2007 Batting Order Results

Or, how Baseball-Reference will be the death of me

The latest ridiculously interesting tool released by baseball-reference.com is its Batting Order Position Outcomes page. Plug in a team, a year, and a position in the batting order, and it will break down that position's results by the player batting in that slot.

For instance, did you know that on the 2007 Cubs team, Cesar Izturis logged the most games (41) and plate appearances (154) in the 8th spot in the order? He put up a .254/.314/.300/.614 line while hitting 8th, and the Cubs went 18-23 in games where he batted 8th. With Koyie Hill hitting 8th, the Cubs went an impressive 14-7. No thanks to Hill, necessarily, who hit .141/. 203/.211/.414 in those games. In stark contrast to Hill, Ronny Cedeno hit .368/.369/.737/1.052 in nine games there, and the Cubs went 2-7.

Other interesting but perhaps entirely meaningless discoveries include...

In April, when the Cubs went 10-14, our number 2 hitters put up a line of .279/.330/.356/.686.

• In July, when the Cubs went 17-9, our number 2 hitters put up a line of .340/.423/.423/.846

Fifteen different Cubs batted 2nd last year. In order of at bats, they were:

Ryan Theriot

Jacque Jones

Mike Fontenot

Felix Pie

Mark DeRosa

Cliff Floyd

Angel Pagan

Cesar Izturis

Matt Murton

Jason Kendall

Ronny Cedeno

Jason Marquis

Carlos Zambrano

Carlos Marmol

Koyie Hill

Theriot had the most Plate Appearances hitting 2nd in April, May, July and September. In June, it was Pie followed by Fontenot, and in August it was Jones holding the top spot.

• June was the month of Godenot, when he hit .436/.463/.692/.1156 from the 2 hole, and the Cubs went 7-2 in those games

While Jones put up a very clutch .357/.379/.589/.969 line hitting second in September, the Cubs went just 6-7 in those games.

• The only hitter who saw the Cubs win more than they lost with him hitting second in September was Mark DeRosa. The Cubs went 2-1 with him hitting 2nd in September, and he hit .583/.615/.667/1.282 in those three games.

Another interesting position is 5th. Cliff Floyd and Derosa saw 161 and 156 PAs, respectively, with Murton and Barrett seeing an additional 80 and 76.

By Month, Barrett was the primary 5 hitter in April and May, then Derosa in June and July, Floyd in August and Matt Murton in September.

• Barrett had a terrific April hitting 5th, with a line of .368/.419/.711/.1.129 in those games, and the Cubs going 6-4. (He followed it up with a .340 OPS in May)

• Murton went.394/.444/.636/1.081 in September, and the Cubs again went 6-4 in those games.

In the second half of the season, our number five hitters tore it up against teams below the .500 mark, hitting them at a .276/.338/.503/.840 clip, while the team went 31-20.

• But against teams with records of .500 or better, the five-hole hitters saw a big drop in slugging, going .267/.347/.344/.691, and the team went 10-14.

By month, our most productive lineup spot went:

April: 3rd spot, .394/.464/.545/1.010

May: 6th spot, .311/.385/.495/.880

June: 1st spot, .333/.376/.691/1.067

July: 4th spot, .374/.393/.542/.935

August: 7th spot, .358/.414/.472/.885

September: 3rd spot, .357/.426/.678/1.105

• with honorable mentions to the 1st spot at .300/.338/.708/1.046, and the 4, 5, and 6 spots all putting up OPS's in the mid-.900s in September.

I think (but am not certain) that eventually, the Batting Order Position Outcomes stuff will migrate to the new premium section of b-r, which requires a subscription fee. Tool around there and tell me what other weird things you can find!