I love that Fangraphs.com allows us to look at statistics over a 30 day window. Yes, looking at larger sample sizes is always the preferred method because what a player does over 250 plate appearances is always more telling than what they do over 50 plate appearances, but I do find it helpful to see how certain players are performing in smaller windows. Over the last 30 days, the Rays’ offense has been quite interesting to say the least. It is no surprise that Carl Crawford has by far been the most productive hitter in the offense but it is probably a large surprise to most that John Jaso has been the least productive player.
| Player | wOBA | BB% | K% | OBP | SLG% | PA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crawford | .449 | 5% | 21% | .404 | .614 | 97 |
| Pena | .386 | 16% | 32% | .378 | .494 | 98 |
| Longoria | .362 | 13% | 21% | .396 | .426 | 111 |
| Joyce | .354 | 22% | 19% | .397 | .375 | 63 |
| Zobrist | .336 | 24% | 22% | .394 | .230 | 74 |
| Aybar | .336 | 11% | 35% | .356 | .405 | 46 |
| Bartlett | .334 | 5% | 19% | .338 | .406 | 74 |
| Upton | .307 | 11% | 28% | .310 | .347 | 84 |
| Rodriguez | .304 | 2% | 25% | .291 | .383 | 87 |
| Brignac | .282 | 3% | 26% | .250 | .395 | 40 |
| Shoppach | .281 | 12% | 34% | .293 | .314 | 42 |
| Jaso | .268 | 15% | 7% | .328 | .232 | 67 |
The data in the table shows some other interesting points as well. For instance, it further highlights my point the other day that Zobrist should be used at the top of the lineup as often as possible. His days of 20+ homers may be over, but his ability to get on base is still rather amazing. Along those lines, look at how well Matt Joyce has done the same. If the Rays implemented Zobrist, Joyce, Crawford, and Longoria in the first four spots of the lineup against righties, they would set a very nice table for Carlos Pena to clean up. The popular slugger has been on a tear of late and it has been quite noticeable since the last homestand when Pena started going to left-center and center with his balls in play. Willy Aybar has had his struggles this season, but he has picked it up a notch lately as has Jason Bartlett while the rookie platoon of Sean Rodriguez and Reid Brignac has morphed into a free swinging defensive dynamo that struggles to get on base. Lastly, it has been no secret the Rays’ catching duo has struggled, but that has been the case for most of the history of this franchise. Jaso is still the Californian God of Walks but if he is not walking, he is not doing much of late and the same goes for Shoppach and meanwhile, Buster Posey continues to rake for the Giants while Tim Beckham toils in High A ball.
Longoria has expressed how comfortable he is batting at #3; I believe Crawford has said the same about him in the 2-spot. I seriously doubt Maddon will mess with those two anymore. I know it probably doesn’t make much sense; but if the players are happy, keep them happy.
I couldn’t agree more about Zobrist though. The one thing I failed to consider when I made my own case for leadoff Zobrist was Maddon’s love of the lefty/righty split; indeed he’s been putting Upton at the top against lefties, Zobrist against righties. Zobrist’s career OBP is ever so slightly higher against LHP; this season however he’s been better against RHP. I guess I have nothing against Upton leading off against LHP as long as he’s performing; I just hope Maddon isn’t yanking Zobrist from leadoff just because of those odd splits.
I agree with you. I know that CC and Longo like hitting 2 and 3 but my proposed four could be hard for pitchers since both Zobrist and Joyce works deep counts in most of their at bats. As far as Upton goes, he either needs to hit 1 or 8; he should not be put in a run-producing situation right now. He is not hitting with enough power these days to produce runs in that regard but he still works counts and gets on base at a decent clip where his speed is a factor. He has been the worst bat on the team hitting with runners in scoring position so I cringe when I see him hitting sixth or seventh.