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Bill James Handbook 2013 Leaderboards

December 8, 2012

The Bill James Handbook 2013 has 34 pages of leaderboards, many of which cannot be found anywhere else. Here are few of them.

Highest RBI%
(minimum 502 PA)
Josh Hamilton Tex 47.69
Edwin Encarnacion Tor 47.13
Garrett Jones Pit 44.08
Miguel Cabrera Det 43.88
Ryan Braun Mil 43.73
Mike Trout LAA 43.07
Allen Craig StL 42.46
Andrew McCutchen Pit 42.33
Yoenis Cespedes Oak 41.88
Prince Fielder Det 41.35

 

RBI Percentage describes the rate at which a hitter drives in runs when he bats with men on base.

  • While Miguel Cabrera outpaced Mike Trout by 56 RBI, the two were nearly identical in their percentage of RBI per opportunity at 43.88 percent and 43.07 percent, respectively.
  • Garrett Jones and Andrew McCutchen combined for 182 of the Pirates’ 620 RBI, nearly 30 percent of the team’s total production.
  • Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder combined for 247 of the Tigers’ 698 RBI, which is more than 35 percent.

Lead Changing RBI
Miguel Cabrera Det 46
Aramis Ramirez Mil 41
Carlos Beltran StL 38
Chase Headley SD 38
Buster Posey SF 38
David Wright NYM 37
Adrian Beltre Tex 36
Adam Jones Bal 36
Josh Willingham Min 36
Garrett Jones Pit 36

 

  • Cabrera did not lead our RBI Percentage list, but he was well clear of the field with 46 lead changing RBI.
  • Adam Jones and Garrett Jones were the only two players in the top-10 with fewer than 90 total RBI.

Grounded Into Double Plays
Miguel Cabrera Det 28
Howie Kendrick LAA 26
Michael Young Tex 26
Derek Jeter NYY 24
Joe Mauer Min 23
Robinson Cano NYY 22
Yunel Escobar Tor 21
J.J. Hardy Bal 21
Carlos Santana Cle 21
Ryan Zimmerman Was 20

 

  • With so many opportunities to drive in runs, it is not a huge surprise that Miguel Cabrera also led baseball with 28 GIDPs.
  • The top-nine hitters are all from the American League.

Pitches Per Plate Appearance
(minimum 502 PA)
A.J. Ellis LAD 4.44
Adam Dunn CWS 4.43
Kevin Youkilis Bos-CWS 4.36
Joe Mauer Min 4.32
Carlos Santana Cle 4.27
Curtis Granderson NYY 4.27
Mark Reynolds Bal 4.27
Nick Swisher NYY 4.26
Buster Posey SF 4.26
Jason Kubel Ari 4.25

Four of the 10 leaders are catchers.


Highest First Pitch Swing %
(minimum 502 PA)
Josh Hamilton Tex 47.0
Ian Desmond Was 44.8
Freddie Freeman Atl 44.2
B.J. Upton TB 43.5
Yadier Molina StL 42.4
Delmon Young Det 41.9
Pedro Alvarez Pit 39.4
Chris Davis Bal 39.3
Danny Espinosa Was 39.1
Yonder Alonso SD 38.3
Bryce Harper Was 38.1

 

  • Josh Hamilton’s extreme highs and extreme lows in 2012 may have something to do with his hyper-aggressiveness on the first pitch of each at-bat. From the beginning of the season through May, Hamilton hit .368 with 21 home runs. In June and July, he hit .202 with just eight home runs.
  • The Nationals have three players—Ian Desmond, Danny Espinosa, and Bryce Harper—in the top-11. Patience at the plate is clearly not a priority for them.

Lowest First Swing %
(minimum 502 PA)
Martin Prado Atl 6.9
Kevin Youkilis Bos-CWS 7.3
Joe Mauer Min 7.7
Mike Trout LAA 7.7
J.J. Hardy Bal 8.1
Dustin Pedroia Bos 8.1
Ben Revere Min 8.8
A.J. Ellis LAD 9.5
Jamey Carroll Min 10.9
Mark Teixeira NYY 13.0

Surprisingly, despite his low first-pitch swing percentage, J.J. Hardy only had a .282 on-base percentage in 2012. Every other player on this list had an on-base percentage at least 50 points higher (Teixeira second lowest at .332), each one of them significantly above MLB’s overall on-base percentage of .319.

 
 

COMMENTS (1 Comment)

pgaskill
In fact, that's *why* Jeter was moved to the leadoff spot a couple of years ago: hitting him first instead of second gives him fewer runners on first.
5:54 PM Dec 9th
 
 
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