Granderson's art contest and other links

Curtis Granderson is holding an art contest for fourth graders in Michigan. The winning drawings will be included in his new book: All You Can Be. This is a great opportunity for youngsters all over Michigan so if you are a parent or teacher of fourth graders, make sure that your school gets involved.

Samara has her entry ready for the contest but bemoans the fact that she does not qualify as a fourth grader.

Bill Ferris talks about the high number of intentional bases on balls issued by Tigers pitchers last year.

Matt talks about Tigers outfield prospects and how they might impact the opening day roster.

Blake continues his series on the top 100 Tigers of all time. Pudge Rodriguez comes in at #45.

David Bloom of Baseball Happenings looks at an alternative to the Triple Crown stats that falls somewhere between the traditional and the hardcore sabermetric. He calls them Quad stats. This includes both counting stats (Times on Base, Total Bases) and rate stats (OBP and slugging). I think these stats summarize a player's quantity and quality more effectively than either BA/HR/RBI or BA/OBP/SLG.

Tweaking RBI Percentage

Like it or not, RBI is still one of the most popular stats among mainstream baseball media and fans. It's not a terrible statistic. Most players with a lot of RBI are good hitters. However, the number of RBI a player aggregates is dependent on the number of opportunities his team gives him. Most hitters in the middle of the Rangers line-up last year had more opportunities to drive in runs than Athletics batters. A clean-up hitter will generally have more chances than a leadoff hitter. It's a very situation dependent statistic.

If it is power hitting you are trying to measure than slugging percentage or isolated power are more independent measures. If you are trying to measure a batter's success in getting runners home, one simple way is RBI percentage. There are a few ways to do this. The first one was created by David Pinto (Baseball Musings). RBI% is the percentage of runners on base that a player drives home in his plate appearances. It is calculated as follows: (RBI-HR)/runners on)*100.

The league average RBI% in 2008 was 14.5%. The Tigers are listed in Table 1 below and it can be seen that Miguel Cabrera was the Tigers best RBI man. Miguel Cabrera had 477 runners on base in his plate appearances last year. He knocked in 127 of those runners. Subtracting his 37 homers, that comes out to 90/477 = 18.9%. That Cabrera is number one is not a surprise. Magglio Ordonez at number two (17.7%) is also not unexpected. What might shock some of you is that Brandon Inge was third at 16.1%.

Table 1 - Tigers RBI% Percentages in 2008 (All plate appearances)

Player	Runners	HR	RBI	RBI%
Cabrera	477	37	127	18.9
Ordonez	464	21	103	17.7
Inge	249	11	51	16.1
Thames	205	25	56	15.1
Granderson	294	22	66	15.0
Guillen	323	10	54	13.6
Polanco	374	8	58	13.4
Renteria	339	10	55	13.3
Laird	269	6	41	13.0
Rodriguez	210	5	32	12.9
Sheffield	333	19	57	11.4

The RBI percentage in Table 2 is a little different from what Pinto does. Pinto includes all plate appearances in his RBI opportunities. Let's do the same calculation but try removing plate appearances when a batter walks or is hit by the pitch or gets a sacrifice bunt. After all, it is difficult for a batter to knock in a run if he being pitched around or thrown at or is asked to bunt. One could make the case that some batters draw too many walks in spots where they should be trying to drive home runs but it's also true that some batters get pitched around more than others.

The league average for this new RBI% statistic was 16.0%. Cabrera (20.3), Ordonez (19.5) and Inge (18.3) once again lead the list.

Table 2 - Tigers RBI% Percentages in 2008 (PA with BB, HBP, SAC excluded)

Player	Runners	HR	RBI	RBI%
Cabrera	439	37	126	20.3
Ordonez	415	21	102	19.5
Inge	213	11	50	18.3
Granderson	256	22	65	16.8
Thames	194	25	56	16.0
Guillen	278	10	53	15.5
Laird	242	6	41	14.5
Renteria	317	10	55	14.2
Polanco	346	8	57	14.2
Rodriguez	189	5	30	13.2
Sheffield	276	19	53	12.3

Finally, we'll try one more thing. What happens if we just look at situations where runners are in scoring position? The average American Leaguer knocked in 28.9% of runners in scoring position. Cabrera (35.0) and Ordonez (32.7%) lead the list again. This time Granderson is third at 32.2 but Inge is still above average at 32.0.

Table 3 - Tigers RBI% Percentages in 2008 (RISP only, BB, HBP, SAC excluded)

Player	RISP	HR	RBI	RBI%
Cabrera	220	8	85	35.0
Ordonez	208	2	70	32.7
Granderson	115	3	40	32.2
Inge	103	1	34	32.0
Guillen	139	1	39	27.3
Renteria	154	2	42	26.0
Polanco	167	2	45	25.7
Laird	130	3	36	25.4
Sheffield	128	5	37	25.0
Rodriguez	99	1	24	23.2
Thames	96	5	27	22.9

Yes, there are more accurate ways to measure how well batters produced runs in different situations. There is Win Probability Added for example. However, sometimes it's good to step back and do something a little more simple. I think RBI% is something that goes a little beyond RBI, yet is a little easier for some to grasp than some of the more advanced statistics.

The information used here was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by
Retrosheet. Interested parties may contact Retrosheet at 20 Sunset Rd., Newark, DE
19711.

Adding arms to the Outfield - 2008

This is the eighth part of my series on fielding in 2008. The table of contents for the rest of the series is listed below:

Intro to series and ranking of first basemen
Second basemen
Third basemen
Shortstop
Left fielders
Center fielders
Right fielders

Earlier this week, John Walsh - a writer for The Hardball Times - wrote his annual report on outfielder arms. With the exception of the Fan Fielding Survey, all the measures that I have discussed in this series have focused on an outfielder's ability to catch fly balls. That is the most important part of outfield defense but the ability to stop the running game by throwing runners out or preventing them to advance is also important.

Using the the retrosheet database, Walsh considered any situations where a runner had a chance to take an extra base on a ball hit to the outfield (e.g. single with runner on first and second base unoccupied). For each outfielder, he counted the number of advancement opportunities, the number of times he threw a runner out (kill) and the number of times he prevented a runner from advancing (hold). From this, he determined how the outfielder compared to league average in each category. Then, using the run expectancy matrix (e.g how likely is it for a run to score with a man on first and third and no outs compared to a runner on first and one out), he then calculated runs saved above/below average for each outfielder.

I have taken these numbers and combined them with the range numbers presented in previous posts. Walsh calculated runs saved per 200 opportunities which is roughly a full season. The range numbers are runs saved per 150 games so they aren't exactly equivalent but close enough. In the three tables below you will find the following for each of the outfield positions:

• Range - Runs saved per 150 games by range
• Arm - Runs Saved per 150 games with arm
• Total - Total Runs Saved per 150 games

Left field highlights (See table 1 below)

Best Arms - Alfonso Soriano (8.0), Fred Lewis (7.5)

Best Range - Carl Crawford (19.0)

Overall Leader - Carl Crawford (16.0)


Table 1: Runs saved by left fielders in 2008

Player	Team	Inn	Range	Arm	Total
Crawford	TB	920	19.0	-3.0	16.0
Lewis	SF	905	8.4	7.5	15.9
Holliday	Col	1,229	6.0	2.6	8.6
Soriano	ChC	937	-1.2	8.0	6.8
Braun	Mil	1,310	5.1	1.2	6.3
Scott	Bal	840	4.0	-3.5	0.5
Willingham	Fla	855	-0.6	-0.2	-0.8
Quentin	CWS	1,147	-5.4	2.9	-2.5
Headley	SD	713	0.1	-6.0	-5.9
Ramirez	Bos/LA	974	-10.2	4.1	-6.1
Burrell	Phi	1,198	-10.8	3.7	-7.1
Ibanez	Sea	1,340	-13.8	2.7	-11.1
Young	Min	1,324	-15.3	3.9	-11.4
Dunn	Cin/Ari	980	-5.4	-6.0	-11.4
Lee	Hou	915	-8.7	-8.4	-17.1
Bay	Bos/Pit	1,344	-10.0	-7.7	-17.7

Center field highlights (See Table 2 below)

Best Arms - Matt Kemp (11.3), B.J. Upton (7.9)

Best Range - Carlos Gomez (14.7)

Overall Leader - Carlos Gomez (17.1)

Tiger Arm - Curtis Granderson: slightly below average (-1.8)


Table 2: Runs saved by center fielders in 2008

Player	Team	Inn	Range	Arm	Total
Gomez	Min	1,271	14.7	2.4	17.1
Victorino	Phi	1,195	5.9	6.7	12.6
Upton	TB	1,248	3.3	7.9	11.2
Beltran	NYM	1,407	11.0	0.0	11.0
Kemp	LA	825	-1.5	11.3	9.8
Jones	Bal	1,102	5.9	3.7	9.6
Ross	Fla	866	7.3	2.2	9.5
Cabrera	NYY	973	1.4	3.0	4.4
Taveras	Col	993	0.6	3.7	4.3
Cameron	Mil	1,057	4.0	-0.7	3.3
Bourn	Hou	1,009	1.4	1.9	3.3
Young	Ari	1,390	6.2	-3.3	2.9
Patterson	Cin	798	1.2	-0.4	0.8
Sizemore	Cle	1,338	6.2	-8.2	-2.0
Gathright	KC	720	-4.4	1.4	-3.0
Granderson	Det	1,188	-2.4	-1.8	-4.2
Rowand	SF	1,275	-8.1	3.6	-4.5
Hunter	LAA	1,193	-0.0	-5.4	-5.4
Hamilton	Tex	912	-6.5	0.7	-5.8
Ankiel	StL	766	-12.8	4.3	-8.5
Crisp	Bos	886	-9.3	N/A	-9.3
Edmonds	ChC/SD	840	-13.1	N/A	-13.1
Wells	Tor	889	-13.8	-1.9	-15.7
McLouth	Pit	1,300	-16.2	0.0	-16.2
Milledge	Was	1,185	-14.1	-5.8	-19.9

Right field highlights (See Table 3 below)

Best Arms - Hunter Pence (9.2), Ryan Ludwick (8.7)

Best Range - Franklin Gutierrez (29.3)

Overall Leader - Franklin Gutierrez (30.9)

Tiger Arm - Magglio Ordonez: Exactly average (0)


Table 3: Runs saved by right fielders in 2008

Player	Team	inn	Range	Arm	Total
Gutierrez	Cle	763	29.3	1.6	30.9
Rios	Tor	820	16.1	N/A	16.1
Fukudome	ChC	1,103	13.5	0.8	14.3
Winn	SF	1,108	14.5	-0.4	14.1
Suzuki	Sea	788	9.4	3.0	12.4
Church	NYM	724	6.9	4.5	11.4
Markakis	Bal	1,367	2.6	7.8	10.4
Pence	Hou	1,366	-1.2	9.2	8.0
Gross	Mil/TB	768	7.0	N/A	7.0
Kearns	Was	734	11.5	-6.3	5.2
Ludwick	StL	962	-4.5	8.7	4.2
Francoeur	Atl	1,328	-3.7	2.6	-1.1
Drew	Bos	886	4.2	-5.9	-1.7
Hart	Mil	1,376	-0.5	-2.0	-2.5
Nady	NYY/Pit	763	-7.4	4.4	-3.0
Guerrero	LAA	839	-8.1	4.8	-3.3
Giles	SD	1,263	10.0	-13.6	-3.6
Upton	Ari	860	-0.7	-4.1	-4.8
Ethier	LA	881	-8.5	1.5	-7.0
Hermida	Fla	1,092	-3.1	-5.1	-8.2
Teahen	KC	756	-0.2	-8.3	-8.5
Ordonez	Det	1,144	-10.6	0.0	-10.6
Griffey Jr.	CWS/Cin	763	-17.6	3.7	-13.9
Dye	CWS	1,312	-11.3	-7.4	-18.7
Abreu	NYY	1,310	-15.0	-4.1	-19.1
Hawpe	Col	1,172	-29.6	-1.1	-30.7