Production Levels and Andrew McCutchen

I don't think it would cause any consternation to say that 2012 was a career year for Andrew McCutchen. He set career highs in most every category, so it's just a statement of fact. I might be more alone in thinking that 2012 will go down as his career year. I know he's only 26, meaning he's just entering his prime where his numbers should be going up...but I can't get past the drastic increase in HR/FB% nor the increase in home runs while seeing his GB% increase and FB% decrease (significantly). Obviously some of those numbers will fluctuate year to year, but I don't see his power increasing, and I'm skeptical that he will reach the 30 homer plateau again.

That doesn't mean he can't be a useful player though, as the chart below will show you. People requested a 110% line to show what increased production would look like in certain categories, so I've provided one.

	PA	AB	BA	OBP	SLG	R	HR	RBI	SB
Baseline: 2012	673	593	.326	.400	.553	107	31	96	20
110%	673	593	.360	.435	.608	118	34	106	22
90%	673	593	.294	.365	.497	96	28	86	18
80%	673	593	.262	.330	.442	86	25	77	16
70%	673	593	.229	.293	.387	75	22	67	14
60%	673	593	.196	.255	.332	64	19	58	12

I'll repeat from previous iterations of this column - this isn't analytical. It's purely a look at what some of these guys numbers look like reduced by ten percent increments from a set baseline. When I have the time, I will try to find guys that are approximate matches for the different full season lines to highlight the difference in value each reduction will represent. Unfortunately, life has been busy lately, so I'm going to leave you guys on your own for that, for now.

Let me know if there is anyone in particular you'd like to see this for in the future.