Taking The Fifth On The Matter Of Batting Fifth
Posted by Steve Lombardi on July 1st 2009 · Comments (7)
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…
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
Cano had a terrible 2008 – and still is close to A-Rod here, no?
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%
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
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.
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.
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