Runs Created by Position

Earlier this week, I looked at how Tiger players ranked in runs created (RC) and runs created per game (RC/G) among 126 American League players with 300 or more plate appearances (PA) in 2006. Today, I will start comparing players by position. Position comparisons are often useful because some positions demand more of players defensively and thus their offensive expectations are somewhat lower. For example, catchers are not expected to create as many runs as first basemen and, on average, they don’t. I’ll start with the catchers (Table 1).

Table 1: Runs Created by AL Catchers

Rnk	Player	Team	PA	R/G	RC
1	Mauer	MIN	608	7.6	105
2	Posada	NYA	545	6.8	88
3	Martinez	CLE	652	6.4	100
4	Napoli	LAA	325	6.0	47
5	Hernandez	BAL	560	5.8	82
6	Zaun	TOR	339	5.4	46
7	Johjima	SEA	542	5.3	75
8	Rodriguez	DET	580	5.1	77
9	Pierzynski	CHA	543	5.1	70
10	Molina	TOR	458	4.7	58
11	Kendall	OAK	626	4.5	71
12	Varitek	BOS	416	4.1	45
13	Buck	KC	409	3.9	43
14	Barajas	TEX	371	3.7	37

The top run producers in the league were Joe Mauer (7.6 RC/G) and Jorge Posada (6.8 RC/G). Ivan Rodriguez finished in the middle of the pack with 5.1 RC/G. Given that he’s a legitimate gold glove catcher, that is good enough. However, the team can’t afford a significant offensive decline from Pudge in 2007.

Table 2: Runs Created by AL First Basemen

Rnk	Player	Team	PA	R/G	RC
1	Morneau	MIN	661	7.5	119
2	Konerko	CHA	643	6.8	107
3	Swisher	OAK	672	6.3	103
4	Overbay	TOR	640	6.3	99
5	Teixeira	TEX	727	6.2	109
6	Youkilis	BOS	680	5.9	95
7	Sexson	SEA	663	5.9	100
8	Millar	BAL	503	5.8	71
9	Wigginton	TB	486	5.6	70
10	Shelton	DET	412	5.5	58
11	Mientkiewicz	KC	361	5.5	48
12	Conine	BAL	432	4.4	50
13	Johnson	OAK	331	4.3	37
14	Lee	TB	388	3.8	39

The league leading first basemen (Table 2 above) in runs created per game were Justin Morneau (7.5) and Paul Konerko (6.8). Chris Shelton (5.5 RC/G) finished 10th in the league after a great start. His production was down substantially from last year when he created 6.5 runs per game. He struggled so much this year that he was demoted to Toledo and replaced by Sean Casey at the end of July.

Casey created only 3.5 runs per game in August and September but will be the Tigers starting first baseman at the beginning of 2007. Casey had 5.4 RC/G for the Pirates this year and 5.3 RC/G for the Reds in 2005. He has 6.0 RC/G lifetime. One or both of Shelton and Casey will need to bounce back next year in order for the Tigers to have league average production at the position.

Table 3: Runs Created by AL Second Basemen

Rnk	Player	Team	PA	R/G	RC
1	German	KC	331	7.1	54
2	Cano	NYA	508	6.6	85
3	Iguchi	CHA	627	5.3	82
4	Roberts	BAL	630	5.2	84
5	Belliard	CLE	379	5.2	50
6	Kinsler	TEX	474	5.1	61
7	Grudzielanek	KC	586	4.7	71
8	Castillo	MIN	652	4.7	78
9	Hill	TOR	606	4.6	70
10	Lopez	SEA	655	4.5	78
11	Loretta	BOS	703	4.4	78
12	Kennedy	LAA	503	4.2	57
13	Ellis	OAK	500	4.2	55
14	Polanco	DET	495	4.0	52
15	Cantu	TB	448	3.7	45

Esteban German lead AL second baseman with 7.1 RC/G but had only 331 plate appearances. Robinson Cano (6.6 RC/G) was the leader among players with full seasons. After finishing 3^rd in the league with 6.6 RC/G in 2005, Placido Polanco finished 14^th with 4.0 RC/G in 2006. That is a big drop and may have been related to an early season injury. He has averaged 4.8 RC/G lifetime and I expect him to get back to that level or a little higher in 2007.

I’ll get to the other positions in the next few days.