With no MLB games scheduled for the foreseeable future, I’ve been getting my baseball fix by reviewing various statlines from 2019. As it turns out, several league leaders were not the players you might expect.
If you fancy yourself a baseball expert, see if you can answer these five trivia questions regarding the 2019 season.
Who has the most 100-RBI seasons in the AL since the start of 2014?
Think you know this one? If you do, you’re likely a resident of Chicago’s South Side. The answer is White Sox first baseman and designated hitter José Abreu, who has driven in at least 100 runs in five of his six MLB seasons. In fact, the only other player with as many 100-RBI seasons since the start of 2014 is Rockies superstar Nolan Arenado.
As reliable as he’s been at driving in runs, Abreu is not the kind of player that wins the hearts of sabermetricians. The RBI stat, once considered an important number for assessing offensive production, has been devalued over the years because it’s largely team and context dependent.
A player’s RBI total is influenced by how many runners are on base when he comes to bat, which is something that is out of said player’s control.
In the past, Abreu would have been a perennial MVP candidate based on his RBI totals. Now, however, he is viewed as an above-average offensive contributor who otherwise provides limited value in terms of defense and baserunning. While Abreu is not a five-tool talent like Mike Trout or Mookie Betts, he should be recognized for his consistency at the dish.
Who led the National League in road hits in 2019?
I’m a proud member of the Flushing Faithful, yet even I was surprised by the answer to this question. In his second full major-league season, Mets shortstop Amed Rosario paced the Senior Circuit with 104 hits on the road.
Rosario’s brilliant performance away from Citi Field was overshadowed by a far more mediocre performance at home. He slashed .323/.352/.484 in 79 games in visiting ballparks compared to .248/.292/.374 in his 78 home games.
These drastic home-road splits reflect a career-long trend for Rosario, who has yet to master the spacious confines of Citi Field.
Ultimately, this stat reveals that some players have swings and approaches that do not play well at certain ballparks. Rosario can still improve his Citi Field production, especially if he takes advantage of the gap in right center.
But to this point in his career, Rosario has looked like an All-Star on the road as opposed to a replacement-level player in Queens.
Click here to read my full analysis of Rosario’s offensive profile
According to Baseball Reference, who had the highest pitching WAR in 2019?
If you thought that someone like Jacob deGrom, Justin Verlander, or Gerrit Cole led the majors in pitching WAR last year, you are sorely mistaken. Rangers lefty Mike Minor actually accumulated the highest bWAR among hurlers at 7.8, with deGrom a close second at 7.6.
Minor put together the best season of his eight-year career, recording career-highs in innings (208.1) and strikeouts (200) while pitching to a respectable 3.59 ERA. He was among the more reliable starters in the American League, but his numbers don’t exactly jump off the page.
So why did Baseball Reference view him as the most valuable pitcher in the majors, even with that relatively unexceptional statline?
The primary reason is that the Baseball Reference formula for WAR takes factors like ballpark into account. Minor made 15 of his 32 starts at Arlington’s Globe Life Park, a venue that had the second-highest park factor in MLB last year.
Only the notoriously thin air of Colorado’s Coors Field provided a more advantageous environment for run scoring.
Minor’s success in a hitter-friendly environment helped his final WAR tally, as did his ability to limit runs despite having a poor defense behind him. He enjoyed a noteworthy season, just not the dominant campaign that his league-leading WAR total would indicate.
As a statistician, I find that WAR is a useful tool for comparing position players, but that it has its limitations when it comes to evaluating pitchers.
Who led the American League in batting average after the 2019 All-Star break (min. 100 AB)?
It’s only a matter of time until A’s outfielder Ramon Laureano becomes a household name. “Laser Ramon” has already made his fair share of highlight reels thanks to his Howitzer of a throwing arm. He’s also been an offensive spark plug for Oakland, particularly in the second half of last season.
Laureano slashed .358/.411/.679 following the 2019 All-Star break, stunning numbers that suggest the best is yet to come for the 25-year old. As you might expect, that .358 average was the highest mark among American League players with at least 100 second-half at-bats last year.
Laureano is an aggressive hitter who sits in the middle of the pack in terms of exit velocity and hard-hit percentage, so it’s hard to envision him winning a batting title. That said, his compact stroke and elite baserunning skills (career 87 % stolen base success rate) make him an excellent bet to put together a 20-20 campaign at some point in the near future.
Which American League pitcher allowed the most home runs in 2019?
Baseball is currently in the Era of the Three True Outcomes, with an increasing number of plate appearances resulting in a home run, strikeout, or walk. In 2019, the poster boy for that trend was Matthew Boyd of the Detroit Tigers.
Last season, Boyd racked up 238 strikeouts, matching Patrick Corbin for the most among left-handed pitchers. He also surrendered 39 home runs, the most of any pitcher in the American League.
Boyd’s long-ball tendencies may seem alarming, but it’s important that we put that number into proper context. Major League Baseball saw a record number of home runs in 2019, and even AL Cy Young winner Justin Verlander gave up 36 dingers last year.
Pitchers who challenge hitters are always susceptible to balls that leave the yard, and Boyd is no exception.
Indeed, Boyd’s ability to miss bats should make Tigers fans optimistic about his future. Opposing batters hit just .192 with a .341 slugging percentage off his slider during the 2019 season. That particular breaking ball is Boyd’s greatest weapon, and his continued mastery of the pitch could lead to significant improvement in 2020.
Searle’s Final Say
One of the reasons I love baseball stats is that they offer insight into both a player’s past performance and future outlook. Sometimes, identifying someone worthy of greater recognition is as simple as finding who led a particular statistical category in a given year. With the 2020 season on an indefinite hiatus, fans can comb through last year’s statsheets and discover which players were among the top performers in their league.
