How Good Are The Tigers at Taking Advantage of RBI Opportunities?

There is nothing more frustrating for a baseball fan than seeing his or her team get runners on base and failing to score.  How many times this year have you listened to a Tigers game and heard television broadcaster Mario Impemba or Radio voice Dan Dickerson use the phrase: "Tigers threaten but do not score?"  It seems like too many times, but was it really worse for the Tigers than other teams?  Or did it just seem that way because of our emotional attachment to our favorite team?

One way to answer this question is with the RBI opportunity statistics at Baseball Prospectus. Using that data, we can determine how many runners the Tigers had on base in their plate appearances and how many of those runners scored. For example if Miguel Cabrera comes up with with the bases loaded and doubles home two runs, that is three base runners and two runs for a 66.7% success rate.  A batter does not get credit for driving himself in, so if Cabrera hits a grand slam, it's three runners and three runs (not four) for a 100% success rate.

Summing over all of the Tigers plate appearances, we can obtain their total Runners on Base (ROB) and total scored or Others Batted In (OBI) not including the batters themselves.  Table 1 shows that the Tigers have had 2,835 ROB in their plate appearances, second highest in the American League to the Red Sox (2,874).  So, they have given themselves plenty of opportunities to score runs.  Given that they lead the league in On-Base Percentage, this is not surprising.

They have been able to score 411 (or 14.5%) of those runners.  This may not sound like a lot, but it is better than the league average of 13.8%.  It is also better than the Tigers rate of 14.2 in 2012.

The data can also be broken down by bases on which the runners were situated.  The Tigers have had 1,455 runners on first base and scored 76 of them  for a 5.2 OBI% (versus a league average of 4.8).  They are also above the league average with runners on second (17.4% versus 16.0% ) and third (38.4% versus 36.3%).

Table 1: RBI Opportunities and Successes for Tigers, 2013

Base	ROB	OBI	OBI%	Lg %	Rank
First	1,455	76	5.2	4.8	3rd
Second	927	161	17.4	16.0	4th
Third	453	177	38.4	36.3	3rd
Total	2,835	411	14.5	13.8	5th

Data Source: Baseball Prospectus

Table 2 shows the OBI% for each AL team.  The Orioles lead the league  at 15.3 followed by the Indians (14.9).  The Tigers were fifth at 14.5.  You might think that the Tigers should be higher than that given that the lead the league with a .280 batting average, but they are only fifth in home runs (123) and sixth in isolated power (.158).  Thus, they are driving in runners at about the pace you should expect.  

Table 2: RBI Percentages for AL Teams, 2013

Team	ROB	OBI	OBI%
Baltimore	2,362	361	15.3
Cleveland	2,584	386	14.9
Boston	2,874	425	14.8
Toronto	2,312	337	14.6
Detroit	2,835	411	14.5
Tampa Bay	2,545	356	14.0
Los Angeles	2,547	352	13.8
Kansas City	2,429	333	13.7
Oakland	2,564	345	13.5
Texas	2,414	321	13.3
Chicago	2,184	283	13.0
Seattle	2,389	295	12.3
New York	2,377	293	12.3
Minnesota	2,555	314	12.3

  Data Source: Baseball Prospectus

Which Tigers are best at getting runners home? It's no shock that Cabrera leads the team with a 21.5 OBI% (See Table 3).  In other words, he has driven in over 21 percent of the runners who have been on base in his plate appearances.  This is second in the league to Orioles slugger Chris Davis (22.6).  Outfielder Matt Tuiasosopo is second on the Tigers with 21.2 in limited at bats.  The next regular is right fielder Torii Hunter at 16.3 followed by hefty first baseman Prince Fielder (16.0).

How is Hunter with just 53 RBI ahead of first baseman Prince Fielder who is fifth in the league with 76 RBI? Fielder has a lot of RBI, in part, because he has had more opportunities (369 ROB) than any player in the majors.  Hunter has has had far fewer base runners (257) but has taken slightly better advantage of those chances thanks to a .358 batting average with runners on base (third best in the AL).  Fielder's .286 average with runners on base is not bad but not as spectacular as Hunter or Cabrera, the league leader at .385.

The Tigers do have some regulars with OBI% substantially below average including Andy Dirks (8.5%), Omar Infante (10.5%) and Austin Jackson (10.9%).  Overall though, the Tigers have been fairly successful at taking advantage of their run-scoring opportunities.  

Table 3: RBI Percentages for Tigers Players, 2013

Player	ROB	OBI	OBI%
Miguel Cabrera	312	67	21.5
Matt Tuiasosopo	99	21	21.2
Torii Hunter	257	42	16.3
Prince Fielder	369	59	16.0
Jhonny Peralta	273	43	15.8
Victor Martinez	334	51	15.3
Alex Avila	186	24	12.9
Avisail Garcia	68	8	11.8
Don Kelly	95	11	11.6
Brayan Pena	127	14	11.0
Austin Jackson	174	19	10.9
Omar Infante	200	21	10.5
Andy Dirks	212	18	8.5
Ramon Santiago	82	6	7.3

 Data Source: Baseball Prospectus