Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Top Five in DH Production

Alright, in the words of the late, great Joe Nuxhall, we are finally rounding third and heading for home in our lists evaluating the very best in Major League Baseball. Today will be a little different than what I have been presenting over the last couple of weeks, as I give you you the top five teams in DH production right now. Since there are only 14 American League teams, it really would not make much sense to do a top ten list, as you would be scraping the bottom of the barrel once you get past seven.

Also, given how many teams have a revolving door at DH, I will look at each team's overall production at the position, as opposed to evaluating individual DHs. Let's go!

5.) New York Yankees
2011 stats: .251 avg., 30 HR, 85 RBI, .786 OPS
Jorge Posada received the lion's share of games as a DH last year, appearing in 90 of them. The 39-year-old had fair numbers in what would ultimately be his final season, hitting .241 with 14 homers and 44 RBI, to go along with a .714 OPS. In the games that Posada did not DH, manager Joe Girardi had a revolving door of players at the position, including (but not limited to) Alex Rodriguez, Andruw Jones and Jesus Montero, among others. Nobody hit all that well average-wise, but they certainly took advantage of their environment, finishing first in the AL in homers at DH.





4.) Detroit Tigers
2011 stats: .303 avg., 14 HR, 103 RBI, .796 OPS
Victor Martinez was the main DH for the Tigers last year, and he was absolutely terrific, hitting .330 with 12 homers and 103 RBI, in addition to an .850 OPS. Martinez played 112 games at the position last year, which helped the Tigers tremendously, as they were able to place the young Alex Avila at catcher, who carried a great bat along with better defense. While the Tigers finished next-to-last in the AL in homers at DH, they finished second only to Texas in RBI, while finishing fourth in OPS. Other players who saw time at DH for Detroit include Miguel Cabrera, Alex Avila and Don Kelly.





3.) Kansas City Royals
2011 stats: .294 avg., 17 HR, 95 RBI, .819 OPS, 44 doubles
A surprising pick for number three, but when you see their offensive production above, it's not hard to see why they are ranked so high. Kansas City finished third in the AL in batting average, first in doubles, fifth in RBI, third in total bases (269) and third in OPS. Billy Butler was the one doing the most damage at DH for the Royals, playing in 142 games at the position.







2.) Texas Rangers
2011 stats: .287 avg., 26 HR, 108 RBI, .834 OPS
Texas' beastly lineup also received incredible production from their DHs, finishing second in OPS, fourth in batting average, first in RBI while tying for third in homers. Michael Young spent the majority of the time at DH for the Rangers (69 games), but Mike Napoli, Josh Hamilton and Nelson Cruz all saw time at the position as well.










1.) Boston Red Sox
2011 stats: .308 avg., 29 HRs, 102 RBI, .925 OPS
It's not difficult to see why the Red Sox are at number one on here, considering that they employ a full-time DH. While some believed that Ortiz was on the brink of being washed up, the big slugger continues to prove everyone wrong. Ortiz would account for all of the home runs at DH for the Red Sox, and all but six RBI for them. Meanwhile, he single-handedly placed the Red Sox at number two in home runs at DH last year and number three in RBI, while finishing first in batting average and OPS.

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