Home runs is one of the few basic stats which is still revered as a total, ignoring opportunities. Here are the 2021 MLB batters with at least 33 home runs through 9/12/21 from stathead.com via baseball-reference.com:
| Rk | Player | HR | AB | Year | Age | Tm | Lg | G | PA | R | H | 2B | 3B | RBI | BB | IBB | SO | HBP | SH | SF | GDP | SB | CS | Pos | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vladimir Guerrero Jr. | 44 | 533 | 2021 | 22 | TOR | AL | 142 | 617 | 113 | 170 | 21 | 1 | 102 | 77 | 7 | 100 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 18 | 4 | 1 | .319 | .408 | .610 | 1.018 | *3D/5 |
| 2 | Shohei Ohtani | 44 | 475 | 2021 | 26 | LAA | AL | 136 | 554 | 91 | 123 | 25 | 5 | 94 | 74 | 12 | 168 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 23 | 9 | .259 | .361 | .611 | .972 | *D1/H97 |
| 3 | Salvador Perez | 42 | 548 | 2021 | 31 | KCR | AL | 142 | 587 | 75 | 150 | 19 | 0 | 105 | 24 | 4 | 148 | 11 | 0 | 4 | 13 | 1 | 0 | .274 | .315 | .538 | .854 | *2D/H |
| 4 | Marcus Semien | 39 | 574 | 2021 | 30 | TOR | AL | 143 | 640 | 103 | 156 | 37 | 2 | 94 | 60 | 0 | 131 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 15 | 1 | .272 | .342 | .547 | .889 | *46/D |
| 5 | Fernando Tatis Jr. | 38 | 403 | 2021 | 22 | SDP | NL | 110 | 464 | 91 | 114 | 26 | 0 | 89 | 55 | 5 | 127 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 25 | 3 | .283 | .369 | .630 | .999 | *69/8HD |
| 6 | Adam Duvall | 34 | 451 | 2021 | 32 | TOT | NL | 129 | 491 | 61 | 103 | 16 | 2 | 99 | 35 | 1 | 148 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 5 | 0 | .228 | .285 | .499 | .784 | 978H |
| 7 | Matt Olson | 34 | 497 | 2021 | 27 | OAK | AL | 137 | 586 | 91 | 137 | 32 | 0 | 98 | 71 | 7 | 94 | 9 | 0 | 9 | 16 | 4 | 1 | .276 | .370 | .545 | .916 | *3/D |
| 8 | Kyle Seager | 34 | 531 | 2021 | 33 | SEA | AL | 141 | 595 | 68 | 111 | 22 | 1 | 94 | 57 | 1 | 141 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 3 | 1 | .209 | .287 | .446 | .734 | *5/DH |
| 9 | Rafael Devers | 33 | 520 | 2021 | 24 | BOS | AL | 139 | 588 | 87 | 142 | 34 | 1 | 102 | 59 | 7 | 131 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 4 | 5 | .273 | .350 | .533 | .883 | *5/D4H |
| 10 | Brandon Lowe | 33 | 471 | 2021 | 26 | TBR | AL | 133 | 547 | 86 | 112 | 26 | 0 | 84 | 64 | 4 | 152 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 1 | .238 | .338 | .503 | .841 | *4H7/9D3 |
| 11 | Jose Ramirez | 33 | 478 | 2021 | 28 | CLE | AL | 131 | 550 | 93 | 122 | 28 | 4 | 87 | 62 | 10 | 77 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 23 | 3 | .255 | .347 | .538 | .885 | *5D/H |
Guerrero has had more opportunities than Ohtani: more AB and more PA. Tatis, who leads the NL, has had the fewest opportunities among these eleven batters: fewest AB and fewest PA. Only 2 of 11 are in the NL.
Let's take another look using AB and then PA.
Tatis played September 12, 2021 in his team's game number 142, so there are 20 games remaining. If Tatis plays in all 20 and has 4 PA in each he will have 544 PA, more than the minimum 502 to qualify in the "average" stats like BA, OBP, SLG, OPS.
But if Adam Duvall, who played all his games in the NL, passes Tatis in home runs, Duvall will be the NL home run king. Seems primitive.
Somebody will lead in hits but who will notice? Long ago batting average supplanted raw hits and BA isn't considered very useful now, although leading in BA is still called leading the league in hitting.
All of which is curious at the least.
No comments:
Post a Comment