Monday: BB% and K%

Today we examine those who walked and struck out the most often on the 2008 Rangers:

Top 5: Highest BB%

Milton Bradley 16.2%

Jarrod Saltalamacchia 13.5%

Brandon Boggs 13.5%

Ramon Vazquez 11.2%

Marlon Byrd 10.2%

The list of highest BB% was encouraging to me, especially since it includes two young players: Saltalamacchia and Boggs. For all of the grief that Saltalamcchia endured last year in terms of power and batting average, he still ended the season with a .352 OBP, which shows his maturation in terms of understanding the strike zone. Now if he can learn to hit it once it's there . . .


Predictably, most of those who made the top 5 BB% list also made the K% list:

Top 5: Highest K%

Jarrod Saltalamacchia 37.4%

Brandon Boggs 32.9%

Chris Davis 29.8%

Milton Bradley 27.1%

Ramon Vazquez 22.0%

Despite the fact that I just said that it was encouraging that Saltalamacchia and Boggs were on the previous list, the fact that they are at the top of this one is somewhat troublesome. Why? In the case of Chris Davis, the number of strikeouts is still problematic, but he makes up for it by slugging .549. Same for Bradley, who also managed to hit .321 in addition to slugging .563. Saltalamacchia and Boggs slugged an underwhelming .364 and .399, respectively.


It stuck out to me that Marlon Byrd and Chris Davis are the only players not in both categories, which naturally led to . . .

Highest and Lowest BB/K ratio:

Marlon Byrd, the only player in the Top 5 BB% list not on the Top 5 K% list, was tops on the team in BB/K ratio with .74. This is a pretty remarkable feat, given how a high number of walks usually implies a high number of strikeouts. Marlon Byrd was arguably one of the most balanced hitters in the lineup in 2008.

Chris Davis, the only player in the Top 5 K% list not on the Top 5 BB% list, was lowest on the team in BB/K ratio with .23. While it is clear that Davis will continue to mash homeruns, the fact that he has such poor control of the strikezone is a bit worrisome. Unlike Byrd, there's no balance here.