Johnny Damon still thinks he can “outhit at least half the league”

Last week, we learned that Johnny Damon is still holding out hope for an offer to join a major league club even though he’s now 40 years old and hasn’t played since the end of August 2012. Damon hasn’t tempered his desire to continue his playing career, as the Associated Press reports that the veteran is staying in shape and swinging the bat.

In a fit of either bravado or delusion, Damon says that he can still “outhit at least half the league”.

“When you feel you can still outhit at least half the league and you don’t get that call, it’s rough,” Damon told The Associated Press in a phone interview Friday. “The biggest reason to play is to have a chance to win. Obviously, 3,000 hits would be great but winning is the reason I started playing this game. I’m going to continue to stay in shape and I’ll be ready.”

Over five months in 2012, Damon posted an adjusted OPS (also known as OPS+) of 72. 100 is average, so Damon was 28 points below the league average. Only 38 players came to the plate at least 200 times that season and posted a lower adjusted OPS than Damon. Damon’s wRC+ (a metric like OPS+ that uses more accurate component stats) was 71, putting him ahead of only 45 hitters out of 347 in total (or about 13 percent of the field).

Add two years of age following a two-year layoff? The odds of Damon out-hitting half the league are quite small. Since 1901, only 40 hitters have qualified for the batting title at the age of 40 or older and posted an adjusted OPS of 100 or better. 20 of those 25 hitters are Hall of Famers or were on the ballot (or were Pete Rose).

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