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The double play is a pitcher’s best friend but also a hitter’s worst enemy.
Recording a pair of outs on a single play can get a pitcher out of a huge jam unscathed while ruining a hitter’s chance to put a few runs on the board for his team at the same time.
If his defense is skilled enough to turn a few double plays on any given night, a pitcher can watch a good outing quickly turn into a great one. It’s not surprising that pitchers like Aaron Cook (16-8, 3.88 ERA), Cliff Lee (20-2, 2.32 ERA), Jon Lester (13-5, 3.37 ERA), Brandon Webb (19-6, 3.19 ERA) and Mike Mussina (17-7, 3.39 ERA) rank among the leaders in double plays induced.
However, this column is about hitters and how often a double play can kill an inning, a rally, and a reputation.
You don’t have to live in the tri-state area to have heard the criticism placed upon the shoulders of Alex Rodriguez for the inordinate amount of double plays he has ground into this season. The strange apsect of this is, he really hasn’t hit into that many.
While he has 15 double plays to his credit so far this season, 37 Major Leaguers have more, and he’s not even on pace to surpass the career-high 22 he ground into back in 2006.
Let’s take a look at some of the GIDP leaders through Sept. 2nd’s games.
MLB Leaders In GIDP 1. Vladimir Guerrero, L.A. Angels – 26
Miguel Tejada, Houston – 26
3. Derrek Lee, Chicago – 25
4. Jhonny Peralta, Cleveland – 24
5. James Loney, L.A. Dodgers – 23
Yunel Escobar, Atlanta – 23
7. Derek Jeter, N.Y. Yankees – 21
Magglio Ordonez, Chi. White Sox – 21
Bengie Molina, San Francisco – 21
10. Lyle Overbay, Toronto – 20
Adrian Gonzalez, San Diego – 20
Both Ordonez (.313) and Loney (.307) are hitting extremely well while Gonzalez (28), Guerrero (23) and Peralta (21) have power numbers large enough to dwarf some of the inning-ending double plays they initiate.
But where is Rodriguez on this list?
He’s well into the 30s, tied with eight other players who have also ground into 15 double plays this season.
12. Garrett Atkins, Colorado – 19
Yadier Molina, St. Louis – 19
Billy Butler, Kansas City – 19
15. Jose Guillen, Kansas City – 18
Orlando Hudson, Arizona – 18
Joe Mauer, Minnesota – 18
Alex Rios, Toronto – 18
Kurt Suzuki, Oakland – 18
20. Edgar Renteria, Detroit – 17
Michael Young, Texas – 17
Aaron Rowand, San Francisco – 17
Bobby Crosby, Oakland – 17
Delmon Young, Minnesota – 17
Robinson Cano, N.Y. Yankees – 17
Yuniesky Betancourt, Seattle – 17
Brian McCann, Atlanta – 17
Lastings Milledge, Washington – 17
29. Manny Ramirez, L.A. Dodgers/Boston – 16
Jermaine Dye, Chi. White Sox – 16
Emil Brown, Oakland – 16
Justin Morneau, Minnesota – 16
Jose Castillo, Houston/San Fran. – 16
Carlos Quentin, Chi. White Sox – 16
Ryan Theriot, Chi. Cubs – 16
36. Gary Sheffield, Detroit – 15
Alex Rodriguez, N.Y. Yankees – 15 Paul Konerko, Chi. White Sox – 15
Mark Teixeira, L.A. Angels/ATL – 15
Miguel Cabrera, Detroit – 15
J.J. Hardy, Milwaukee – 15
Jorge Cantu, Florida – 15
Skip Schumaker, St. Louis – 15
Russell Martin, L.A. Dodgers – 15
Interestingly enough, of the 44 players listed above (with anywhere between 15 to 26 GIDP this season), none play for the Tampa Bay Rays, who entered Sept. 3rd’s action with a half-game lead over the Angels for the best record in all of baseball.
Critics of Rodriguez will point out that he missed a number of games earlier this season with a quadriceps injury, limiting him to 118 of the Yankees’ first 138 games, which has helped reduced the number of double plays he’s hit into this season.
A-Rod must rank among the leaders in games per double play, right?
MLB Leaders In Games Per Double Play:
1. Nomar Garciaparra, L.A. Dodgers – 3.58
2. Vladimir Guerrero, L.A. Angels – 4.81
3. Miguel Tejada, Houston – 5.23
4. Yunel Escobar, Atlanta – 5.30
5. Derrek Lee, Chicago – 5.44
6. Jhonny Peralta, Cleveland – 5.46
7. Billy Butler, Kansas City – 5.63
8. Magglio Ordonez, Chi. White Sox – 5.81
Bengie Molina, San Francisco – 5.81
10. Orlando Hudson, Arizona – 5.94
Garciaparra, Butler, and Hudson are the only players who don’t rank in the top ten in total double plays, but all three sit on the cusp of the dubious list. However, once again Mr. Rodriguez resides way down the directory.
In fact, this time he ranks even lower, 40th (among the 107 players with more than ten GIDP's) to be exact, with an average of 7.87 games per double play.
Those who love to bash Rodriguez might begin to squirm at this point but don’t fret, there is still hope. The Yankees have an above-average offense (9th in runs scored) and probably more at-bats than the average club (they are a handful of ABs away from 10th), so let’s look at Alex’s GIDP numbers in terms of at-bats.
Once again, he seems to have defied the odds by ranking 45th (also out of 107) when calculating double plays per at-bat.
A-Rod hits into a double play every 29.3 at-bats, fewer than teammates Derek Jeter and Ivan Rodriguez.
Okay, something must be wrong here. How can a guy whose name has become synonymous with the rally-killing double play this season not be among the game’s most common offenders?
Let’s give it one last try. How about hits per double play?
No such luck, Alex ranks 63rd in terms of hits per GIDP this season, recording 9.13 base knocks per double play. Teammate Robinson Cano joins Jeter and I-Rod ahead of A-Rod on this list as does heralded Boston slugger David Ortiz, who notches 8.36 hits per GIDP.
Of course, those who are looking to tear Rodriguez down do have one ‘statistic’ on their side.
Eleven of Alex’s 15 double plays have come in the last month, when the Yankees have needed him the most.
From Aug. 5 to Sept. 2, the time period over which those 11 GIDP's occurred, Rodriguez is hitting just .276 with 27 hits and 23 strikeouts. He is dangerously close to having as many GIDP's as RBIs (19) during his current “slump”.
Over the last month he’s hitting into a double play every 2.36 games, every 8.9 at-bats, and every 2.18 recorded hit. Those are all horrible numbers, but if the game of baseball has taught us anything about statistics, it’s that everything usually evens out in the end.
In other words, we should have known by the four double plays Alex ground into over his first ninety-two games that a boatload of inning-killers were on their way.
Rodriguez also has an abnormally low batting average on balls in play (BABIP) lately, coinciding with those eleven GIDP.
His season average is .346, but over the last month he has a BABIP of just .276. That proves just how unlucky Alex has been in his last twenty-six games.
New York has than four weeks of action left this season, and with the playoffs all but out of the question, the Yankees can rest assured that Alex Rodriguez should start finding the gaps more often than not in the final few weeks of the season.
One question remains: Will improved production from Rodriguez be attributed to the balancing of his GIDP numbers or the fact that the games will start carrying less weight?
Andrew Perna is a Senior Writer for RealGM. Please feel free to contact him via e-mail with comments or questions on this piece: Andrew.Perna@RealGM.com.
