Spring Sabermetric Stats: Batters
As is our custom, we’ve cranked out some "sabermetric" stats for the Cardinals’ camp that aren’t typically published. Today we’ll look at the final tallies for the batters; next up will be the pitchers. Below you’ll find Runs Created (RC, basic formula), Runs Created per 27 outs (RC27), Gross-Production Average (GPA) and Batting Average on Balls In Play (BABIP) for Cardinal batters with at least 10 plate appearances. For those unfamiliar or perhaps rusty on the definitions, please see our glossary page.
| Player | GP | PA | RC | RC27 | GPA | BABIP |
| A Craig | 20 | 32 | 9.6 | 14.34 | .406 | .500 |
| K Greene | 26 | 78 | 17.0 | 9.98 | .330 | .412 |
| B Barden | 26 | 51 | 10.2 | 9.19 | .333 | .425 |
| D Freese | 15 | 46 | 9.2 | 8.87 | .307 | .485 |
| R Ankiel | 26 | 100 | 19.0 | 8.14 | .314 | .357 |
| C Duncan | 28 | 96 | 15.8 | 6.79 | .289 | .349 |
| A Pujols | 26 | 92 | 14.0 | 6.62 | .299 | .318 |
| J Jay | 23 | 45 | 6.8 | 6.56 | .275 | .395 |
| C Rasmus | 28 | 96 | 13.8 | 6.00 | .278 | .386 |
| N Stavinoha | 12 | 20 | 2.8 | 5.82 | .277 | .333 |
| J Hoffpauir | 10 | 22 | 3.0 | 5.79 | .281 | .316 |
| B Barton | 13 | 31 | 4.5 | 5.54 | .280 | .200 |
| S Schumaker | 27 | 95 | 12.2 | 5.29 | .257 | .305 |
| Y Molina | 17 | 58 | 5.5 | 3.88 | .237 | .311 |
| T Greene | 19 | 48 | 4.7 | 3.82 | .231 | .324 |
| J LaRue | 21 | 48 | 4.8 | 3.78 | .229 | .250 |
| J Thurston | 29 | 70 | 6.8 | 3.39 | .213 | .226 |
| R Ludwick | 25 | 84 | 7.7 | 3.35 | .225 | .230 |
| J Mather | 27 | 83 | 7.4 | 3.07 | .204 | .242 |
| B Ryan | 22 | 42 | 3.5 | 2.94 | .202 | .270 |
| M Pagnozzi | 16 | 11 | 0.3 | 1.13 | .186 | .200 |
| B Anderson | 9 | 15 | 0.4 | 0.90 | .126 | .167 |
Some comments on a few of the numbers:
BABIP for Khalil Greene, Brian Barden and David Freese: All three of these guys had a super camp; looking at BABIP, it’s easy to see why: An abnormally high rate of the balls they put in play fell for hits. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. But those BABIP rates are unsustainable and will regress closer to the .290-.300 range, thus lowering their batting averages, as well.
Ryan Ludwick’s GPA: In the same way that the aforementioned trio of outfielders got "lucky" in large part this spring, Ludwick was somewhat snakebitten, with a .230 BABIP. Still, that doesn’t tell the whole story about his subpar .225 GPA, which is a weighted OBP + SLG measurement. Conventional wisdom is that Colby Rasmus made the team to provide backup for Chris Duncan. Given Ludwick’s spring, it’s possible that it was as much for Ludwick.
Brian Barton’s GPA: Barton was an early cut, but his sabermetric numbers show that that might have been a mistake. He had a .280 GPA despite the horrible "luck" of a .200 BABIP.
RC27 for Rick Ankiel, Albert Pujols and Chris Duncan: The team will count on those Big Three to create the bulk of runs this season, so it’s reassuring to see them get off to a healthy start in spring.
April 3rd, 2009 at 9:36 am
I’m a Brian Barton fan, but I think that .280 GPA is inflated pretty dramatically by those two wind-aided homers in one afternoon.
That said, I hope he bats leadoff for Memphis and does an outstanding job getting on base and taking the extras–and that we see him by June.
April 3rd, 2009 at 4:03 pm
Okay, fair enough, Liam. Assuming that those two wind-aided home runs went for doubles instead, that would bring his GPA down to .242.
On the other hand, if he had gotten a little luckier on his BABIP, and had, say, two more of those balls in play fall for hits (for a .333 BABIP), his GPA would’ve been .270. So his “luck” evened out.
April 5th, 2009 at 4:21 pm
I look forward to reviewing the question with a month or two of AAA data on the table.
Here’s hoping the snow stays away tomorrow and we get a game in. I’m ready for everyday baseball.