Pat the Bat
Posted by Andy on August 31, 2007
Have you seen Pat Burrell's batting splits for pre-All-star and post-All-star this season?
Very interesting:
I Split G GS PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB IBB SO HBP SH SF ROE GDP SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS BAbip sOPS+ tOPS+ Split +-+------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+------------+ 1st Half 81 69 291 228 32 49 11 0 11 37 58 1 58 3 0 2 2 7 0 0 .215 .378 .408 .786 .236 112 73 1st Half 2nd Half 44 44 181 145 25 51 11 0 11 37 31 0 35 1 0 4 0 1 0 0 .352 .459 .655 1.114 .388 188 142 2nd Half
He has had an OPS more than 300 points higher, and has the same number of HRs and RBIs in each half (in many fewer PAs in the second half.) If the Phillies make the playoffs, it will be in part thanks to Burrell, as well as Ryan Howard's resurgence and Chase Utley's return from injury (not that Tadahito Iguchi did poorly in Utley's absence--quite the opposite.)
And by the way, Burrell's second half stats don't include his 2 HR and 3 RBI from yesterday. Burrell must have loved his key homer off Billy Wagner yesterday given their nasty history.
By the way, Burrell is not one of those players who always hits better in the second half. Prior to this season, his first-half and second-half numbers over his career were very similar. He's had a couple of years where he hit significantly better in the first half.