle 148 3207 1989 1995 22-28 755 2839 468 827 194 603 297 535 .291 .360 .571 .931
14 Al Simmons 148 4189 1924 1930 22-28 958 3836 711 1380 151 877 245 282 .360 .400 .590 .990
15 Willie McCovey 147 3449 1959 1966 21-28 942 2979 505 821 201 537 408 593 .276 .367 .536 .904
16 Lance Berkman 146 3248 1999 2004 23-28 775 2683 516 814 156 535 501 542 .303 .416 .563 .980
17 Jim Thome 146 3782 1991 1999 20-28 916 3077 609 883 196 579 646 882 .287 .412 .547 .959
18 Ryan Braun 145 3176 2007 2011 23-27 729 2879 506 898 161 531 242 560 .312 .371 .563 .933
19 Darryl Strawberry 145 4549 1983 1990 21-28 1109 3903 662 1025 252 733 580 960 .263 .359 .520 .878
20 Babe Herman 145 3559 1926 1931 23-28 851 3187 534 1084 111 585 292 296 .340 .397 .559 .955
21 Don Mattingly 144 4422 1982 1989 21-28 1015 4022 615 1300 164 717 314 238 .323 .368 .521 .889
22 Harry Heilmann 144 4702 1914 1923 19-28 1129 4136 640 1353 89 744 401 311 .327 .390 .491 .881
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 11/5/2011.

This list is comprised nearly entirely of lower-tier Hall of Famers and near-misses. Would it be underrating or overrating Cabrera to say he's a fringe Hall of Famer? I'm not sure.

A few notes:
  • My eye is drawn immediately to the comparison between Cabrera (#8 above) and Frank Robinson (#10 above). At this point of their careers, they have essentially identical stats, with virtually the same OPS+, games played, plate appearances, and all 3 rate stats.
  • One big factor that favors Cabrera in the above comparison group is that he has among the most plate appearances, meaning he has maintained his OPS+ over a longer period than many of the other guys. Ryan Braun, for example, has to do it over another 3 full seasons to equal what Cabrera has already done, but Braun will be in his Age 31 season by then. Matthews, Griffey, Robinsoin, Cabrera, Thome, and Heilmann are the only ones above to play in the majors in their Age 20 season or earlier.
  • It's interesting to see how these guys did after Age 28. Here are the same guys ranked by career OPS+ from Age 29 onwards:
    Rk Player OPS+ From To Age
    1 Frank Robinson 158 1965 1976 29-40
    2 Manny Ramirez 156 2001 2011 29-39
    3 Harry Heilmann 152 1924 1932 29-37
    4 Jim Thome 148 2000 2011 29-40
    5 Willie McCovey 147 1967 1980 29-42
    6 Lance Berkman 146 2005 2011 29-35
    7 Sam Crawford 144 1909 1917 29-37
    8 Albert Belle 140 1996 2000 29-33
    9 Babe Herman 135 1932 1945 29-42
    10 Vladimir Guerrero 134 2004 2011 29-36
    11 Reggie Jackson 131 1975 1987 29-41
    12 Eddie Mathews 129 1961 1968 29-36
    13 Will Clark 125 1993 2000 29-36
    14 Fred McGriff 124 1993 2004 29-40
    15 Ken Griffey 120 1999 2010 29-40
    16 Darryl Strawberry 120 1991 1999 29-37
    17 Al Simmons 120 1931 1944 29-42
    18 Home Run Baker 113 1916 1922 30-36
    19 George Sisler 106 1922 1930 29-37
    20 Don Mattingly 104 1990 1995 29-34
    Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
    Generated 11/5/2011.
    The median OPS+ here is about 130, quite a bit lower than before. Sorry Don Mattingly fans--I'm sure you winced a bit there.

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