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John Dewan's Stat of the Week
Is the streaking Chase Utley a great hitter on an 0-2 count?
August 03, 2006 How bad is it for the hitter to fall behind 0-2 in the count? Real bad. To the tune of a .186 batting average after an 0-2 count this year for all MLB players combined. Obviously, hitters want to avoid reaching that count as often as possible. As a whole, major [...]
How often do hitters pull flyballs?
May 03, 2007 Last week we saw that hitters pull grounders 72% of the time. But what about flyballs? We talked about the big infield shifts being put on hitters like Jim Thome, Barry Bonds, David Ortiz, and Ryan Howard. Based on the fact that they all hit grounders around 80% of the [...]
Which players have hurt their clubs most when missing games this year?
September 14, 2005 The way I phrased the question, it sounds like a bad thing. In fact, these players can be considered some of the most valuable players to their teams. What we're looking at here is the winning percentage of the team when a player is in the starting lineup compared to when he's [...]
How often does a team win when they're up 2-0 in the World Series?
October 25, 2005 Based on probability, assuming the two teams are equal, the team leading 2-0 should win the World Series 81% of the time. However, given that one of the teams won the first two games, maybe the two teams aren't equal. You could easily speculate that the team leading is the better team. You [...]
How does Albert Pujols compare to other players at age 25 throughout baseball history?
October 18, 2005 Last night's ninth-inning two-out down-by-two three-run home run by Albert Pujols to give St. Louis the lead was certainly one of the most dramatic home runs ever. It makes you wonder: "How good can this guy get?" Let's see how good he is at his young age of 25. Here is the all-time [...]
Guillen vs. Scioscia - - Who pulls his starter and who likes to stay with them?
October 12, 2005 Was last night's first game of the American League Championship Series indicative of how White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen and Angels manager Mike Scioscia handle their starting pitchers? Ozzie stayed with starter Jose Contreras into the ninth inning while Scioscia pulled Paul Byrd after one batter in the seventh. Both were pitching [...]
How rare is Scott Podsednik's drop-off to zero home runs (in 383 at-bats) after having hit 12 last year?
August 26, 2005 Quite rare indeed. In the history of baseball, there has not been a single player to go from 12 or more home runs in one year to no home runs in 300 or more at-bats in the next year. The closest was Von Hayes who actually went from 17 home runs in 1990 [...]
Who's hitting better—National League pitchers or American League pitchers?
July 20, 2006 Surprisingly, despite their infrequent trips to the plate, American League pitchers are hitting slightly better with an OPS (on-base plus slugging) average of .364. Here are the details: Pitchers Hitting—2006 League OPS Avg AB H HR RBI American .364 .138 297 41 3 18 [...]
Which team had the best defense in 2007?
November 30, 2007 In The Hardball Times Baseball Annual 2008, I rank the Toronto Blue Jays as the top defensive team of 2007. According to the Plus/Minus System we developed at Baseball Info Solutions, the Blue Jays led the major leagues with a plus/minus score of +92—which means the Jays made 92 more plays than could [...]
Is there an adjustment period for players when they change leagues?
November 13, 2007 If Alex Rodriguez moves to a National League team, is he going to have an adjustment period? Do players in general need some time to adapt when they move from one league to the other? The leagues are different. One has the DH and the other doesn't. Over the last few years the [...]