Words matter. Images matter. The Scientific Inquirer needs your support. Help us pay our contributors for their hard work. Visit our Patreon page and discover ways that you can make a difference. http://bit.ly/2jjiagi
With the All-Star break done and dusted, everyone’s favorite and not-so-favorite baseball teams are set to hit the diamond again. Before that happens, we’ve decided to take an unemotional, objective look at the Top 5’s in the American and National League. It’s purely by the numbers, though you can argue that our choice of numbers is subjective. You wouldn’t be wrong but we’ve got to start somewhere. So here it goes…
TEAM TOP 5’s
Batting WAR: Los Angeles Dodgers (20.9), Minnesota Twins (19.4), Houston Astros (19.1), Boston Red Sox (16.5), Atlanta Braves (15.7)
AVG: Boston Red Sox (.272), Minnesota Twins (.272), Pittsburgh (.271), Colorado Rockies (.266)
HR: Minnesota Twins (166), Seattle Mariners (160), Milwaukee Brewers (155), New York Yankees (149), Los Angeles Dodgers (146)
wOBA: Minnesota Twins (.348), Houston Astros (.340), Boston Red Sox (.340), New York Yankees (.339), Los Angeles Dodgers (.339)
wRC+: Houston Astros (119), Minnesota Twins (116), Los Angeles Dodgers (112), New York Yankees (111), Los Angeles Angels (108)
Pitching WAR: Tampa Bay Rays (14.6), Washington Nationals (13.1), Los Angeles Dodgers (13.1), Minnesota Twins (12.9), Cleveland Indians (11.7)
ERA: Tampa Bay Rays (3.36), Los Angeles Dodgers (3.40), Cincinnati Reds (3.77), Houston Astros (3.86), Cleveland Indians (3.95)
K: Red Sox (914), Houston Astros (900), Tamp Bay Rays (878), Washington Nationals (849), Milwaukee Brewers (844)
K/9: Red Sox (10.08), Houston Astros (9.99), Cincinnati Reds (9.77), Washington Nationals (9.69), Cleveland Indians (9.61)
LOB%: Houston Astros (76.9%), Cincinnati Reds (76.9%), Philadelphia Phillies (76.0%), New York Yankees (75.8%), Tampa Bay Rays (75.5%)
BATTING TOP 5’s
WAR: Mike Trout (6.1), Cody Bellinger (5.6), Christian Yellich (5.1), Alex Bergman (3.8), Ketel Marte (3.8)
AVG: Jeff McNeil (.349), Cody Bellinger (.336), DJ LeMahieu (.336), Charlie Blackmon (.330), Christian Yellich (.329)
HR: Christian Yellich (31), Cody Bellinger (30), Peter Alonso (30), Mike Trout (28), Josh Bell (27)
wOBA: Christian Yellich (.451), Cody Bellinger (.449), Mike Trout (.443), Charlie Blackmon (.415), Peter Alonso (.410)
wRC+: Mike Trout (186), Cody Bellinger (184), Christian Yellich (180), Peter Alonso (161), Josh Bell (156)
PITCHING TOP 5’s
WAR: Max Scherzer (5.5), Lance Lynn (4.0), Charlie Morton (3.4), Gerrit Cole (3.4), Jacob deGromm (3.1)
ERA: Hyun-Jin Ryu (1.73), Luis Castillo (2.29), Max Scherzer (2.30), Charlie Morton (2.32), Mike Minor (2.54)
K: Max Scherzer (181), Gerrit Cole (170), Justin Verlander (153), Chris Sale (153), Trevor Bauer (149)
K/9: Gerri Cole (13.11), Chris Sale (12.87), Max Scherzer (12.60), Matthew Boyd (11.94), Robbie Ray (11.78)
LOB%: Justin Verlander (90.7%), Hyun-Jin Ryu (87.2%), Mike Minor (86.5%), Luis Castillo (83.2%), Wade Miley (81.9%)
DATA SOURCE: Fangraphs
IMAGE SOURCE: Minda Haas Kuhlmann, Creative Commons