Quote:
Originally Posted by bluejays
Again, not refuting what you’re saying but the Jays were 25th in runners left in scoring position per game. https://www.teamrankings.com/mlb/sta...ition-per-game. Understanding there doesn’t seem to be a strong correlation between final ranking and the stat, I still think they need to work on that approach more. |
That's an interesting list.
To leave a lot of runners in scoring position means that you are actually getting a lot of runners in scoring position, ie. you are actually hitting the ball a lot. A team that doesn't leave a lot of runners in scoring position can either be really really good at situational hitting or just not good at even getting runners in scoring position, especially if that number is represented as an average of total runners left in scoring position. For instance it's no coincidence that the "best" teams according to that list, Oakland, Cincinnati, Detroit and Pittsburgh are also four of the 5 worst hitting teams in the majors in team OPS. In fact those teams rank at or near the bottom in every significant hitting stat. At the bottom of the list are the Jays and Dodgers, two of the best hitting teams in the majors.
However I won't refute the fact that the Jays, well Vladdy especially, grounded into a TON of double plays, and this likely had something to do with them being at the bottom of the list as well. The Nationals were first in the majors in GIDP, Jays 3rd,, and Red Sox 5th. Those teams were rated as leaving lots of runners in scoring position according to that chart. Though not all GIDP would mean a runner was in scoring position, there definitely would be situations where that was true.
Where the Jays did struggle though is with a runner on 3rd. They were tied for 2nd last in the majors in OPS with a runner on 3rd. That is likely also a contributing factor to their position on that chart.