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The most productive batters of 2011

Posted by Andy
There are lots of ways to look at productive batters. For me, I like efficiency.

Here are the 16 hitters who, in 2011, generated a number of batting runs (essentially the offensive part of WAR) that was at least 6% of their plate appearance total, minimum 100 plate appearances:

Rk Player PA >Rbat Tm G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BA OBP SLG OPS Pos
1 Joey Votto 719 52 CIN 161 599 101 185 40 3 29 103 .309 .416 .531 .947 *3
2 Adrian Gonzalez 715 52 BOS 159 630 108 213 45 3 27 117 .338 .410 .548 .957 *3/D9
3 Prince Fielder 692 56 MIL 162 569 95 170 36 1 38 120 .299 .415 .566 .981 *3/D
4 Matt Kemp 689 60 LAD 161 602 115 195 33 4 39 126 .324 .399 .586 .986 *8/D
5 Miguel Cabrera 688 71 DET 161 572 111 197 48 0 30 105 .344 .448 .586 1.033 *3/D
6 Jose Bautista 655 66 TOR 149 513 105 155 24 2 43 103 .302 .447 .608 1.056 *95/D
7 Albert Pujols 651 40 STL 147 579 105 173 29 0 37 99 .299 .366 .541 .906 *3/5
8 Ryan Braun 629 51 MIL 150 563 109 187 38 6 33 111 .332 .397 .597 .994 *7/D
9 David Ortiz 605 42 BOS 146 525 84 162 40 1 29 96 .309 .398 .554 .953 *D/3
10 Carlos Beltran 598 39 TOT 142 520 78 156 39 6 22 84 .300 .385 .525 .910 *9/D
11 Lance Berkman 587 48 STL 145 488 90 147 23 2 31 94 .301 .412 .547 .959 *937/D
12 Matt Holliday 516 35 STL 124 446 83 132 36 0 22 75 .296 .388 .525 .912 *7/D
13 Pablo Sandoval 466 30 SFG 117 426 55 134 26 3 23 70 .315 .357 .552 .909 *5/3D
14 Mike Napoli 432 39 TEX 113 369 72 118 25 0 30 75 .320 .414 .631 1.046 *23D
15 Allen Craig 219 14 STL 75 200 33 63 15 0 11 40 .315 .362 .555 .917 79/4835
16 Ike Davis 149 10 NYM 36 129 20 39 8 1 7 25 .302 .383 .543 .925 *3
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 11/4/2011.

My first reaction upon looking at this list was--whoa Texas and St. Louis really did deserve to be in the World Series, and the Cardinals really did deserve to win. The Cards have a whopping 4 players (25%) on this list!

Then I noticed that offensive production has really returned to the traditional spots--infield and outfield corners. The only guys here who did not play 1B, 3B, LF, or RF primarily were Matt Kemp, David Ortiz, and Mike Napoli. Nary a middle infielder to be seen--just like old times.

Incidentally, just 6 active players have maintained this 6% ratio over the course of their careers:

Rk Player PA Rbat G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BA OBP SLG OPS Pos
1 Jim Thome 10127 612 2485 8259 1566 2287 444 26 604 1674 .277 .403 .556 .959 3D5
2 Manny Ramirez 9774 662 2302 8244 1544 2574 547 20 555 1831 .312 .411 .585 .996 79D
3 Jason Giambi 8509 513 2103 6932 1196 1948 391 9 428 1397 .281 .404 .525 .929 *3D7/59
4 Albert Pujols 7433 660 1705 6312 1291 2073 455 15 445 1329 .328 .420 .617 1.037 *375/9D64
5 Miguel Cabrera 5777 366 1351 5041 852 1597 346 13 277 984 .317 .395 .555 .950 3579/D
6 Joey Votto 2589 167 617 2225 369 696 153 9 119 401 .313 .405 .550 .955 *3/7
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 11/6/2011.

Obviously Manny probably shouldn't count as active.

Somehow, I think Miguel Cabrera is still underrated.
at 7:00 AM

7 comments:

  1. TristramNovember 5, 2011 at 9:29 AM

    I agree on Miguel Cabrera being underrated, and would say the same is true for Votto. With the Pujols-Fielder debates going on, I looked at the expected future stats for the elite 1B out there - Pulols, Fielder, Adrian, Texeira, Howard, etc. Not scientific, but I was looking at the 'balance of career' stats for the top 10 most similar at their current age +1. First, I was surprised how similar the expectations for Fielder and Pujols were, despite Pujols being 5 years older. Second, I would say Cabrera is #1 and Votto is #2 for who I would want from this point forward.

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  2. EvanNovember 5, 2011 at 9:35 AM

    Speaking of people underrating Miguel Cabrera, how did Adrian Gonzalez win the Silver Slugger award at 1B in the AL this year? Cabrera had more R, 2B, HR, BB, higher BA, OBP, SLG, and fewer K's. Plus, a more neutral park that led to a far higher OPS+ and a big lead in oWAR.

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  3. Frank ClingenpeelNovember 5, 2011 at 11:13 AM

    Was slightly surprised by these figures, but I agree fully that Cabrera is considerably underrated -- to me, he appears to be the Billy Williams of the New Millenium.

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  4. Brooklyn MickNovember 5, 2011 at 12:34 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  5. Brooklyn MickNovember 5, 2011 at 12:46 PM

    At first I was confused as to the order of the list, and wondered why Votto was at the top, but now I see that the list is in descending order based on number of plate appearances.

    Concerning Cabreara being underrated, I don't think he's underrated by opposing pitchers, but he was obviously underrated by the managers and coaches who vote on the Silver Slugger. With an Rbat that was a full 19 runs more than Gonzalez, a batting title, and leading the league in OBP and doubles, he would have gotten my vote.

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  6. TristramNovember 5, 2011 at 12:51 PM

    @3 Frank - I hate to disagree, but I think your comparison itself underrates Cabrera. At his best, Billy Williams was like Dave Winfield or Andre Dawson, whereas Miguel seems to be more inner-circle Aaron or Frank Robinson. Through age 28, HR/RBI/Avg/OBP/SLG/OPS+...Billy 170/578/.293/.359/.497/132...Cabrera 277/984/.317/.395/.555/149

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  7. EdNovember 5, 2011 at 1:10 PM

    @6 Tristram Agreed. Robinson and Aaron are his two highest similarity scores. That being said, he's a bit tough to comp given that he's changed positions so much. 100+ games at four different positions (and a negative dWAR every year!).

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