Thursday, May 16, 2013
Mickey Mantle: .400 BA batting only righty?
From 1951 to 2013, vs LHP as RHB (within Platoon Splits), (requiring AB≥150 and batting_avg≥.400)
| Rk | I | Player | Split | Year | G | GS | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | SO | TB | GDP | HBP | SH | SF | IBB | ROE | tOPS+ | sOPS+ | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Buster Posey | vs LHP as RHB | 2012 | 68 | .433 | 181 | 164 | 71 | 18 | 1 | 13 | 47 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 21 | .433 | .470 | .793 | 1.262 | 130 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 | .436 | 160 | 229 | |||
| 2 | Mickey Mantle | vs LHP as RHB | 1964 | 75 | .424 | 186 | 158 | 67 | 11 | 1 | 15 | 51 | 3 | 2 | 28 | 26 | .424 | .511 | .791 | 1.302 | 125 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | .444 | 155 | 263 | |||
| 3 | Elston Howard | vs LHP as RHB | 1961 | 68 | .423 | 178 | 163 | 69 | 7 | 3 | 8 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 20 | .423 | .466 | .650 | 1.117 | 106 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | .449 | 139 | 199 | |||
| 4 | Mickey Mantle | vs LHP as RHB | 1957 | 60 | .421 | 175 | 152 | 64 | 13 | 4 | 8 | 28 | 2 | 1 | 23 | 19 | .421 | .497 | .717 | 1.214 | 109 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 5 | .448 | 105 | 230 | |||
| 5 | Albert Pujols | vs LHP as RHB | 2008 | 83 | .411 | 195 | 158 | 65 | 15 | 0 | 11 | 32 | 2 | 0 | 35 | 11 | .411 | .518 | .715 | 1.233 | 113 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 1 | .394 | 122 | 216 | |||
| 6 | Mariano Duncan | vs LHP as RHB | 1990 | 81 | .410 | 202 | 188 | 77 | 17 | 4 | 4 | 27 | 5 | 3 | 10 | 22 | .410 | .437 | .606 | 1.044 | 114 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | .448 | 154 | 182 | |||
| 7 | I | Roberto Clemente | vs LHP as RHB | 1964 | 74 | .409 | 203 | 176 | 72 | 17 | 2 | 7 | 27 | 0 | 1 | 22 | 19 | .409 | .468 | .648 | 1.115 | 114 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 12 | 1 | .425 | 154 | 212 | ||
| 8 | Kirby Puckett | vs LHP as RHB | 1991 | 65 | .406 | 165 | 155 | 63 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 24 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 19 | .406 | .436 | .658 | 1.094 | 102 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .434 | 167 | 196 | |||
| 9 | Victor Martinez | vs LHP as RHB | 2010 | 69 | .400 | 167 | 155 | 62 | 17 | 0 | 12 | 39 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 14 | .400 | .431 | .742 | 1.173 | 115 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 1 | .382 | 173 | 210 |
In 2012 Posey had a .433 BA against left handed pitching, higher than any such season for Mantle. Using the same method I used to estimate that Mantle would/might have BA .411 in 1957 and .419 in 1964, Posey could/might have had a BA of .428 in 2012 had he switch hit.
Click this link to view the Posey data. The Major Baseball League (MBL) percent difference in BA for righty batters facing lefty/righty pitchers in 2012 was -3.46%. That's the "penalty" I assessed against Posey's .433 BA for his at bats (AB), weighted by his at bats (AB) v lefty/righty pitchers. So obviously his overall BA would be over .400.
Victor Martinez is the only switch hitter, other than Mantle, among the batters listed above and since his righty BA is only .400 he cannot raise his season BA to .400. I will deconstruct the stats of the other righty batters and make them into switch hitters in a future post. Neither Howard nor Duncan had enough plate appearances (PA) to qualify:
- Howard: 482 PA, 446 AB
- Duncan: 471 PA, 435 AB.
Posey poses enough of a puzzle for the Mantle issue for now.
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