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
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 HillTheriot 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
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.