2013 Fun Stats Review: The Hitters

The 2013 MLB season was really fun.  I mean, it was just so much fun.  To celebrate all the fun, I wanted to look back and find the most fun stats from the 2013 season.  I'm going to do some serious research to find the fun and report the fun to you.  Because, if nothing else, I am a fun guy.  If I fail and do not bring you adequate levels of fun, please let me know so that I can take down this blog permanently.  The stakes are high, which is the best way to bring out fun.  I'll look at hitters today and pitchers next Wednesday.  Here we go.

Veterans

There are 25 position players who have now played 15 or more seasons.  Of those players, two are just 34 years old:  Vernon Wells and Adrian Beltre.  Wells is past his prime but Beltre lead the AL with 199 hits and posted a 5.5 rWAR.   I guess that explains why one is headed for the Hall of Fame and the other couldn't really help a super old Yankees team. 

Speaking of the Yankees, they had four of these players on their roster:  Wells, Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter and Alfonso Soriano.  Soriano lead all of these veterans with 34 home runs. 

There are four former Twins on this list:  David Ortiz, Torii Hunter, A.J. Pierzynski and Henry Blanco.  Henry Blanco is 41 and he might be immortal.  Hunter lead all of these veterans with 5 triples.  Ortiz lead all of these veterans with a .395 OBP.  Pierzynski is the only full-time catcher on this list.  The Twins certainly develop some impressive vets! 

Old Dudes

Let's not confuse veterans with old dudes.  Old dudes are 38 or older, of course.  There were just 11 old dudes in 2013.  Now, lots of old dudes are veterans.  In fact, all but two in this case:  Jamey Carroll and Jose Molina.  Carroll was the only old dude to not hit a home run in 2013.  But, he did get his 1000th hit and that is pretty round. 

Those 11 old dudes combined for -1.5 rWAR.  Ichiro provided 1.4 on his own.  The other ten might need to start thinking about which bank they want to run. 

The Two Yutes

My Cousin Vinny?  Anyway, two youngsters had historic seasons in 2013.  Mike Trout lead baseball with a 9.2 rWAR and also lead the AL in runs (109) and walks (110).  Manny Machado had a 6.5 rWAR season and lead the AL in at bats (667) and doubles (51).  Trout is 22 and Machado is 21.  Wowzers.  Hopefully, Machado will come back from that nasty late-season injury and continue his Superstardom.  Trout is the best player in baseball. 

Bases Juiced!

A bases loaded situation is probably the most exciting common scenario in baseball.  There's nowhere for the runners to go and the pitcher is in a real bind of a jam.  119 batters had at least 10 bases loaded at bats.  Mike Napoli was the clutchiest of all, with 31 RBI in 25 bases loaded attempts.  Napoli tied Paul Goldschmidt as the GRAND SLAM CHAMPION, each with 3.  That's an underwhelming total, I must admit.  Grand Slams are cool, but here are a few cool stats that don't involve Grand Slams:

• Miguel Cabrera walked with the bases loaded four times. 
• Jay Bruce struck out with the bases loaded eight times, but also drove in 26 runs in his 26 bases loaded plate appearances. 
• Justin Morneau hit .714 with the bases loaded (10-14).
• Jonathan Lucroy hit two bases loaded triples.
• Finally, there is the sad case of Justin Smoak.  Smoak hit with the bases loaded 13 times.  He struck out eight times and only drove in one run.  He drove in that run with a walk.  He hit .000/.077/.000 with the bases loaded.  He's the opposite of GRAND SLAM CHAMPION.

Left on Left, Right on Right

Joe Mauer had a .882 OPS against left-handed pitchers.  In case you don't know, Joe Mauer is left-handed.  Mauer had a .879 OPS against right-handed pitchers, further cementing that he is probably a baseball robot.  Only 11 batters had an OPS over .800 as a lefty facing a lefty.  Raul Ibanez accomplished this feat at the age of 89.  Justin Morneau may be great with the bases loaded, but he had just a .525 OPS against lefties.  You could probably neutralize his bases loaded prowess with a lefty.  Just an idea.

Miguel Cabrera had a 1.035 OPS against right-handed pitching, just laughing in the face of Robot Mauer.  Hanley Ramirez and Mike Trout also posted a 1.000 OPS against pitchers who pitch with the hand that they bat with dominantly...or something.  Darwin Barney had a .515 OPS against righties, in 412 plate appearances.  Something tells me that Barney might not get that many ABs next year. 

Hatin' the Yanks

I revealed earlier this year that I do not hate the Yankees.  However, many do.  For those who hate the Yankees, these are the Fatheads you should buy:  Mike Napoli, Evan Longoria, David Ortiz, Will Middlebrooks, Daniel Nava and Chris Davis.  Each had an OPS over 1.000 against the Yankees.  On the other hand, if you hate the Yankees, you should hate these four as well:  Stephen Drew, J.P. Arencibia, Adam Jones and Desmond Jennings.  Each had an OPS under .600 against the Yanks. 

Evan Longoria hit 9 of his 32 home runs against the Yankees. 

Random Leaders!

• Freddie Freeman walked 19 times after swinging at the first pitch in the same at bat.
• Mike Napoli struck out 158 times after taking the first pitch in the same at bat. 
• Adam Dunn struck out 50 times with a full count. 
• Shin-Soo Choo walked 12 times after starting with an 0-2 count. 
• Yasiel Puig had a 1.642 OPS when swinging at the first pitch. 
• Chris Davis and Mark Trumbo each had 44 RBI in games their team lost.
• Andrelton Simmons made 292 outs in games his team won.
• Chris Davis was an MVP candidate in the first half, but Khris Davis was the better CKhris Davis in the second half, posting a 1.004 OPS compared to Chris's .854.  Should we change the spelling officially, or just informally?

So what's the point of all this?  There isn't one.  I just found some fun stats and I wanted to share them with you.  If your brain happens to be wired exactly like mine, you probably enjoyed the crap out of this.  If not, just send me a letter and I'll refund your zero dollars.  Ingrate.

Have a great day!