2018’s Numbers You Didn’t Know You Needed To Know
As the regular season comes to a close, now is as good a time as any to take a look at some of the full-season stats that players have accumulated. Some stats – Mookie Betts is leading the league in hitting or Blake Snell has 21 wins – we all know. But some notable numbers have flown under the radar. Let’s take a look at a few of these less-heralded statistics, both good and bad.
27
The number of home runs hit by White Sox apparent slugger Daniel Palka.
I wrote about Palka on September 13th, back when he only had 22 home runs, and was shocked by his power then. Now that he’s closing in on 30 bombs in his first big league season, I am absolutely floored.
If you haven’t heard of Palka, you should know that the Minnesota Twins cut him this winter and that his 27 homers would lead the 2018 Twins team by 3. Way to go, Twins. (David Ortiz, much?)
37
The number of RBIs by Lorenzo Cain.
Lorenzo Cain was a big-ticket free agent last winter, getting himself more than $80 million to play outfield for the playoff-bound Milwaukee Brewers. So far so good on that deal as Cain made the All-Star team and has consistently hit leadoff and played centerfield for the Brewers. He only has 37 RBIs though – on a really good team, with 513 at-bats. With 10 homers, and a .312 batting average, how is it possible that Cain has knocked in just 27 of his teammates? Wouldn’t you think that over that many at bats on a team like the Brewers the man would stumble into at least like, 50? Guess not.
16
The number of losses for James Shields.
Shields has gotten a ton of crap for being terrible over the last few years, and we all know he’s a far cry from the MVP and CY Young award candidate he was for the Royals early this decade, but he still brings some things to the table. He threw 204.2 innings for a terrible team that needed an innings eater and he’s a good clubhouse guy full of veteran presence/presents. However, he definitely wasn’t good. In those 204.2 innings, Shields gave up 190 hits and 34 homers and lost a league leading 16 games. That’s a lot of games.
.067
Homer Bailey‘s winning percentage.
Sticking with a similar theme here on this one. Bailey is currently 1-14 for the Cincinnati Reds this season, with a 6.09 ERA and just 106.1 innings over 20 starts. It’s Bailey’s third straight season with an ERA over 6 and he hasn’t been any good at all since he was decent back in 2014. In fact, Bailey has posted a negative WAR in each of the last 4 season and cost his team a win and half by that measure in 2018. I know it’s folly to look at these things from the team’s point of view, rather than the player’s, but given that he made $21 million for his ‘performance’ this season, Bailey has to be the least valuable player in baseball.
9
The number of times Dee Gordon has walked in 585 plate appearances.
Sean covered this absolutely incredible feat in detail here.
8
The number of times Dan Straily of the Miami Marlins has walked in just 43 plate appearances.
Sean unearthed this gem too.
150
The number of hits Max Scherzer has allowed this season.
Scherzer had just an 0.91 WHIP in 220.2 innings. His 150 hits allowed are the fewest ever in a 300 strikeout season.
50
The percent of the time Rougned Odor has been caught stealing.
Odor’s 12 times caught stealing are tied for third in the MLB, but the guys ahead of him on the list all have at least 28 successful stolen bases. Rougned has only 12.
60.5
The number of the games the Baltimore Orioles are currently behind the Boston Red Sox in the American League East.
Going into Thursday, Baltimore was 46-112 and Boston was 107-52. Recently, the farthest behind first a team finished was 47 games when the 2003 Detroit Tigers lost 119 games. The O’s are currently on track to be closest to the 1935 Boston Braves, who finished 61.5 games back.
19
The number of wins, out of 81 games, the Orioles have won on the road this season.
Going into play Thursday, 9/27.
17
The number of batters Cole Hamels hit with a pitch.
Hamels hit this many in a little more than 183 innings pitched. League average is 8 in about 180 innings.
And there you have them: The notable numbers you didn’t know you needed to know. Baseball is indeed a game defined by numerical machination; we love our numbers, and we love to squeeze oft-contorted significance from them. Will Daniel Palka’s career in Chicago mirror David Ortiz’s in Boston? Probably not. Will Dee Gordon never draw another walk? Who knows. What we do know is that baseball will always be measured in numbers, and numbers will always be at the mercy of those who interpret them.
-Max Frankel
