2010 in Review: Designated Hitter

by Ryan on Nov 18, 2010 10:39 PM EST in Analysis

Posts in this series:

Team Offense	Team Pitching	Team Defense
Catcher	First Base	Second Base
Shortstop	Third Base	Designated Hitter
Left Field	Center Field	Right Field
Starting Pitching	Relief Pitching

Part I: Review

Travis Hafner appeared in over 100 games for the first time since 2007, and posted his highest OPS+ since his fantastic 2006 campaign. Shelley Duncan was Hafner's primary backup, making 18 starts at the position.

Offense

The Indians ranked in the middle of the pack as far as DH production was concerned:

Rk		2B	3B	HR	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	BAbip	tOPS+	sOPS+
1	BOS	40	1	32	91	151	.263	.364	.503	.866	.302	119	130
2	BAL	30	3	31	67	125	.277	.358	.505	.863	.302	144	128
3	MIN	25	3	31	94	132	.264	.368	.488	.856	.288	124	127
4	TEX	29	1	28	34	76	.304	.347	.489	.836	.306	119	121
5	NYY	31	1	25	68	152	.256	.338	.440	.777	.303	98	107
6	CLE	36	1	21	61	148	.252	.333	.428	.761	.302	117	102
7	KCR	31	2	22	59	120	.252	.329	.426	.755	.280	106	101
8	CHW	24	3	18	65	113	.247	.332	.396	.728	.279	94	94
9	OAK	30	1	15	75	172	.246	.338	.386	.724	.325	106	94
10	TBR	32	1	17	66	150	.238	.322	.391	.713	.292	94	90
11	DET	35	5	8	74	104	.259	.341	.373	.713	.299	92	92
12	TOR	34	4	22	43	153	.237	.291	.417	.709	.281	85	87
13	LAA	27	1	17	71	122	.231	.316	.374	.690	.264	98	84
14	SEA	20	1	21	55	169	.194	.269	.340	.609	.234	91	62
	TOT	424	28	308	923	1887	.252	.332	.425	.758	.290	106	101

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 11/18/2010.

As I've looked at these positional standings, it's become painfully obvious how awful Seattle's offense was. Their Designated Hitters only managed a .609 OPS. If not for Russell Branyan's second-half .801 OPS, they might have broken some records.

12 Indians saw time as DH, but only 6 accrued more than 10 at-bats. Here they are:

Rk		G	PA ▾	AB	2B	3B	HR	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	BAbip	tOPS+	sOPS+
1	Travis Hafner	109	453	390	28	0	13	49	93	.279	.373	.451	.824	.334	100	120
2	Shelley Duncan	18	59	53	2	0	2	6	20	.132	.220	.283	.503	.161	37	34
3	Jayson Nix	9	37	35	2	0	2	0	12	.229	.222	.457	.679	.273	94	76
4	Matt LaPorta	8	32	29	0	1	1	3	4	.172	.250	.345	.595	.167	77	57
5	Jordan Brown	7	28	27	3	0	0	1	4	.222	.250	.333	.583	.261	99	55
6	Carlos Santana	5	22	20	1	0	1	2	6	.250	.318	.450	.768	.308	76	103
	Team Total	153	652	575	36	1	21	61	148	.252	.333	.428	.761	.302	117	102

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 11/18/2010.

Whenever Shelley Duncan wasn't playing left field, he was horrible at the plate. Same with Jayson Nix; he was good at the plate while starting at second, and awful at third and DH. Hafner is no longer a 140+ game player, so the Indians should be able to utilize the at-bats for LaPorta (if Santana plays some first) and Duncan.

Part II: Looking Towards 2011:

Coming Back

Travis Hafner (Signed Through 2012)

Now that there's two years left on Hafner's contract, the Indians could manage to deal him if they had to, but Pronk is still a nice offensive player if his playing time is managed carefully, and the Indians don't have the offensive production on hand to replace his bat. Even though Pronk hit just 13 home runs in 462 plate appearances, he hit 29 doubles and walked 51 times. He's not near as selective as he used to be, but still good enough to work himself into good hitter's counts.

Shelley Duncan (Pre-Arbitration) - No Option Years Left

His range in left is marginal, so it would make sense to let Duncan be Hafner's primary understudy. With left-handers in the outfield and at DH, Duncan should get at least two starts a week.

Jayson Nix (Pre-Arbitration) - No Option Years Left

He should be fighting for the second base job, but I have a sneaking suspicion he's the default option at third. The free agents pickings are thin at best, so the Indians may fill other holes instead, content to live with Nix learning on the job.

Matt LaPorta (Pre-Arbitration) - 1 Option Year Remaining

Matt might get some at-bats at DH if he's hitting and the Indians start working Carlos Santana in at first base.

Jordan Brown (Pre-Arbitration) - 2 Option Years Remaining

A left-handed gap hitter with little defensive ability doesn't fit on this team, nor many others.

Carlos Santana (Pre-Arbitraion) - 1 Option Year

The Indians are more likely to give Santana "off days" at first base, since at this point first base is the weaker offensive position.

Tweet Comment 1 comment | 0 recs |