Monday, May 9, 2011

Leadoff Rankings: Week 6

Previous Rankings: Week 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

The sixth weekend of the 2011 season has come and gone, and the Leadoff Rankings are starting to settle out. The division leaders are all in the top-10 (along with two last-place teams), while the bottom 10 is filled with truly offensively challenged clubs. More a fan of pitching? Check out our Rotation Rankings, published every Thursday, where we rank each team by the performance of their starting pitchers. The rankings are based on season performance, with a small bias towards recent performance. The stats come from each team's first and second batters every game, regardless of the name on the back of the jersey. To see how things turned out this week, hit the jump!

(LW: Last week's ranking; ABs: At-Bats, AVG: batting average; OBP: on-base percentage; SLG: slugging percentage; R: runs; RBI: runs batted in)

30. (LW: 30) Washington Nationals (16-18, 5th NL East)
This Week: 3-4, .158 AVG, .186 OBP, .333 SLG, 2 steals, 6 runs, 4 RBIs
Season (278 ABs): .191 AVG, .247 OBP, .309 SLG, 11 steals, 26 R, 23 RBIs
While most of the teams near the bottom of these rankings have had the occasional good week or two to keep their numbers somewhat respectable, the Nationals still hover near the Mendoza line, no matter who bats in the top two slots. Danny Espinosa, Ian Desmond, and Rick Ankiel are all off to awful starts.

29. (LW: 24) Baltimore Orioles (14-19, 5th AL East)
This Week: 1-6, .172 AVG, .226 OBP, .241 SLG, 0 steals, 3 runs, 4 RBIs
Season (267 ABs): .221 AVG, .278 OBP, .330 SLG, 4 steals, 28 R, 32 RBIs
Brian Roberts and Nick Markakis have each posted an OPS+ over 100 (which is to say, above average) over the last four seasons, so you would expect a solid contribution from the pair atop the lineup. Unfortunately for Baltimore, the two have OPS+'s of 80 and 75, respectively, and are a big reason for the Orioles' place in the standings.

28. (LW: 26) Toronto Blue Jays (15-19, 4th AL East)
This Week: 2-4, .208 AVG, .208 OBP, .271 SLG, 1 steal, 3 runs, 3 RBIs
Season (288 ABs): .226 AVG, .264 OBP, .340 SLG, 11 steals, 34 R, 28 RBIs
The Blue Jays leadoff hitters only have 15 walks this season--that's 15 walks, in 288 ABs, which helps explain the atrocious OBP. Not that the Blue Jays can really expect to contend in their division, given who they have to look up to...but taking some pitches sometime couldn't hurt, could it?

27. (LW: 19) Arizona Diamondbacks (15-18, 4th NL West)
This Week: 3-3, .182 AVG, .250 OBP, .327 SLG, 2 steals, 8 runs, 2 RBIs
Season (279 ABs): .229 AVG, .293 OBP, .423 SLG, 16 steals, 46 R, 31 RBIs
Reports are that Willie Bloomquist could return by next weekend for the Diamondbacks, which would be welcome news for a team that is absolutely struggling to get anything going at the top of the lineup. The 46 runs are slightly explained by the fact that, for some reason, the two hitters at the top of the order (lately, Chris Young Kelly Johnson) are currently by average the worst hitters on the team--so when they get on, they have talented hitters behind them to get them home.

26. (LW: 22) Oakland Athletics (18-17, t-2nd AL West)
This Week: 4-3, .193 AVG, .258 OBP, .351 SLG, 0 steals, 7 runs, 6 RBIs
Season (276 ABs): .225 AVG, .298 OBP, .341 SLG, 8 steals, 35 R, 18 RBIs
At this point in the season, Daric Barton has nearly as many walks (21) as he does hits (24), which would be nice if his batting average would stay over the Mendoza line (it's currently at .205). The A's aren't the most offensively gifted team, but maybe it's time they tried some other options to get things rolling up top.

25. (LW: 27) San Diego Padres (14-20, 5th NL West)
This Week: 3-3, .298 AVG, .340 OBP, .426 SLG, 3 steals, 7 runs, 2 RBIs
Season (262 ABs): .221 AVG, .297 OBP, .267 SLG, 17 steals, 26 R, 7 RBI
This was the best week of the season for the first two batters in the Padres' order, hitting a season-best .298 with a .426 slugging percentage and seven runs scored in six games. Still, that RBI total is embarrassingly low, even as awful as the Padres entire offense has been.

24. (LW: 29) Detroit Tigers (17-18, 3rd AL Central)
This Week: 5-2, .327 AVG, .373 OBP, .491 SLG, 1 steal, 9 runs, 6 RBIs
Season (271 ABs): .225 AVG, .298 OBP, .321 SLG, 4 steals, 31 R, 19 RBIs
The best week for the Tigers leadoff pair came courtesy of the addition of Scott Sizemore. The 26-year-old rookie second baseman hit .224 in 148 ABs last year, but was batting .408 at AAA Toledo when he was called up on May 2nd. In his first six MLB games of the season he's hitting .260/.370/.304 while providing stability atop the lineup for the first time in Motown in weeks.

23. (LW: 18) Tampa Bay Rays (20-14, 2nd AL East)
This Week: 5-1, .216 AVG, .273 OBP, .294 SLG, 0 steals, 7 runs, 1 RBI
Season (278 ABs): .248 AVG, .299 OBP, .392 SLG, 13 steals, 40 R, 31 RBIs
Though better than their .160 batting average last week, the .216 clip at top of the Rays' lineup still hurt the team this week. They only drove in only one run and did not steal a single base; they managed to score seven runs due to strong performances behind them, but it could have been so much more with a better OBP.

22. (LW: 20) Kansas City Royals (18-16, 2nd AL Central)
This Week: 3-3, .250 AVG, .280 OBP, .438 SLG, 3 steals, 7 runs, 9 RBIs
Season (290 ABs): .244 AVG, .291 OBP, .386 SLG, 15 steals, 40 R, 39 RBIs
The surprising Royals are keeping pace in the AL Central more than a month into the season. The problem here is the OBP--with just four walks in the last two weeks, the Royals could be creating even more runs with a little more patience at the plate. Melky Cabrera has just a .305 OBP despite a .280 batting average--still, he's on pace for the first above-average OPS+ of his career, currently at 112.

21. (LW: 15) Florida Marlins (20-13, 2nd NL East)
This Week: 3-4, .175 AVG, .266 OBP, .228 SLG, 0 steals, 6 runs, 1 RBI
Season (269 ABs): .238 AVG, .307 OBP, .357 SLG, 3 steals, 33 R, 27 RBIs
The Marlins' .175 leadoff batting average is one of the main culprits in their first sub-.500 week in this young season. Their .357 season slugging percentage is alright, but it won't stay that way if they have another week like this one (.228 slugging this week). A five-for-10 performance against the Cardinals on Wednesday kept this week from being really embarrassing.

20. (LW: 28) Minnesota Twins (12-20, 4th AL Central)
This Week: 3-2, .324 AVG, .425 OBP, .441 SLG, 2 steals, 9 runs, 3 RBIs
Season (254 ABs): .240 AVG, .301 OBP, .311 SLG, 5 steals, 29 R, 17 RBIs
Though Denard Span was only mediocre (.250 batting average) this week in the leadoff spot, the #2 hitters for the Twins combined to hit .429 (6-14). As a result of their .866 OPS this week, the top of the Minnesota lineup scored nine runs on only 11 hits.

19. (LW: 17) San Francisco Giants (18-16, 2nd NL West)
This Week: 5-2, .237 AVG, .274 OBP, .288 SLG, 0 steals, 4 runs, 3 RBIs
Season (279 ABs): .265 AVG, .305 OBP, .362 SLG, 2 steals, 31 R, 20 RBIs
The best combination for the Giants seems to be Aaron Rowand and Freddie Sanchez. In the four games this week the two played together, they hit .268/.318/.341--not great numbers, but better than the games with Miguel Tejada. The two steals on the season are to be expected from the pair, but it's still an area the Giants need to improve on to have a more potent lineup.

18. (LW: 23) Chicago White Sox (13-22, 5th AL Central)
This Week: 3-3, .250 AVG, .375 OBP, .325 SLG, 1 steal, 5 runs, 3 RBIs
Season (278 ABs): .248 AVG, .308 OBP, .295 SLG, 8 steals, 31 R, 21 RBIs
It's been a rough year for White Sox fans--not that those on the South Side were expecting a division title, but they certainly weren't expecting to be behind the Royals AND the Indians. Juan Pierre has always been one of those hitters who you expected to be good, but has never put up those kind of numbers--this year, it's just another OPS+ of 80 while getting caught stealing eight times with just six successes.

17. (LW: 25) Los Angeles Dodgers (16-19, 3rd NL West)
This Week: 2-4, .326 AVG, .392 OBP, .391 SLG, 0 steals, 7 runs, 4 RBIs
Season (277 ABs): .245 AVG, .308 OBP, .329 SLG, 7 steals, 42 R, 17 RBI
After an embarrassing .122 batting average last week for the top of the Dodgers' lineup, Jamie Carroll and Co. bounced back nicely by hitting .326 (.392 on-base percentage) with seven runs scored in six games.

16. (LW: 11) Milwaukee Brewers (14-20, 5th NL Central)
This Week: 1-6, .208 AVG, .250 OBP, .283 SLG, 1 steal, 1 run, 1 RBI
Season (276 ABs): .257 AVG, .310 OBP, .402 SLG, 9 steals, 38 R, 22 RBIs
Rickie Weeks was decent (.269 average, three walks) in the leadoff spot spot for all seven games this week, but the slew of #2 hitters behind him (Carlos Gomez, Nyjer Morgan, Corey Hart, Mark Kotsay, and Craig Counsell) hit a combined 4-27 (.148) with no runs scored.

15. (LW: 9) Texas Rangers (18-17, t-2nd AL West)
This Week: 2-5, .196 AVG, .268 OBP, .235 SLG, 5 steals, 8 runs, 3 RBIs
Season (270 ABs): .248 AVG, .326 OBP, .385 SLG, 18 steals, 47 R, 29 RBIs
What was MLB's hottest team has now become just another .500-esque club in Texas. The Rangers have now lost their last four series and seven of their past eight. The biggest plus is the strikeout-to-walk ratio of 34:31, which is the best in the American League. Unfortunately, Ian Kinsler's BABIP is just .208, so expect these numbers to go up as long as the strikeouts stay down (no more than 8 combined in any week).

14. (LW: 12) Seattle Mariners (16-19, 4th AL West):
This Week: 3-3, .244 AVG, .292 OBP, .289 SLG, 4 steals, 4 runs, 3 RBIs
Season (286 ABs): .262 AVG, .315 OBP, .325 SLG, 19 steals, 35 R, 28 RBIs
Ichiro is hitting over .300 again, but the Mariners are still in last place in the division--an all-too-familiar story in Seattle over the last few years. Chone Figgins has raised his average from .165 to .217 over the last ten days, then promptly fouled a ball off his leg to kill any momentum he had going.

13. (LW: 21) Atlanta Braves (20-16, 3rd NL East)
This Week: 6-1, .286 AVG, .355 OBP, .393 SLG, 0 steals, 8 runs, 7 RBIs
Season (295 ABs): .254 AVG, .302 OBP, .383 SLG, 2 steals, 40 R, 31 RBIs
Martin Prado and Jason Heyward had their best week of the season both statistically and victoriously, sweeping the Brew Crew in four games before taking two out of three in Philadelphia over the weekend. The 16 Ks in one week were also a season high, but that tends to happen when facing the pitching staffs of the Phils and Brewers.

12. (LW: 13) Boston Red Sox (16-18, 3rd AL East)
This Week: 4-3, .271 AVG, .328 OBP, .339 SLG, 6 steals, 8 runs, 5 RBIs
Season (279 ABs): .258 AVG, .332 OBP, .369 SLG, 14 steals, 41 R, 22 RBIs
Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia (plus Carl Crawford once) had a really mixed week. They brought their season batting average up and stole six bases. However, they also struck 12 times, giving them a ghastly 53 in 34 games this season.

11. (LW: 16) New York Mets (15-19, 5th NL East)
This Week: 3-3, .298 AVG, .400 OBP, .532 SLG, 3 steals, 5 runs, 5 RBIs
Season (281 ABs): .260 AVG, .322 OBP, .381 SLG, 18 steals, 37 R, 20 RBIs
Jose Reyes has just been out of his mind the past week, hitting .423 with five walks and four triples this week. The Mets' leadoff slugging percentage of .532 this week is among the best in baseball, but they have to find a way to score more than five runs in six games.

10. (LW: 10) Pittsburgh Pirates (17-17, 3rd NL Central)
This Week: 4-2, .233 AVG, .340 OBP, .256 SLG, 2 steals, 7 runs, 4 RBIs
Season (259 ABs): .259 AVG, .349 OBP, .409 SLG, 17 steals, 42 R, 28 RBIs
Andrew McCutchen was solid this week, hitting .261, but his season average is still languishing at .228. On the flipside, his season slugging percentage is a solid .395, but it was only .304 this week.The Buccos' talented leadoff hitter has to get straightened out, and soon.

9. (LW: 8) Colorado Rockies (18-14, 1st NL West)
This Week: 1-5, .255 AVG, .309 OBP, .353 SLG, 0 steals, 4 runs, 2 RBIs
Season (258 ABs): .267 AVG, .361 OBP, .380 SLG, 6 steals, 39 R, 21 RBIs
The Rockies hang onto a top-10 slot despite hitting just .229/.322/.321 over the last three weeks--if that continues, you can bet they won't be in the top 10 for much longer. Still, just like that top-10 position, Colorado is still leading the NL West despite a rough week against the Diamondbacks and Giants.

8. (LW: 4) Cleveland Indians (22-11, 1st AL Central)
This Week: 3-3, .236 AVG, .276 OBP, .327 SLG, 0 steals, 8 runs, 6 RBIs
Season (282 ABs): .287 AVG, .337 OBP, .479 SLG, 4 steals, 44 R, 39 RBIs
Grady Sizemore is off to a hot start, hitting .288/.342/.630 despite going just 1-for-18 in the first five games of the week. He broke out on Sunday, going 3-for-5 with a home run and two runs scored. Asdrubal Cabrera had three multi-hit games to keep the numbers decent for the week.

7. (LW: 7) Houston Astros (13-21, 6th NL Central)
This Week: 2-4, .283 AVG, .377 OBP, .348 SLG, 6 steals, 7 runs, 4 RBIs
Season (273 ABs): .286 AVG, .348 OBP, .355 SLG, 23 steals, 47 R, 27 RBIs
Clint Barmes returned last week to the Astros, and his return has bumped Angel Sanchez (.278/.325/.348) out of the starting lineup in favor of Jason Bourgeois, who responded by grabbing nine hits in five games--though now he's on the DL with an oblique strain. It'll be up to former Rocky Clint Barmes to keep up the good play up top this season for the pitching-challenged Astros.

6. (LW: 14) New York Yankees (19-13, 1st AL East)
This Week: 3-4, .328 AVG, .409 OBP, .603 SLG, 1 steal, 11 runs, 9 RBIs
Season (251 ABs): .275 AVG, .348 OBP, .434 SLG, 4 steals, 44 R, 34 RBIs
The "leadoff game of the week" came yesterday in Arlington, where Derek Jeter and Curtis Granderson combined for 16 total bases in 10 at-bats, helped out by three home runs (two by Jeter). That game also accounted for five of the runs and RBIs this week, as well as seven of the 19 hits.

5. (LW: 5) Cincinnati Reds (18-16, 2nd NL Central)
This Week: 4-2, .250 AVG, .365 OBP, .364 SLG, 2 steals, 7 runs, 8 RBIs
Season (274 ABs): .274 AVG, .352 OBP, .456 SLG, 17 steals, 54 R, 36 RBIs
Despite their .250 average this week, the top of the Reds' order drove in eight runs in six games. They combined for eight walks (.352 OBP) and seven runs scored on the week. Drew Stubbs is still the leadoff man, though Edgar Renteria joined him in the second slot for five of the six games this week.

4. (LW: 3) St. Louis Cardinals (20-15, 1st NL Central)
This Week: 4-3, .265 AVG, .357 OBP, .367 SLG, 1 steal, 10 runs, 5 RBIs
Season (277 ABs): .296 AVG, .365 OBP, .386 SLG, 7 steals, 43 R, 28 RBIs
This was a down week for the top of the Cardinals' order, as their .265 batting average this week dropped their season average below the .300 mark for the first time in nearly a month.  Strong production from the middle of the order helped the top two hitters score 10 runs in seven games, though.

3. (LW: 1) Chicago Cubs (15-18, 4th NL Central)
This Week: 3-3, .213 AVG, .275 OBP, .234 SLG, 0 steals, 2 runs, 1 RBI
Season (278 ABs): .349 AVG, .393 OBP, .442 SLG, 5 steals, 37 R, 29 RBIs
This was the first bad week all season for the Cubs leadoff hitters--the previous "worst" was a .298/.365/.319 week from April 4th-10th. Still, both Kosuke Fukudome and Darwin Barney are hitting over .300 for the season, and one bad week won't drop the Cubbies too far from the top spot. Now if only their pitching (4.61 ERA, 4th-worst in MLB) could improve...

2. (LW: 6) Los Angeles Angels (20-15, 1st AL West)
This Week: 4-3, .385 AVG, .420 OBP, .492 SLG, 6 steals, 6 runs, 11 RBIs
Season (304 ABs): .313 AVG, .367 OBP, .477 SLG, 14 steals, 32 R, 34 RBIs
The top of the Angels' order had a HUGE seven games this week, hitting .385 with a .912 OPS. They drove in 11 runs and stole six bases--both among the best in MLB this week. The Aybar/Abreu combo has gone .298/.385/.404 in 7 games together over the last two weeks for the Halos.

1. (LW: 2) Philadelphia Phillies (22-11, 1st NL East)
This Week: 4-2, .340 AVG, .426 OBP, .553 SLG, 5 steals, 7 runs, 7 RBIs
Season (271 ABs): .328 AVG, .387 OBP, .494 SLG, 13 steals, 44 R, 38 RBIs
Jimmy Rollins was moved back into his old leadoff spot on Tuesday (hitting .271/.361/.346 from the third hole), and immediately got back into his former MVP-like routine with three straight two-hit games. The second-best average, second-best OBP, and the best slugging percentage amongst leadoff slots puts the Phillies up top for the first time this season.

Previous Rankings: Week 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

No comments:

Post a Comment