Power Stats For 2011 Home Run Derby Participants
Posted by Neil Paine on July 8, 2011
Just for fun, here are the HR per AB and Isolated Power (Slugging % minus Batting Avg.) numbers for each HR Derby contestant:
| 2011 Season | Park-Adjusted | Career - Chase Field | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | G | AB | HR/AB | ISO | HR/AB | ISO | G | AB | HR/AB | ISO | Odds |
| Jose Bautista | 81 | 288 | 0.101 | 0.358 | 0.087 | 0.309 | 14 | 34 | 0.059 | 0.206 | 3/1 |
| Matt Kemp | 89 | 319 | 0.069 | 0.279 | 0.076 | 0.308 | 33 | 124 | 0.040 | 0.186 | 7/1 |
| Prince Fielder | 89 | 311 | 0.071 | 0.286 | 0.067 | 0.269 | 18 | 66 | 0.061 | 0.242 | 7/2 |
| Matt Holliday | 64 | 228 | 0.057 | 0.250 | 0.067 | 0.292 | 43 | 167 | 0.024 | 0.144 | 4/1 |
| David Ortiz | 84 | 292 | 0.062 | 0.271 | 0.066 | 0.270 | 2 | 7 | 0.000 | 0.143 | 7/2 |
| Adrian Gonzalez | 86 | 353 | 0.048 | 0.241 | 0.053 | 0.244 | 45 | 169 | 0.077 | 0.290 | 7/1 |
| Rickie Weeks | 88 | 357 | 0.045 | 0.201 | 0.043 | 0.192 | 14 | 55 | 0.036 | 0.219 | 12/1 |
| Robinson Cano | 85 | 333 | 0.045 | 0.229 | 0.040 | 0.218 | 3 | 12 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 15/2 |
Park-Adjusted numbers were calculated by applying ESPN's 2011 Event Park Factors to the player's home statistics. Odds via Bodog Sportsbook.
July 8th, 2011 at 12:38 pm
I still don't know what Rickie Weeks is doing on that list. It's all for show and entertainment, so give me Mike Stanton and let him bomb away.
July 8th, 2011 at 12:52 pm
Watch Weeks and Cano make the final 2
July 8th, 2011 at 1:23 pm
Weeks was in by virtue of Brewers nepotism, since Fielder picked the team. I wish he had picked Arizona's All-Star, Justin Upton. Better power, plus it's nice to celebrate guys in front of their hometown fans.
July 8th, 2011 at 1:23 pm
Some of the best batting practice shows are put on by those who don't put up the big power numbers, and vice versa. Remember how Mike Piazza got skunked in the Home Run Derby every year, but Bobby Abreu was lights out?
Just for the hell of it, and to make someone here smile, Fielder should have picked Carlos Zambrano. The dude can flat out knock the ball out of the park in BP, from both sides of the plate....
July 8th, 2011 at 3:11 pm
That's quite a park adjustment for Bautista.
Didn't realize Rogers Center is such a launching pad.
July 8th, 2011 at 3:11 pm
@4, and then we could add Juan Pierre to the Bunt Derby.
July 8th, 2011 at 3:33 pm
@4 I idea of throwing in the biggest power threats (no matter the position) is an interesting one and Big Z could possibly possess one of the more powerful swings, BUT...
...he's on a rehab assignment in Peoria, IL tonight for a tweaked lower back. There's speculation that he won't be allowed to even take BP. And as a ballhawk in Peoria, this is disappointing to learn, but I understand the Cubs' reasoning.
...which begs the question... Why would any GM in their right mind allow one of the team's pitchers to take place in such an event? It would be like letting Jose Canseco mop up on the mound in a blow out and then have him six weeks later go under the knife for TJ surgery. Oh wait, I think that happened.
http://miscbaseball.wordpress.com/2009/09/08/jose-canseco-pitching-in-1993/
July 8th, 2011 at 4:06 pm
#5 - Yeah, I was surprised too. Rogers' PF for HR is 1.317 this year (and that's no outlier -- it was 1.358 last year). Compare to Dodger Stadium's 0.796, and it's easy to see why Matt Kemp's park-adjusted isolated power is basically equal to Bautista's despite a massive difference in raw unadjusted rates.
July 8th, 2011 at 4:37 pm
@5 Doug
Bautista has hit 16 of his 29 homers at home and 13 on the road. He doesn't hit many cheap ones. Except for this week in Boston when his high fly ball to left just landed over the Green Monster.
July 8th, 2011 at 7:24 pm
The Brewers announcers report that Weeks is the best batting practice power guy. They say he stops the show every night with his blasts.
July 8th, 2011 at 7:26 pm
@5 @9
Kenh and Doug, I also am surprised by Bautista being brought back to the pack by park factor in isolated power.
I wish he wouldn't have entered the HR derby because of the risk of screwing up his swing.
July 8th, 2011 at 9:38 pm
@7 - That was a JFF suggestion, of course, but if any pitcher had a legit chance in the homerun derby, it would be Big Z. And they certainly let him turn it loose in BP, at least at both games I've seen him start....
@10 - That was my thinking as well, which is why I'm sure Prince picked him for the team. I imagine there would have been a discussion had Pujols been healthy and he still bypassed him for Holliday, because I'd take Matt over Albert if I were picking the team as well having seen them both take BP many times.....
If I were picking a HR Derby team and I wanted to win, I'd go strictly by observing who can put the ball out of the park consistently during batting practice, since those are the conditions the HR Derby are held under, not who hits for the most power in game situations. Contrary to popular belief, they are two entirely different animals....
July 8th, 2011 at 10:01 pm
The National League wins this.
July 8th, 2011 at 10:45 pm
@3
Zachary, Fielder picked Weeks and Ortiz picked Gonzalez. So it's a wash there. Gonzalez is having an MVP season but not in terms of home run power. Did Granderson turn down the opportunity?
@13
Matt, I've got a fiver says the AL wins. 🙂 I think Bautista in the wild card in the whole thing. He does have a fly-ball swing, but .......
July 8th, 2011 at 10:46 pm
@14
Sorry "...IS the wild card .....
July 9th, 2011 at 1:50 am
11-
I'm not sure that is much of a concern. First off, I've read that the idea of the HR derby messing up swings is a bit of a myth. Yes, some guys have tailed off after big first halves, but these were guys who were anomalies as HR hitters to begin with. Second off, while I'm sure there is the possibility that some guys throw their swings out of whack in the Derby, Bautista's regular swing seems tailor made for it. He takes a healthy rip every time up, so it's not like he's going to be making major adjustments.