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| 14th April, 2008 - 4:37 pm | Christopher Reina/RealGM - At RealGM, we use the Field Impact Counter (FIC) to objectively measure how effective teams are performing. We combine the position players and pitchers' FIC scores to measure which teams have played the best so far in 2008.
Click here for more information about the Field Impact Counter and the Reina Value.
*Through Sunday's games
Team: FIC Total (FIC Position Players/FIC Pitchers)
1. Arizona Diamondbacks: 25.14 (13.98/11.17)
Brandon Webb, Dan Haren and Micah Owings have ERA of 2.14, 2.50 and 2.63 respectively, but Justin Upton and his .400/.442/.756 and five homers has also been a big story for the D-Backs. Under the radar sleeper Mark Reynolds, also has five homers.
2. Chicago White Sox: 22.41 (12.12/10.29)
Gavin Floyd no-hit the Tigers through six innings this weekend and has a 2.03 ERA despite a 4.05 K/9.
3. St. Louis Cardinals: 20.49 (8.64/11.85)
The Cardinals have five players with an OPS over .900; Albert Pujols (1.244), Ryan Ludwick (1.210), Brian Barton (1.082), Rick Ankiel (.952) and Chris Duncan (.924).
4. Milwaukee Brewers: 18.96 (7.75/11.21)
The scary part of the fact that the Brewers are 5th in runs (64) is the fact that Prince Fielder has yet to hit his first home run of 2008 and Mike Cameron is only halfway done with his suspension (though it would be tough to take Gabe Kapler and his .962 slugging percentage out of the lineup in the two hole).
5. Toronto Blue Jays: 19.90 (8.00/10.90)
What great news for the Jays to see Vernon Wells slugging .560 while ranking first in the AL in runs scored (12) to go with Shaun Marcum’s 10.29 K/9 and Dustin McGowan’s 9.00 K/9.
6. Chicago Cubs: 18.77 (7.80/10.97)
Kosuke Fukudome prefers the Friendly Confines, as he has a .585 road OPS, compared to .899 at Wrigley.
7. Atlanta Braves: 18.74 (9.88/8.86)
The Brent Lillibridge suggestions have died down for now as Yunel Escobar is hitting .340/.436/.553, proving to be not so flukish. Brian McCann, with his .634 slugging percentage, is playing like the best catcher in the NL.
8. Los Angeles Angels: 17.55 (9.20/8.35)
Seven different members of the Angels have at least two homers, while two that don’t (Howie Kendrick and Chone Figgins), have OPS totals of 1.221 and .972 respectively.
9. Baltimore Orioles: 17.45 (7.93/9.53)
Adam Jones, who I thought would be one of the lone bright spots in Baltimore’s 2008 lineup, surprisingly is hitting just .211/.225/.316/
10. New York Mets: 17.37 (8.43/8.94)
Where would the Mets be without Angel Pagan and his .971 OPS and clutch hitting?
11. Cincinnati Reds: 17.17 (7.40/9.76)
Like Big Papi, the usually consistent Adam Dunn is slugging just .250, though he leads the MLB in BB/PA with a rate of .260.
12. Philadelphia Phillies: 16.89 (7.92/8.97)
Pat Burrell continues to kill it, hitting .359/.500/.769 while Ryan Howard has struck out in 28.8% of his plate appearances.
13. Seattle Mariners: 16.67 (8.20/8.48)
With DH Jose Vidro hitting .191/.283/.319, wouldn’t Barry Bonds look good next to the Mariner Moose? Raul Ibanez, meanwhile, leads the MLB in ISOP with .429.
14. Tampa Bay Rays: 16.58 (7.79/8.79)
Edwin Jackson has been flat out dealing, giving up one earned run in 14.0 innings. James Shields has also been solid for the Rays while Scott Kazmir has been on the shelf, posting a .300 ERA.
15. Pittsburgh Pirates: 16.40 (6.75/9.65)
Nate McLouth is third in the MLB in total bases with 35 and Jason Bay is back to form with three homers and a .978 OPS.
16. Oakland Athletics: 15.29 (4.76/10.54)
Jack Cust has more than doubled his AB/HR rate from 15.2 to 35.0, but fortunately for the A’s, they have had the opportunity to face C.C. Sabathia twice already.
17. Boston Red Sox: 15.13 (5.30/9.83)
With Mike Lowell on the mend, David Ortiz in a slump, they will need J.D. Drew to continue his fast 1.072 OPS start.
18. Kansas City Royals: 14.65 (3.38/11.28)
The Royals have a league-best 2.58 ERA with the Missouri-rival Cardinals have a distant second-best 3.29. Unfortunately, the lineup has slumped at the plate, hitting just five homers in 405 at bats.
19. Florida Marlins: 14.58 (5.89/8.69)
If the Marlins finish anywhere near .500, Hanley Ramirez must receive some legitimate consideration for MVP. He is hitting .396/.463/.667.
20. Texas Rangers: 13.63 (5.98/7.41)
Ben Broussard has a 12.3 AB/HR rate, but what’s up with Michael Young and his .208 batting average?
21. Cleveland Indians: 13.45 (5.76/7.69)
C.C. Sabathia is about to get paid (horrible start not withstanding), Fausto Carmona just got paid, but Cliff Lee has been the ace, yielding just one earned run in 14.2 innings while posting a K/9 rate of 7.36. After his fast start on Opening Day, Franklin Gutierrez is now hitting .176/.243/.324.
22. Houston Astros: 13.26 (5.85/7.41)
I was high on Hunter Pence coming into 2008, but has been a huge disappointment, batting .180/.212/.280. Pence hasn’t been aggressive enough against the first pitch like he was as a rookie and he has unsurprisingly struggled once falling behind in the count.
23. Los Angeles Dodgers: 13.11 (4.51/8.60)
Fortunately for the Dodgers Andruw Jones is signed to a two-year deal because his .100/.217/.125 suggests he could be done.
24. Minnesota Twins: 12.75 (2.78/9.97)
Justin Morneau is hitting .225/.333/.475, but has three homers. Michael Cuddyer, Joe Mauer and Delmon Young each have OPS totals in the .500’s.
25. New York Yankees: 12.25 (3.13/9.12)
Like clockwork, the Yankees are off to another slow start. Robinson Cano has a .393 OPS, Alex Rodriguez’s OPS is .775 and shortstop fill-in Alberto Gonzalez leads the club in this category with 1.005.
26. Colorado Rockies: 11.59 (3.82/7.78)
An SI jink for Troy Tulowitzki? Tulo is currently batting .159/.245.205
27. Washington Nationals: 11.44 (4.32/7.12)
Tim Redding has a 2.25 ERA over 16.0 innings of work and is the Nationals only starter with a win (2).
28. San Diego Padres: 11.42 (1.42/10.00)
Despite their excellent pitching, the Padres are getting out-OPS’d by a margin of .772 to .654.
29. San Francisco Giants: 9.38 (0.98/8.40)
Fred Lewis has a 1.648 OPS in games in which he bats lead-off for the Giants. The Giants’ pitching staff actually leads the MLB in strikeouts with 102.
30. Detroit Tigers: 6.96 (1.33/5.63)
The Tigers, who I thought could score 1,000 runs for the season, are on pace to score 446 (2.75 runs per game) and are slugging an MLB-worst .335.
- Christopher Reina is the executive editor of RealGM and the creator of the Reina Value. [READ] |
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