The article below is meant to provide a quick look at how my preseason projections match up with the paces of select major league hitters.
Matt Holliday
2008: .321/.409/.538, 25 HR, 107 R, 88 RBI, 28 SB in 539 AB
Proj..: .294/.386/.518, 28 HR, 99 R, 109 RBI, 13 SB in 585 AB
Pace: .275/.376/.437, 21 HR, 82 R, 95 RBI, 10 SB in 589 AB
It was mostly just a bad April. Holliday is hitting .292 with seven homers in 44 games since the beginning of May.
Jack Cust
2008: .231/.375/.476, 33 HR, 77 R, 77 RBI, 0 SB in 481 AB
Proj..: .230/.379/.460, 28 HR, 70 R, 79 RBI, 0 SB in 461 AB
Pace: .228/.320/.423, 28 HR, 90 R, 87 RBI, 3 SB in 553 AB
I don’t think Cust’s attempt to be more aggressive at the plate is paying off. Cust walked 19 percent of the time and struck out in 33 percent of his plate appearances last year. This year, he’s down to 12 percent and 24 percent, respectively. Unfortunately, the weaker strikeout rate isn’t resulting in more singles, much less additional home runs.
Orlando Cabrera
2008: .281/.334/.371, 8 HR, 93 R, 57 RBI, 19 SB in 661 AB Proj..: .267/.320/.363, 6 HR, 79 R, 66 RBI, 16 SB in 589 AB
Pace: .229/.283/.292, 5 HR, 75 R, 51 RBI, 5 SB in 651 AB
I thought Cabrera would play poorly enough to force the A’s to hit him lower in the order. He’s actually been far worse than expected, yet he’s still received all but six of his at-bats in the first and second spots in the lineup.
Jason Giambi
2008: .247/.373/.502, 32 HR, 68 R, 96 RBI, 2 SB in 458 AB
Proj..: .240/.377/.453, 23 HR, 61 R, 77 RBI, 1 SB in 404 AB
Pace: .212/.344/.394, 23 HR, 82 R, 87 RBI, 0 SB in 522 AB
Oddly, two-thirds of Giambi’s nine homers have come against lefties. Over the course of his career, 76 percent of his homers had come versus righties. He’s hitting just .205/.344/.311 against righties this season.
Ryan Sweeney
2008: .286/.350/.383, 5 HR, 53 R, 45 RBI, 9 SB in 384 AB
Proj..: .276/.345/.408, 11 HR, 80 R, 59 RBI, 8 SB in 529 AB
Pace: .246/.313/.319, 5 HR, 51 R, 39 RBI, 10 SB in 491 AB
Sweeney has proven to be a fine defensive center fielder, so he deserves to stay in Oakland’s lineup, at least against right-handers. He’s hitting .169 in 59 at-bats against lefties this year.
Kurt Suzuki
2008: .279/.346/.370, 7 HR, 54 R, 42 RBI, 2 SB in 530 AB
Proj..: .265/.334/.376, 9 HR, 52 R, 57 RBI, 1 SB in 479 AB
Pace: .274/.325/.395, 8 HR, 69 R, 57 RBI, 8 SB in 553 AB
Suzuki started 136 games behind the plate last year, good for third in baseball behind Jason Kendall and Russell Martin. He’s on pace for that exact same number this season.
