01 June 2005
The numbers below are AVG/OBP/SLG (OPS). That's batting average, on-base percentage, slugging average, and on-base-plus-slugging. OPS is a very useful statistic that actually correlates very well to total runs scored at the team and league levels. So each individual player's OPS is the best measure of their value from the batter's box.
In other words, the number in parentheses is each player's OPS and the only number I'm especially concerned with for now:
| Starters (155+ plate appearances) |
| Chipper Jones | 317/444/576 (1020) |
| Andruw Jones | 262/322/524 (846) |
| Marcus Giles | 283/344/445 (789) |
| Adam LaRoche | 243/313/450 (763) |
| Johnny Estrada | 272/319/391 (710) |
| Raul Mondesi | 211/271/359 (630) |
| Rafael Furcal | 229/281/333 (614) |
| Brian Jordan | 238/287/311 (598) |
| |
| Bench (38+ plate appearances) |
| Wilson Betemit | 275/408/500 (908) |
| Pete Orr | 281/313/422 (735) |
| Ryan Langerhans | 188/250/425 (675) |
| Eddie Perez | 216/237/432 (669) |
| Julio Franco | 229/273/337 (610) |
| |
| Team Splits |
| vs LHP | 277/344/448 (792) |
| vs RHP | 242/305/401 (705) |
| Bases Empty | 236/287/382 (668) |
| Runners On | 268/347/451 (798) |
| Scoring Position | 243/339/414 (752) |
| Runner only on 1st | 308/361/511 (872) |
| |
| TOTAL | 249/312/410 (722) |
Probably the most fascinating numbers are the splits when runners are only on first. The Braves are hitting quite poorly with runners on scoring position, but the team has hit 28 doubles, 1 triple, and 8 home runs when there was a lone runner on first-base. That has amounted to 34 runs scoring from first-base in about 290 chances, which is much higher than normal and has helped land the Braves near the top of the league in runs scored.
But they can't rely on extra-base hits with runners on first forever. The Braves
need to step up their hitting with no one one base. A .287 on-base percentage with no one on makes for many quick innings for the opposition, and it means that the Braves' decent numbers with runners on base have occurred over a much smaller sample size since there haven't been as many baserunners.
