Leadoff hitters

Dr. Giganto

I was recently discussing the merits of Juan Pierre as a leadoff hitter, and I was arguing that Pierre is an average, at best, leadoff hitter. In general, a leadoff hitters job is to get on base, and then run the bases well once he gets on. If you get a little pop out of your leadoff hitter (like Soriano), that's just an added bonus. So, I thought I'd take a look at every team's leadoff hitter, and see how Pierre stacks.

New York Yankees: Johnny Damon - .285/.359/.482, 25 SBs, 10 CS's, 24 HRs

Boston Red Sox: Kevin Youkilis - .279/.381/.429, 5 SBs, 2 CS's, 13 HRs

Toronto Blue Jays: Reed Johnson - .319/.390/.479, 8 SBs, 2 CS's, 12 HRs

Baltimore Orioles: Brian Roberts - .286/.347/.410, 36 SBs, 7 CS's, 10 HRs

Tampa Bay Devil Rays: Julio Lugo - .308/.373/.478, 18 SBs, 4 CS's, 12 HRs (73 games)

Detroit Tigers: Curtis Granderson - .260/.335/.438, 8 SBs, 5 CS's, 19 HRs

Chicago White Sox: Scott Podsednik - .261/.330/.353, 40 SBs, 19 CS's, 3 HRs

Minnesota Twins: Luis Castillo - .296/.358/.370, 25 SBs, 11 CS's, 3 HRs

Cleveland Indians: Grady Sizemore - .290/.375/.533, 22 SBs, 6 CS's, 28 HRs

Kansas City Royals: David DeJesus (from Brooklyn!) - .295/.364/.446, 6 SBs, 3 CS's, 8 HRs

Los Angeles Angels: Chone Figgins - .267/.336/.376, 52 SBs, 16 CS's, 9 HRs

Seattle Mariners: Ichiro Suzuki - .322/.370/.416, 45 SBs, 2 CS's, 9 HRs

Texas Rangers: Gary Matthews Jr. - .313/.371/.495, 10 SBs, 7 CS's, 19 HRs

Oakland A's: Jason Kendall - .295/.367/.342 (wow...that SLG is TERRIBLE!!!), 11 SBs, 5 CS's, 1 HR

New York Mets: Jose Reyes - .300/.354/.487, 64 SBs, 17 CS's, 19 HRs

Philadelphia Phillies: Jimmy Rollins - .277/.334/.478, 36 SBs, 4 CS's, 25 HRs

Atlanta Braves: Marcus Giles - .262/.341/.387, 10 SBs, 5 CS's, 11 HRs

Florida Marlins: Hanley Ramirez - .292/.353/.480, 51 SBs, 15 SBs, 17 HRs

Washington Nationals: Alfonso Soriano - .277/.351/.560, 41 SBs, 17 CS's, 46 HRs

St. Louis Cardinals: David Eckstein - .292/.350/.344, 7 SBs, 6 CS's, 2 HRs

Chicago Cubs: Juan Pierre - .292/.330/.388, 58 SBs, 20 CS's, 3 HRs

Houston Astros: Craig Biggio - .246/.306/.422, 3 SBs, 2 CS's, 21 HRs

Pittsburgh Pirates: Chris Duffy - .255/.317/.338, 26 SBs, 1 CS, 2 HR (84 games)

Cincinnati Reds: Ryan Freel - .271/.363/.399, 37 SBs, 11 CS's, 8 HRs

Milwaukee Brewers: Rickie Weeks - .279/.363/.404, 19 SBs, 5 CSs, 8 HRs (95 games)

San Francisco Giants: Randy Winn - .262/.324/.396, 10 SBs, 8 CS's, 11 HRs

Los Anglees Dodgers: Rafael Furcal - .300/.369/.445, 37 SB, 13 CS's, 15 HRs

Arizona Diamondbacks: Craig Counsell - .255/.327/.347, 15 SBs, 8 CS's, 4 HRs

Colorado Rockies: Jamey Carroll - .300/.377/.404, 10 SBs, 12 CS's (that's terrible), 5 HRs

San Diego Padres: Dave Roberts - .293/.360/.393, 49 SBs, 6 CS's, 2 HRs

So, I'd say that Damon, Brian Roberts, Reed Johnson, Lugo, Sizemore, Ichiro, Reyes, Rollins, Soriano, Weeks, Furcal, and Dave Roberts are all considerably better than Pierre. Hanley Ramirez had a much better year than Pierre last year, although he was only a rookie, so the jury is still out.

Pierre is definitively better than Craig Counsell, Jamey Carroll, Randy Winn, Jason Kendall, and Craig Biggio. I'll even give him the edge over Eckstein, Figgins, Castillo, Duffy, and Giles

That means that Pierre is probably somewhere between the 13th best and 20th best leadoff man in baseball.

His OBP is pathetic, his power numbers are even more pathetic, and he falls just below the requisite 75% stolen base clip that many people believe is required to be considered an effective base-stealer. I feel the numbers above support my assertion that Pierre is an average, at-best (and probably below-average) leadoff hitter.

Just wanted to share..

B-Money

King of the Arcade

You should forward these numbers to the Dodgers, I don't think they really know what they mean, but it might help them in the future.

B-Money

Dr. Giganto

Well, they did have a "numbers" GM for a few years, and they dumped him first chance they got.

I do like the schmidt signing though. It's a lot of money, but in a market where Ted Lilly gets 10 mil per, it's worth the extra money (and the Dodgers do have the money)

Slimdust

garrey mathews jr for texas has gotten a lot better over the years.

Dr. Giganto

and he's about to get a lot worse now that he a) got his big contract, b) is leaving that hitter's haven in Arlington, and c) is entering his mid-30's

Slimdust

yep, i agree witht hat

Jayman

Super Moderator

I heard this morning on local radio that Leyland is considering putting Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguiez at leadoff next year. His reasoning was to get him to swing a little more, which couldn't hurt. It's worth a shot at trying for a while, even though I don't think Granderson at leadoff is a bad thing.

And now, here it is...your moment of Carlin (10/10/2008)


I don't think we should be governing ourselves. What we need is a king, and every now and then if the king's not doing a good job, we kill him.

Slimdust

this is off topic, but talking about mathews and then pudge, gots me to think about the rangers.

The rangers are trying to get mike piazza, as a dh.. anyone know anything more about this?

Dr. Giganto

If I'm not mistaken, Piazza signed with Oakland

Jayman

Super Moderator

Yep, their new DH since Thomas went to Toronto.

And now, here it is...your moment of Carlin (10/10/2008)


I don't think we should be governing ourselves. What we need is a king, and every now and then if the king's not doing a good job, we kill him.