Quantcast

Prospectus Hit List for July 24



by Matthew Kory

Hit List for July 23 Hit List for July 25
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.

Six of the top seven teams are in the American League.

RkTmWLW1W2W3HLFAHLFWin Div%Win WC%Playoff%1-Day7-Day
1

57

38

56.4

59.4

58.3

.608

.627

86.6%

13.2%

99.8%

0.7%

0.5%

After embarrassing the Red Sox pitching staff, for their next trick the Rangers will take a breath.
2

58

38

56.3

55.9

56.4

.590

.609

97.3%

1.8%

99.1%

0.7%

-0.2%

Now that Ichiro joined Derek Jeter's Yankees, we can finally answer the age-old question: is it possible for two consecutive batters to ground into a double play?
3

53

44

53.8

55.0

55.7

.561

.580

12.8%

69.0%

81.8%

1.3%

3.6%

Kendrys Morales hit a game-winning single with the bases loaded. How much do you want to bet he was hoping he wouldn't hit a home run?
4

56

39

55.8

56.9

55.6

.590

.571

70.9%

17.0%

87.9%

5.1%

2.4%

Bryce Harper hit a two-run homer and drove in the winning run in his first time ever facing the Mets in New York. FItting, as you'll recall he's a Yankees fan.
5

51

45

52.4

51.6

52.1

.540

.559

46.6%

21.4%

68.0%

5.3%

-7.2%

Gavin Floyd posted a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 1-to-6. Who won the game? I don't even have to say it.
6

48

49

52.0

53.9

53.8

.535

.555

0.6%

13.2%

13.8%

-3.3%

-16.9%

What is there left to say about the way the Red Sox are playing that hasn't already been said about a pile of burning money?
7

52

44

50.2

51.2

52.1

.535

.555

46.0%

25.7%

71.7%

0.9%

21.4%

TIger pitchers have the fewest number of groundball outs in baseball.
8

50

46

56.8

57.8

55.6

.573

.554

15.7%

44.7%

60.4%

-4.3%

-1.1%

How fragile is baseball success? The middle of the Cardinals lineup, Holliday, Beltran, and Berkman would have been pretty solid 10 years ago.
9

51

44

49.5

48.0

49.0

.520

.540

0.6%

19.9%

20.5%

-0.3%

11.6%

The A's best hitter is probably Yoenis Cespedes, who has an .888 OPS until pitchers realize he'll swing at airplanes flying overhead.
10

56

40

54.4

51.7

51.7

.557

.537

69.5%

21.3%

90.8%

2.5%

8.1%

The Reds three through six hitters went 11-for-24. That's one way to win a ballgame. Another is playing the Astros. The Reds did both.
11

48

47

50.4

47.6

48.5

.512

.532

0.1%

5.4%

5.5%

-1.1%

1.9%

Alex Anthopoulos is currently trying to butt in on a deal between his pancakes and his syrup.
12

54

42

50.5

51.9

51.9

.542

.523

75.8%

8.6%

84.4%

3.0%

2.4%

How good is Buster Posey? He's better than Tim Beckham, Alex Gordon, Eric Hosmer, and Brian Matusz put together, though that would be one tall player.
13

49

47

48.2

46.4

47.9

.499

.519

1.0%

15.9%

16.9%

-1.1%

0.2%

The Rays are 8-16 against the AL Central, making them one of only two AL teams to post a losing record against that division.
14

54

41

52.1

49.4

48.6

.537

.517

14.5%

42.7%

57.2%

-5.9%

16.4%

Baseball's OPS leader is Andrew McCutchen at 1.071. That has been written recently in this space, I know, but did I mention Andrew McCutchen plays for the Pirates? Also, he is Baseball's OPS leader at 1.071!
15

48

48

43.4

47.9

48.3

.489

.509

7.4%

7.1%

14.5%

-0.4%

-18.5%

Over his last seven starts, Justin Masterson has given up (past to present): 0, 4, 1, 8, 0, 4, 1. Notice a pattern? If this were one of those SAT questions you'd probably get into the college of your choice.
16

52

44

50.4

49.8

50.7

.528

.509

28.2%

29.1%

57.3%

-7.0%

-19.4%

Braves pitching hasn't walked a hitter in 12 innings! That probably isn't that much but if you say it with the appropriate background music it can sound super important.
17

48

48

50.5

52.3

51.3

.527

.507

9.0%

11.7%

20.7%

3.5%

3.5%

Ian Kennedy entered last night's game hitting .036/.250/.036. He left it hitting .065/.256/.129. Aww yeeeah.
18

53

44

50.4

48.6

47.9

.515

.495

15.2%

16.6%

31.8%

5.0%

10.3%

The Dodgers are starting Bobby Abreu, Juan Rivera, and Adam Kennedy. T-minus something soon until they trade for Jason Kendall.
19

47

49

47.9

49.4

50.1

.506

.486

0.7%

3.2%

3.9%

-1.9%

-15.2%

The Mets, in what can only be described as an act of cruelty towards their own, used seven pitchers, five of whom lasted less than an inning. They lost because it made the Baseball Gods late for their dinner date.
20

51

45

43.1

41.1

42.5

.463

.483

1.0%

7.4%

8.4%

-2.6%

3.7%

The Orioles had hits in every inning except the first and ninth. They ended up with one run as just one of those seven innings contained more than one hit, and that inning resulted in, yes, a man thrown out at the plate.
21

42

56

47.2

44.0

44.6

.454

.473

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

-0.1%

0.0%

First base is where teams traditionally stash players who can hit but can't do much else. Justin Smoak is a first baseman. He is hitting .191/.255/.323. That, historically speaking, is awful. And that, actually speaking, is why he's been sent back to Triple-A.
22

40

55

41.8

41.0

41.5

.432

.452

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

-0.1%

It's so surprising that this whole Bruce Chen thing isn't working out. I mean, really, who could have seen that coming?
23

44

51

46.2

45.2

43.8

.472

.452

0.3%

4.4%

4.7%

0.5%

-4.1%

Now that he's off drugs, the fraud that Ryan Braun is can easily be seen in his OPS, which has dropped from .994 last season all the way to .982 this season.
24

43

54

45.4

47.6

46.7

.471

.451

0.0%

0.4%

0.4%

-0.1%

-0.3%

The Phillies are 10 games out of a Wild Card spot, 14 out of first place, and one of only three teams with an average age over 30. My point: trade the Phanatic!
25

40

56

38.7

41.2

41.3

.420

.440

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

Joe Mauer went 1-for-3 with a single. His hair went 5-for-5 with five homers. The Twins lost anyway.
26

45

51

40.3

43.1

43.5

.448

.428

0.2%

0.3%

0.5%

-0.4%

-3.0%

The Marlins spent hundreds of millions of dollars bringing in new players, a new manager, and building a new ballpark. Now, just over half a season later, they're in last place. Time to blow it up and move! Maybe Castro will build them a new park in Havana.
27

41

57

41.6

41.8

40.4

.420

.401

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

In 67 plate appearances Yasmani Grandal is hitting .299/.309/.582. Small sample size yourself to death, buzz killers, this is something for Padres fans to get excited about.
28

39

56

39.1

37.1

37.4

.402

.383

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

Who thought the Cubs would be playing spoiler in mid-July? Probably a lot of very smart people.
29

36

59

39.9

37.4

37.2

.396

.377

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

Jonathan Sanchez walked four and allowed five runs in four innings in his Colorado debut. And his Colorado debut wasn't even in Colorado. So this still has a few extra ugly miles to go.
30

34

63

36.8

35.9

35.3

.366

.348

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

Houston traded closer Brett Myers to the White Sox over the weekend. Now, without their closer how will the Astros finish in last place?!