Every batter comes to the plate to generate runs for his team. Ideally, each batter would like to come around to score following each plate appearance. Of course, that starts with getting on base, or, better still, hitting for extra bases, and it continues with running the bases well.
That's right, getting on base, slugging and sound base running increase runs. Not revolutionary, I know, but it's remarkable how those skills can be dismissed -- or other skills touted as more important.
So, which Giants come around to score most? Batting higher in the order is clearly an advantage as one will be getting on before the team's better hitters (and also will lead off innings more often). As a team the Giants score following 10.5% of their plate appearances.
Here's the list of those with 100+PA (and we'll throw in Brett Pill, too, since he's back):
Runs (percent of PA leading to a Run Scored)
Melky Cabrera - 15.7%
Pablo Sandoval - 14.1%
Gregor Blanco - 13.8%
Buster Posey - 10.9%
GIANTS - 10.5%
Emmanuel Burriss - 10.4%
Angel Pagan - 10.3%
Ryan Theriot - 10.1%
Brandon Belt - 9.3%
Hector Sanchez - 9.0%
Brett Pill - 8.2%
Joaquin Arias - 7.7%
Nate Schierholtz - 7.7%
Brandon Crawford - 7.3%
Who's more successful as the leadoff hitter? Gregor Blanco scores in 14.4% of the time when batting 1st while Angel Pagan scores 11.2% of the time.
Coming up with 2 out and a runner on offers little chance of scoring oneself, but a decent chance of driving in a run, so to balance things for those who bat later in the line up let's ask: who drives the most runs per Plate Appearance? Extra-base hits clearly help here, too.
RBI per 100 PA
Hector Sanchez - 18.0
Buster Posey - 16.2
Pablo Sandoval - 12.9
Melky Cabrera - 12.0
Brandon Belt - 11.7
Brett Pill - 10.6
GIANTS - 9.9
Brandon Crawford - 9.4
Nate Schierholtz - 8.7
Angel Pagan - 8.6
Gregor Blanco - 8.0
Ryan Theriot - 7.4
Joaquin Arias - 6.8
Emmanuel Burriss - 4.2
Coming out below average on both lists is probably a good indication of not doing much to help the team offensively. Angel Pagan & Ryan Theriot, despite "gamer" status, probably will need to step aside for more Gregor Blanco and Marco Scutaro (when Pablo returns and Scutaro can flip over to 2b). Brandon Crawford also doesn't come out well in either list, but hitting before the pitcher carries the double-wammy of being pitched around in some AB's when you have a chance to drive in a run and also of having the pitcher kill innings when you do get on. And, really, what's the Giants' alternative?
Brandon Belt again shows well -- better than he seems to get credit for from management, television broadcasters, writers and many fans -- though Hector Sanchez comes out amazingly well in limited PA's (small sample-size warnings) and he may prompt the shifting of Posey to 1b more often once he gets back on the field.
Throwing these numbers together to balance the advantages of batting early and late:
Runs Produced per PA
Melky Cabrera - .276
Buster Posey - .271
Hector Sanchez - .271
Pablo Sandoval - .270
Gregor Blanco - .218
Brandon Belt - .210
GIANTS - .204
Angel Pagan - .190
Brett Pill - .188
Ryan Theriot - .176
Brandon Crawford - .167
Nate Schierholtz - .163
Emmanuel Burriss - .146
Joaquin Arias - .144
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