Best Hitting Infields and Outfields, 2007

In a BTF thread on the Phillies’ signing of Pedro Feliz, there was some discussion of whether or not he along with Howard, Utley, and Rollins gave them the best hitting infield in baseball. Obviously, that is a foreword-thinking question, but I thought that since I had the data by position for each team readily available, it would be mildly interesting to see which units performed the best last season.

The stats below are from the Baseball Direct Scoreboard; infielders are (duh) first baseman, second baseman, third baseman, and shortstops. Pitchers, catchers, and DHs do not factor in to the totals for either the infield or the outfield. All players who were classified by STATS as playing the position are included in the totals. There are no park adjustments, and RC does not include basestealing.

Beginning with infielders, three teams were within one-tenth of a run per game of the lead: the Yankees (6.19 RG), the Marlins (6.18), and the Phillies (6.14). Since the comments about Feliz inspired this little survey, it is worthwhile to note that third base was definitely the weakest infield position for Philadelphia last year (4.01)--however, Feliz himself created just 4.07 runs last year.

On the other side, the Giants trailed (3.90), followed by the Twins (4.00) and the White Sox (4.04). The overall average was 5.03.

The top hitting outfield was that of the Rockies (6.63), well ahead of the Tigers (6.34) and the Phillies (6.23). However, with a park adjustment, the Rockies drop to 6.03.

The average outfield created 5.17 runs. The worst hitters were on the south side of Chicago, as White Sox outfielders limped in at 4.34, ahead of the Mets, Diamondbacks, and Royals (4.40).