Three Year Aggregate Spring Training Numbers

by FreeZorilla on Mar 18, 2010 6:00 AM EDT

Don't pay attention to the numbers in Spring Training. Well what fun is that? They might be indicative of very little and be composed of tiny sample sizes, but I can't risk my calculator getting rusty. The "Don't Pay Attention" mantra is frequently repeated, but outside of a few cherry picked pieces of data, I was unable to even find historical Spring Training statistics...until today.

I stumbled upon the past 3 seasons of Spring Training data on the player pages at mlb.com. This allowed me to aggregate larger samples, though still small, and see if any players did stand out as historically slow starters. The table of all Rays spring-sters with a minimum of 75 at-bats can be found after the jump sorted by OPS:

	AB	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
Elliot Johnson	112	0.375	0.417	0.598	1.015
Sean Rodriguez	99	0.283	0.343	0.626	0.969
BJ Upton	75	0.307	0.373	0.587	0.960
Ryan Shealy	103	0.282	0.378	0.573	0.951
Kelly Shoppach	110	0.291	0.376	0.573	0.949
Dioner Navarro	108	0.380	0.432	0.509	0.941
Ben Zobrist	94	0.287	0.422	0.489	0.912
Evan Longoria	111	0.288	0.388	0.495	0.883
Justin Ruggiano	84	0.321	0.374	0.500	0.874
Carl Crawford	119	0.277	0.333	0.521	0.854
Willy Aybar	78	0.295	0.368	0.474	0.842
Pat Burrell	136	0.257	0.369	0.463	0.832
Reid Brignac	102	0.275	0.321	0.490	0.811
Jason Bartlett	120	0.325	0.362	0.425	0.787
Carlos Pena	112	0.205	0.326	0.438	0.763
Gabe Kapler	124	0.177	0.261	0.258	0.519

Maybe it's time to have whichever catcher isn't in the lineup hit in a designated fashion while Ryan Shealy, Sean Rodriguez, and Elliot Johnson clearly have earned their way into the lineup. In all seriousness, Kapler and Pena are indeed habitually slow starters and players fighting for roster spots and far greater salaries appear less likely to show up for meaningless day games with Grapefruit League hangovers. Additionally, players slotted for the back end of games generally will face weaker pitching.

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Comments

ST itself rare,y replicates real game situations, so for that reason alone results should be vslued as such

On a side note Z-man since i don’t know where to put it, recall when i called Cliff Lee a punk. I think yesterday’s actions just might vindicate me

by sternfan1 on Mar 18, 2010 8:50 AM EDT reply actions

For those unfamiliar with the reference, here is a chronology of SF1 v. Lee

http://www.draysbay.com/2009/10/28/1105632/ottotd-10-30-raymondos-cliff-lee

Follow Me on Twitter @FreeZorilla

by FreeZorilla on Mar 18, 2010 9:10 AM EDT up reply actions

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/mariners/2011373004_lee18.html

by sternfan1 on Mar 18, 2010 10:08 AM EDT up reply actions

FNG just trying to show that he's a part of the team, he didn't even hit a guy

I think this is poppycock.

"It's good to have a little cushion. But it's not going to be easy."

by Andy Hellicksonstine on Mar 18, 2010 11:46 AM EDT up reply actions

When are you guys...

going to start keeping statistics of pregame batting practice sessions?

"A chain is no stronger than its weakest link."

by I Believe-D on Mar 18, 2010 9:25 AM EDT reply actions

that's funny. years ago the Indians had a power hitter named

Andre Thornton who was really struggling at the plate. After hitting a long ball foul the announcer proudly uttered, “Thornton leads the league in foul ball HRs”

That probably happened 20+ years ago and i still chuckle at it

by sternfan1 on Mar 18, 2010 9:45 AM EDT up reply actions