Jul 01
Today, Peter Abraham and Matthew Schweber ring in on the topic of batting Robinson Cano fifth in the Yankees line-up.
Well, here’s a nugget for you on this topic, via Baseball Musings Day By Day Database. It’s “RBI Percentage” since the start of the 2006 season through last night.
["RBI Percentage" is 100*(RBI-HR)/Runners On]
Robinson Cano RBI% = 14.84
Alex Rodriguez RBI% = 16.88
Is there really that much of a difference between 15% and 17%?
What is that…like nine RBI per season? (I’m not sure – that’s why I’m asking.)
O.K., I’ll just hang up now and listen to your reaction…
7 Responses to “Taking The Fifth On The Matter Of Batting Fifth”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
July 1st, 2009 at 2:34 pm
i bet if you ran it from 2008-> the numbers might look a bit different. Cause Cano had a monster 06, and a-rod had a monster 07
July 1st, 2009 at 2:47 pm
Cano had a terrible 2008 – and still is close to A-Rod here, no?
July 1st, 2009 at 2:51 pm
FWIW, even with Cano’s terrible 2008, here are the #’s from O.D. 2008 thru last night:
A-Rod: 15.5
Cano: 13.52
It’s 14% vs. 16%
July 1st, 2009 at 3:00 pm
interesting, i woulda thought cano’s terrible ‘08 woulda made that number drop. And personally, I felt A-rod’s % woulda went up a little as I don’t remember him being that bad last year. I guess the only difference really is that cano doesnt hit as many bombs
July 1st, 2009 at 5:07 pm
Here’s a different look at it:
Since 2006, Cano’s OBP with RISP is below .300. A-Rod’s is significantly above .400. One of these players is making fewer outs and improving his team’s chances to win; the other is not. The thing about RBI% is that there’s not a huge variance between the top and the bottom. A-Rod does an above-average job of keeping the line moving while Cano is below average.
July 1st, 2009 at 5:14 pm
Do you really want the middle of your order to keep the line moving and passing the burden to drive in runners to the bottom, and weaker third, of your line-up? Or, do you want your four and five hitters to drive in runs when guys are on base in front of them?
Of course, many have different takes on this. I would bet that the stat crowd wants OBP over anything else whereas the baseball crowd wants guys in the middle of their line-up to swing the bat and drive in runs.
Which is right? As usual, it’s probably some where in the middle. You want guys who do a little of both while not being one extreme one way or the other.
July 3rd, 2009 at 8:49 pm
[...] Week 13 Power Rankings / Taking The Fifth On The Matter Of Batting Fifth [...]