Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
May 06, 2007
Power Spectrum

J.J. Hardy picked up two hits last night, including his eighth home run. That raised his slugging percentage to .610, best when hitting as a shortstop. He's not the only shortstop off to a big power surge to start 2007. Seven major league shortstops are slugging above .500 right now. There are a number of reasons this is remarkable:

  • Shortstops are supposed to be known for their defense. Of the seven fielder behind the pitcher, shortstop requires the most defensive skill and the least offensive skill.
  • Runs and power are down this year. Offense is down .5 runs per game from the same time last season, and home runs are down .4 per game. Yet, shortstops are thriving.
  • This is a whole new crop of shortstops doing well. If you look at these stats through May 5, 2006, you see a number of veterans near the top. The first five on this year's list are not rookies, but they're not who we think of as power hitting shortstops.
  • The top five are all in the National League. Last decade, it was the AL that developed the great shortstops. That advantage now switches to the NL.

Whom do you pick on your all-star ballot?


Posted by David Pinto at 09:07 AM | Offense | TrackBack (0)
Comments

Offense in general is picking up a bit after a very slow start. MLB averaged over ten runs a game yesterday, and those days have been cropping up more frequently lately. The average for the season has crept up to 9.1 runs a game, which is a little low compared to the high offense 1993-2006 period, but actually above average for all seasons since 1901.

Despite some outstanding individual performances, shortstop remains, as always, a weak offensive position. So far in 2007 MLB shortstops are putting up a collective and very unimpressive .264/.324/.394 line. That .718 OPS is worse than any other position except catcher at .698 (and pitcher, of course). Interesting, 2B is doing much better at .274/.339/.422. That's normally considered a defensive position, too.

Posted by: Casey Abell at May 6, 2007 12:02 PM
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