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Prospectus Hit List for May 31



by Matthew Kory

Hit List for May 30 Hit List for June 1
Teams are ordered based on Adjusted Hit List Factor, a computer generated number, and the author isn't responsible for the order of the teams.

Josh Hamilton is nearly twice as likely to hit a home run as he is to draw an unintentional walk.

RkTmWLW1 W2W3HLFAHLFWin Div%Win WC%Playoff%1-Day7-Day
1

31

20

33.1

35.1

34.7

.656

.674

90.2%

8.3%

98.4%

0.0%

-1.2%

Josh Hamilton has walked 19 times in 207 plate appearances but six of those are intentional. That means Hamilton's unintentional walk rate is 6 percent. That's OK though because his homer rate is 10 percent.
2

27

24

32.0

33.1

31.9

.608

.589

57.9%

20.9%

78.7%

-3.1%

-7.9%

The 270 runs scored by the Cardinals is more than every team in the American League, except for the Rangers. See? The DH is for wusses!
3

29

21

28.1

30.8

29.8

.588

.569

7.1%

18.5%

25.6%

-5.5%

-3.5%

The good news: in his first start back, Chien-Ming Wang had five ground-ball outs to just one fly-ball out. The bad news: he gave up a homer, two doubles, and he walked three.
4

29

22

29.4

30.7

30.9

.588

.607

52.8%

9.1%

61.8%

5.5%

27.6%

The White Sox haven't just won eight in a row, they've dominated for eight straight games. Their average margin of victory is over 4 runs.
5

32

18

30.0

30.5

30.0

.613

.593

68.1%

8.7%

76.8%

-4.7%

-11.0%

Matt Kemp's return to the lineup lasted all of five at-bats. Somewhere, Frank McCourt would be laughing if it weren't for the thousands of tiny needle pricks he keeps mysteriously feeling all over his body.
6

27

25

27.1

28.0

27.5

.527

.507

19.3%

19.7%

39.0%

0.4%

8.3%

Is it funnier that Ty Wigginton was hitting cleanup or that it worked (he went 2-for-4 with a homer and a double)?
7

26

26

27.0

27.7

27.0

.518

.538

9.8%

52.0%

61.8%

5.9%

26.4%

Mike Trout has the second-highest slugging percentage on the Angels. Mike Trout is 20. When I was 20, I had the second-highest GPA in my dorm room.
8

26

24

27.1

27.3

27.3

.539

.559

21.7%

33.5%

55.1%

-1.2%

-0.4%

The real tragedy of Dustin Pedroia’s injury is that the Red Sox must now turn to Nick Punto: Baseball Investigator. When last we left him, our hero was investigating ways to acquire a batting average.
9

27

24

25.7

27.1

26.6

.522

.502

21.7%

19.3%

40.9%

-8.3%

10.2%

It's certainly not uncommon for Tim Lincecum to have bold ink on his player page. This year, for instance, he leads the league in three categories. But they are walks, losses and games started.
10

29

22

26.6

26.9

27.7

.540

.560

26.4%

28.3%

54.7%

2.0%

-13.8%

Three years ago, Carlos Pena hit .227. Then the next year he hit .196. Last year he hit .225. So now that he's hitting .204 let's not all act like he's slumping, okay?
11

27

23

26.6

26.8

26.6

.535

.555

45.3%

26.4%

71.7%

2.8%

5.9%

Mark Teixeira's on-base percentages, 2008 to present: .410, .383, .365, .341, .328.
12

28

24

27.8

26.7

26.7

.525

.505

38.2%

24.8%

63.0%

8.3%

-15.0%

Apparently, Jonny Venters has lost his eighth-inning job. On Wednesday, he pitched in the sixth. And still got a blown save.
13

29

22

25.7

26.4

26.0

.525

.505

31.1%

23.6%

54.7%

11.0%

10.2%

The most Marlins thing ever: the Marlins got the city of Miami to spend more than $500 million on a new stadium with a sliding roof, but they only bothered to teach one person how to use the thing.
14

27

24

28.2

25.7

26.0

.524

.544

1.2%

7.1%

8.3%

2.0%

0.0%

Somewhere in their clubhouse the Blue Jays have one of those life-sized cardboard cutouts where, like in the movie Major League, they peal off a piece of clothing after each win. Unlike in the movie, the Jays cutout is of Bud Selig.
15

29

22

26.3

25.4

26.0

.523

.543

5.5%

7.5%

13.0%

-10.2%

-10.2%

Now that the Orioles have lost five in a row, they're in negotiations with Adam Jones to unsign him to a five-year contract.
16

23

30

26.7

25.0

24.9

.470

.490

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

-0.4%

-1.6%

1) Before last night it was thought that the Mariners scoring 21 runs would require a triple-word score. 2) Hisashi Iwakuma entered the game in the seventh inning with the score 17-5. He pitched three innings and got a save.
17

23

28

23.7

24.8

25.3

.474

.454

9.8%

7.5%

17.3%

2.4%

-4.3%

It isn't hard to see why the Yankees gave up on ian Kennedy and traded him, and by that same token, it isn't hard to see why he can be so good. Ian Kennedy: Easy to see.
18

28

22

27.0

24.5

24.7

.521

.501

29.5%

26.8%

56.3%

-11.0%

-2.0%

Joey Votto is walking in more than 20 percent of his plate appearances. Adam Dunn is jealous.
19

27

23

22.5

24.5

25.2

.496

.516

31.5%

16.9%

48.4%

-0.4%

-19.7%

Casey Kotchman has run afoul of the baseball gods. Last year, his BABIP was .335, while this year it's .231. This man needs to cut the head off a chicken or something.
20

23

27

23.9

23.5

23.7

.471

.491

15.7%

10.6%

26.4%

-6.3%

-12.6%

If the Tigers defense was more mobile they'd do a better job of realizing their true slapstick potential.
21

28

23

23.0

23.1

22.8

.475

.455

4.3%

7.9%

12.2%

1.2%

3.5%

Boy oh boy is .400 hard. David Wright's batting average has dropped 40 points in just six days, and thus ends another dream.
22

22

28

22.7

23.0

22.7

.452

.432

11.8%

21.3%

33.1%

9.4%

11.0%

In 15 trips to the plate, Cody Ransom, Ryan Braun, and Rickie Weeks combined for six walks, six strikeouts, and one hit. Dave Kingman would be proud.
23

21

28

22.4

22.0

22.4

.448

.468

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

My wife picked the Royals in our annual pre-season picks, causing me to retort, "That's just stupid." Thanks, Royals. The couch was super comfy.
24

22

28

24.6

21.9

22.4

.454

.435

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

This time last year Jose Altuve was in High-A Lancaster. Now he’s hitting .300 in the bigs. If Altuve has proven anything, it’s that opportunity matters.
25

18

32

20.0

21.1

21.9

.405

.385

0.0%

0.4%

0.4%

0.4%

0.4%

Starlin Castro walked. That isn't otherwise notable except that before last night, in 211 previous plate appearances, he had walked four times.
26

25

25

21.2

19.9

20.4

.432

.413

0.8%

0.0%

0.8%

-0.4%

0.0%

When the Pirates score three or more runs they're 20-6. When they score two or fewer they're Loosey-Lose and Lose More.
27

17

35

18.9

19.8

20.5

.367

.348

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

-0.4%

The Padres are second worst in baseball in run scoring so it totally makes sense that they traded 22-year-old first baseman Anthony Rizzo (.354/.415/.713 in Triple-A) for a 25-year-old reliever. Oh, wait. DOESN'T make sense. Yeah, that's right.
28

20

29

22.5

19.6

18.8

.413

.393

0.4%

0.8%

1.2%

-0.0%

0.4%

If being cut by Colorado was the end of Jamie Moyer's career, it was a long, slow, speed-changing, and ultimately rewarding career.
29

18

32

17.6

19.1

19.0

.369

.387

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

After Francisco Liriano's six innings of shutout ball with nine strikeouts, he revealed it wasn't the recent demotion that made him want to leave the bullpen so much as the live and apparently tempestuous bull that lived there.
30

22

29

20.9

18.2

18.6

.391

.410

0.0%

0.4%

0.4%

0.4%

-0.4%

The A's have lost eight in a row before, so this is old hat to them, but getting swept by the AL-worst Twins? Team President Billy Beane said, "It's like going trick-or-treating, wanting candy, expecting fruit, and getting veggies dipped in poo."