2014 Team Firsts – NL Edition |

Following up from the post on the AL teams, here is a team-by-team look at some singular statistical markers from the 2014 season.

More after the jump.

Starting with the East

Washington had two players (Ian Desmond, Adam LaRoche) with 20 HR and 90 RBI, but with fewer than 75 runs scored, a franchise first. Only four other Washington or Montreal teams had even one such player, and only three other teams (two of them league champions) since 1901 have had two: Jorge Cantu and Aubrey Huff of the 2005 Devil Rays; Mark McGwire and Dave Parker of the 1989 As; and Boog Powell and Brooks Robinson of the 1971 Orioles.

Atlanta‘s 7-18 record (.280) in September was its worst W-L% to close out a season since the team left Boston. The last Braves team with a worse Sep/Oct record was the 1935 club that lost a franchise worst 115 games and posted a .248 season winning percentage, the lowest in the NL since 1900 (that team was so bad the franchise changed its nickname the next season to break with the past and make a fresh start). Andrelton Simmons‘ 11.7 career dWAR is the most by a Brave shortstop thru age 24, and second among all shortstops to Ozzie Guillen‘s 12.0 dWAR (Guillen, though, had played over 250 more games, and over 2000 more innings than Simmons).

Miami boasted three outfielders (Marcell Ozuna, Giancarlo Stanton, Christian Yelich) aged 24 or younger with 600 PA. Only four other Marlins teams had even one such outfielder. Since 1901, only three other teams have fielded such an outfield: the 1910 and 1912 Red Sox with Harry Hooper, Duffy Lewis and Tris Speaker; and the 1978 Expos with Warren Cromartie, Andre Dawson, and Ellis Valentine.

Philadelphia was the polar opposite of the Marlins, giving 600 PA to four players aged 34 or older (Marlon Byrd, Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley), the most ever on any team. But, it didn’t stop with the position players. Philadelphia also gave 200+ IP to a 37 year-old (A.J. Burnett) with an ERA+ under 85. As bad as Philadelphia has been over the years, they’ve never done that before, with 35 year-old Jack Scott of the 1927 team the previous oldest Phillie to pitch so much so poorly.

New York‘s Citi Field is one tough ballpark for hitters. How tough? Well, Curtis Granderson batted under .230 and slugged under .400, but still compiled a 105 OPS+, the first Met to reach that OPS+ level in a qualifying season with those markers. On the pitching front, the Mets went the Phillies one better, giving 200 innings to a 41 year-old (Bartolo Colon) with an 85 ERA+, the oldest Met pitcher with those markers, easily eclipsing 36 year-old Mike Torrez in 1983.

In the Central

St. Louis‘s 32 year-old Adam Wainwright became the oldest Cardinal pitcher of the expansion era to win 20 games while leading his league in shutouts and HR/9. The only older Cardinal to do so was 33 year-old Harry Breechen when he led the NL in just about everything (except Wins) in 1948. Matt Carpenter had the 94th qualified season of the live ball era by a third baseman who did not slug higher than his on base percentage. But, it was the first such season by a Cardinal.

Pittsburgh gave 120 games and 350 PA to eight players in the age 25-29 sweet spot, tied with the 2007 club for the most in franchise history. Two of those players (Josh Harrison, Andrew McCutchen) recorded 35 doubles and 15 stolen bases while batting .300 with a 130 OPS+, the first such duo (of any age) in franchise history.

Milwaukee‘s Jonathan Lucroy had the first season by a Brewer of 50 doubles and fewer than 75 runs scored. There has been only one other such season in major league history, by Baby Doll Jacobson in 1926, whose 62 runs scored barely exceeded his 61 extra-base hits (Lucroy was 73/68). Aramis Ramirez‘s 75 strikeouts were the fewest by a Brewer in a qualified season with 15 home runs and three times as many strikeouts as walks. No other Brewer has fewer than 100 whiffs in such a campaign.

Cincinnati gave 400 PA to five players (Jay Bruce, Zack Cozart, Billy Hamilton, Ryan Ludwick, Brandon Phillips) with OPS+ under 95, tied with the 1929 team for the most in franchise history. The 2014 club is also the first in franchise history with no position players batting .275, regardless of AB.

Chicago had four pitchers (Jake Arrieta, Jason Hammel, Kyle Hendricks, Jeff Samardzija) with 10 starts and a 125 ERA+ (and five with a 115 ERA+), both tied for the franchise high in the live ball era. But, the Jekyll and Hyde Northsiders also gave 25 starts to each of two pitchers (Edwin Jackson, Travis Wood) with ERA+ under 80, the only Cubs team ever to do that.

And out West

Los Angeles right-fielder Yasiel Puig is the first Dodger with 4.5 WAR and 3.0 WAA in each of the first two seasons of a career. He is also the youngest Dodger to record two such seasons. Clayton Kershaw finished the 2014 season with career totals north of 1300 IP and 150 ERA+, the only pitcher to ever finish a season with those Dodger career marks. Kershaw’s 2014 W-L% (.875) and ERA (1.77) are the best ever recorded by a pitcher in a season of 25 starts with fewer than 200 IP, while his 239 strikeouts are tied with Oliver Perez and Pedro Martinez for the most in such a season.

San Francisco‘s bullpen featured five pitchers (Jeremy Affeldt, Santiago Casilla, J.C. Gutierrez, Jean Machi, Sergio Romo) aged 30+ with 50 IP, the most ever for the franchise. One of the younger relievers (Hunter Strickland) became the first NL pitcher to finish his debut season winning the World Series while logging more IP (and allowing more home runs!) in the post-season than in the regular season.

San Diego had just one player (Seth Smith) who qualified for the league batting title, a franchise low. Jedd Gyorko‘s 51 RBI were the lowest total to lead the Friars in a full-length season, with their .666 team OPS also a franchise low. Only two other teams of the live ball era had a lower team-leading RBI total in a full-length season: the 1954 Orioles, led by Vern Stephens with 46; and the 1968 White Sox, led by Pete Ward and Tommy Davis, both with 50.

Colorado had no players who scored or drove in more than 82 runs, the first such team in franchise history. The pitching wasn’t any better as five pitchers (Christian Bergman, Jhoulys Chacin, Yohan Flande, Franklin Morales, Juan Nicasio) recorded 10 or more starts with an ERA+ below 85, tied with the 2012 club for the franchise high. Among those with 50+ IP, the best ERA on the team belonged to 41 year-old LaTroy Hawkins.

Arizona was just as bad as Colorado. The Snakes had no players who scored or drove in more than 75 runs, plus 5 pitchers (Chase Anderson, Bronson Arroyo, Trevor Cahill, Brandon McCarthy, Wade Miley) with 14 or more starts and an ERA+ below 95, franchise firsts on both counts.

What statistical oddities caught your attention this past season?

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Dr. Doom

10 years ago

An oddity I started tracking during the season some time is that Jean Segura wound up with fewer TB this year than he had H last year – and in the same number of games played (146). That’s not really what you’d call a good thing.

Doug

Reply to Dr. Doom

Not a good sign. Segura dropped almost 3 WAR from his 2013 season. Technically, he (just) exceeded rookie limits in 2012, but if you want to call 2013 his unofficial rookie season, then hopefully (for the Brewers) 2014 was just a sophomore jinx.

I was looking at something for Segura’s season to include in the narrative, but always seemed to find one or two more seasons that just eclipsed his – for example, Segura has the second fewest hits and 3rd lowest OPS+ by a Brewer in a season with 100+ singles.

Reply to Doug

He definitely had some family stuff going on this year, too, when his infant son died in July (I think it was July, anyway). I’d imagine that takes a toll – though his season was already pretty well in the toilet by that point. Thereafter, a decent August and quite good September put him back on track. Hopefully, that’s where he’ll be as a player moving forward.

Friday: So long, Sean Halton | The Frosty Mug - All Things Milwaukee Brewers

[…] Adam Lind, and here’s a perfect example of how much the Brewers could use power production: Doug of High Heat Stats notes that Jonathan Lucroy was the first Brewer and just the second player in MLB history to […]

brp

Nate Schierholtz had a 49 OPS+ in his at-bats with the Cubs and 52 OPS+ overall.

For all RF with at least 300 PAs, only the players below had a lower OPS+.

1904 Boston Beaneaters, Pat Carney, 300 PA, 49 OPS+
1954 Washington Senators, Tom Umphlett, 362 PA, 47 OPS+
1985 Texas Rangers George Wright, 395 PA, 33 OPS+

Author

Reply to brp

Good one, brp.

You have to go back to the dead ball era to find another Cubs outfielder with 300 PA who batted under .200 with twice as many singles as extra-base hits – Dode Paskert in 1919.

– Madison Bumgarner became the first Giants pitcher in the SF era to hit four home runs. – Brandon Crawford became the first qualified Giants shortstop to have a Batting Average under .250 and an OPS+ as high as 104. Some slightly more arbitrary ones now: – Crawford was also the first Giant with exactly 20 2B, 10 3B and 10 HR, and the first with at least those marks and fewer than 200 TB. Also the first shortstop with double digit SF and IBB. – Joe Panik was the first rookie Giant since Ross Youngs in 1918 to bat… Read more »

Reply to RJ

What strikes me about Pence is his consistency in R+RBI-HR, even moving from team to team, and as those individual components have fluctuated a bit. These are the totals (R + RBI – HR) for his last 5 years.
– 2010: 159 (93 + 91 – 25)
– 2011: 159 (84 + 97 – 22)
– 2012: 167 (87 + 104 -24)
– 2013: 163 (91 + 99 – 27)
– 2014: 160 (106 + 74 -20)

Artie Z.

Scott Rice set a Mets “record” with less than a half inning per game pitched among pitchers who pitched in more than 10 games. Rice pitched 13.2 innings in 32 games, so he pitched 0.42708333 innings per game. The previous Mets “record” for 10+ games was set in 2013 by Pedro Feliciano, 11.1 innings in 25 games, which is 0.453333 innings per game. Dropping the bar to 5+ games gives a new “champ,” Tim Hamulack in 2005, who pitched 2.1 innings in 6 games (0.38888 IP/G). Even dropping the bar to 2 games only gives one more pitcher below a… Read more »

Reply to Artie Z.

Tim Byrdak is the Mets leader in appearances of one out or less – 42 of them in 2011. Pedro Feliciano had three straight years (2008-10) with over 35 such outings.

Long-time Met Jesse Orosco had three seasons of 35+ games averaging less than a half-inning per, but late in his career, with the Orioles and Dodgers. The record holder is Randy Choate with 38.2 IP in 80 games in 2012, split between the Dodgers and Marlins.

Ken

This is not from the past season, but I ran across a player today I’d never heard of, Hilly Hathaway. He pitched for the Angels in 1992-93. His real first name is Hillary. He made 12 lifetime starts, and his career high in strikeouts was two. He struck out only 12 in 63 career innings. The only player whose career ended after 1928 with that few strikeouts in that many innings was George O’Donnell, who had just 8 K in 87.1 innings.

Reply to Ken

Hathaway did most of his work in 1993, with 11 strikeouts in 57.1 IP. But, the season before, Luis Aquino of the Royals had the same 11 strikeouts in 67.2 IP, more than a full game more the Hathaway. That season by Aquino is the most IP with 12 or fewer SO since O’Donnell did his thing in 1954.

Aquino’s K/9 rate as a percentage of league was 19% (1.47/7.67), O’Donnell in 1954 was 20% (0.82/4.15), and Hathaway in 1992 was far back at 32% (1.73/5.40). The all-time non-zero champ was probably Ted Wingfield in 1927 at 4% (0.12/2.78).

9 years ago

I just discovered Zack Greinke went 12-0 against the division this year. Does any other pitcher have a spotless intra-division record with more wins in the divisional era? Is it a first for the Dodgers? I’m not sure how to search for this.

Richard Chester

RJ: I stumbled across this comment of yours completely by accident. It just so happens that in birtelcom’s Aramis Ramirez post of today, 2/16/2015, he mentions that divisional records are available in the Lee Sinins Complete Baseball Encyclopedia. Perhaps you can find the answer to your question there. You can find it by googling but there is a charge to access it.

Reply to Richard Chester

Thanks Richard. I probably can’t justify spending that money right now on the off chance that I get one trivia question answered, but I’ll bear it in mind for the future.

Editor

birtelcom

The Sinins CBE won’t answer that any more than the Play Index will. The CBE will produce leaderboards for all games played for division teams but doesn’t distinguish between intra-division and inter-division games. So I can use the CBE to tell you that Micah Owings’ 8-0 record for an Arizona in 2011 is the most Wins without a Loss in a single season for an NL West team, but I can’t answer your question about Greinke.