clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Batters who excel with runners in scoring position

We are working in Eric Hosmer’s space now.

By Mark Abell
Getty Images/Pete Rogers Illustrations

Last year Anthony Rendon led the league with 126 RBIs. Behind him was Jose Abreu with 123 RBIs. What is a way that one can accumulate a lot of RBIs? Runners in scoring position, of course! Guess who led the league in RBIs when there were men in scoring position? Anthony Rendon and Jose Abreu! Guess who also had the 2nd and 5th most plate appearances with runners in scoring position? I’m sure you see where I’m going here.

Now, finding RBIs in fantasy baseball isn’t as easy as just drafting the league leaders in the season prior. If only. There’s a lot of turnover when it comes to stats year-to-year. Will Anthony Rendon find himself in a position to knock in a number of runners now that he is with the Angels? Will Jose Abreu see more with a talented young roster that includes Eloy Jimenez, Luis Robert, Nomar Mazara, Yoan Moncada, Tim Anderson etc…? Can Josh Bell count on Bryan Reynolds, Gregory Polanco, Kevin Newman and Adam Frazier to get into scoring position enough to allow him to continue this trend in 2020? Did Xander Bogaerts lose a few at-bats of meaningful runners in scoring position with Mookie Betts moving to LA?

Finding RBIs is about getting the players who not only have plenty of at-bats with runners in scoring position, but also about capitalizing on that situation.

To help figure that out, I’ve developed a stat that very well might exist in the ethers of the fantasy world. I call this my RBI per Plate Appearance with Runners in Scoring Position among batters who have had at least 120 PA while RISP. I call it my RBIpPAwRISPw120PA because that’s a clean abbreviation.

Why 120 AB? Well that was where the cream rose, if you go with 110 AB it increased from 138 to 175 eligible batters, if you go to 100 AB it jumps to 201 eligible batters. 138 sits in that sweet top 125 batters you are likely looking at (assuming about 10 infield positions in a 12-team league).

As you can see in the chart below, while Anthony Rendon, Jose Abreu, Josh Bell and Xander Bogaerts all had a lot of RBIs (many of them thanks to a lot of plate appearances), here are the players who really maximized on their RBIs when they were in that situation.

I don’t find the first two all that surprising as DJ LeMahieu has a fantastic batted ball profile and Eric Hosmer’s hard contact—albeit on the ground a lot—allows runners to advance. I highlight Hosmer because while he has grounders with hard contact, he’s not alone on this list, when you look at the top names, many are among the top hard hitting grounder hitters in the league including DJ LeMahieu (2nd most), Eric Hosmer (12th most), Rafael Devers (14th) and Ketel Marte (23rd).) I did not anticipate Rougned Odor to be at #3 nor did I think Bryce Harper would be #4! Meanwhile, go to the bottom of the list where you see Rhys Hoskins, Francisco Lindor, Tommy Pham and Eugenio Suarez showing that they are not as able to capitalize with runners in scoring position, many of them getting about .3 RBIs for each plate appearance where they had a man in scoring position.

The number on the left is their ranking for total RBIs with Runners in Scoring position (so you see LeMahieu despite being the best at converting, had the 13th most RBIs with runners in scoring position, Eric Hosmer had the 11th most RBIs and Rougned Odor had the 7th most, etc.)

RBIs per Plate Appearance w Runners in Scoring Position w 120 AB

# Name Team G AB PA RBI RBIpPAwRISP
# Name Team G AB PA RBI RBIpPAwRISP
13 DJ LeMahieu Yankees 95 125 144 73 0.51
11 Eric Hosmer Padres 103 128 148 74 0.50
7 Rougned Odor Rangers 97 135 154 75 0.49
7 Bryce Harper Phillies 103 126 157 75 0.48
38 Javier Baez Cubs 90 114 125 59 0.47
7 Freddie Freeman Braves 108 135 161 75 0.47
31 Anthony Rizzo Cubs 99 110 132 61 0.46
6 Rafael Devers Red Sox 105 152 169 78 0.46
7 Albert Pujols Angels 93 136 163 75 0.46
1 Anthony Rendon Nationals 114 159 205 94 0.46
2 Jose Abreu White Sox 112 166 190 87 0.46
18 Corey Seager Dodgers 98 131 153 70 0.46
5 Eddie Rosario Twins 107 156 173 79 0.46
53 C.J. Cron Twins 82 107 121 55 0.45
41 Marcus Semien Athletics 93 104 128 58 0.45
29 Daniel Murphy Rockies 87 122 139 62 0.45
26 George Springer Astros 85 114 142 63 0.44
19 Colin Moran Pirates 103 137 156 69 0.44
16 Asdrubal Cabrera - - - 93 134 161 71 0.44
31 Ketel Marte Diamondbacks 93 121 139 61 0.44
55 Charlie Blackmon Rockies 84 109 124 54 0.44
53 Ryan Braun Brewers 88 107 127 55 0.43
29 Jose Ramirez Indians 85 122 144 62 0.43
41 Nelson Cruz Twins 80 106 135 58 0.43
26 Starling Marte Pirates 91 127 148 63 0.43
35 Max Muncy Dodgers 92 116 141 60 0.43
67 Jeff McNeil Mets 83 103 120 51 0.43
20 Michael Brantley Astros 96 134 158 67 0.42
49 Mike Trout Angels 81 91 133 56 0.42
4 Xander Bogaerts Red Sox 113 155 191 80 0.42
3 Josh Bell Pirates 118 152 198 82 0.41
35 Gleyber Torres Yankees 99 128 145 60 0.41
22 Peter Alonso Mets 102 130 158 65 0.41
67 Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Blue Jays 80 116 125 51 0.41
14 Nolan Arenado Rockies 104 140 177 72 0.41
55 Matt Chapman Athletics 95 108 134 54 0.40
22 Renato Nunez Orioles 98 142 162 65 0.40
58 Jason Kipnis Indians 80 107 133 53 0.40
21 Alex Bregman Astros 101 128 166 66 0.40
16 Yuli Gurriel Astros 105 156 179 71 0.40
31 Kevin Pillar - - - 104 138 154 61 0.40
63 Christian Yelich Brewers 83 101 132 52 0.39
67 Kyle Schwarber Cubs 93 103 130 51 0.39
11 Eduardo Escobar Diamondbacks 115 157 189 74 0.39
46 Wilson Ramos Mets 95 127 146 57 0.39
38 Whit Merrifield Royals 102 133 153 59 0.39
80 Bryan Reynolds Pirates 77 104 125 48 0.38
67 Kevin Newman Pirates 89 114 133 51 0.38
98 Giovanny Urshela Yankees 83 108 120 46 0.38
85 Freddy Galvis - - - 86 112 123 47 0.38
31 Cody Bellinger Dodgers 101 121 160 61 0.38
49 Manny Machado Padres 103 123 147 56 0.38
85 James McCann White Sox 81 109 125 47 0.38
38 Ozzie Albies Braves 109 133 157 59 0.38
26 Michael Conforto Mets 103 126 168 63 0.38
80 Matt Olson Athletics 84 108 128 48 0.38
67 Trevor Story Rockies 92 121 137 51 0.37
41 Ronald Acuna Jr. Braves 104 127 156 58 0.37
25 Alex Gordon Royals 109 140 174 64 0.37
85 Enrique Hernandez Dodgers 79 112 128 47 0.37
80 Franmil Reyes - - - 94 112 131 48 0.37
46 Marcell Ozuna Cardinals 93 134 156 57 0.37
75 Nick Markakis Braves 84 119 137 50 0.36
103 Ramon Laureano Athletics 81 102 121 44 0.36
77 Domingo Santana Mariners 87 118 135 49 0.36
85 Adam Jones Diamondbacks 83 113 130 47 0.36
103 Brett Gardner Yankees 84 101 122 44 0.36
58 Josh Donaldson Braves 101 119 147 53 0.36
58 Paul Goldschmidt Cardinals 99 119 147 53 0.36
85 Miguel Cabrera Tigers 87 111 131 47 0.36
85 Todd Frazier Mets 89 113 131 47 0.36
63 Jorge Polanco Twins 99 123 146 52 0.36
103 Kris Bryant Cubs 90 104 125 44 0.35
22 J.D. Martinez Red Sox 111 148 186 65 0.35
63 Victor Robles Nationals 105 120 149 52 0.35
101 Ian Desmond Rockies 87 113 129 45 0.35
85 Jose Iglesias Reds 91 124 135 47 0.35
85 Christian Vazquez Red Sox 87 118 135 47 0.35
35 Jorge Soler Royals 109 138 173 60 0.35
41 Hunter Dozier Royals 104 143 168 58 0.35
58 Amed Rosario Mets 99 142 154 53 0.34
67 Ryan McMahon Rockies 95 132 149 51 0.34
49 Trey Mancini Orioles 105 139 164 56 0.34
46 Elvis Andrus Rangers 109 145 167 57 0.34
103 Eloy Jimenez White Sox 78 115 129 44 0.34
67 Yasiel Puig - - - 97 130 150 51 0.34
116 Ji-Man Choi Rays 74 92 121 41 0.34
110 Dexter Fowler Cardinals 90 96 127 43 0.34
77 Andrew Benintendi Red Sox 92 120 145 49 0.34
63 Mike Moustakas Brewers 96 128 154 52 0.34
14 Juan Soto Nationals 124 164 214 72 0.34
80 Brandon Crawford Giants 90 116 143 48 0.34
77 Yoan Moncada White Sox 99 126 146 49 0.34
101 Jean Segura Phillies 90 121 135 45 0.33
55 J.T. Realmuto Phillies 101 145 163 54 0.33
98 Mookie Betts Red Sox 96 94 139 46 0.33
117 Roberto Perez Indians 79 100 121 40 0.33
85 Jonathan Villar Orioles 101 126 144 47 0.33
85 Daniel Vogelbach Mariners 92 119 145 47 0.32
103 Evan Longoria Giants 93 113 137 44 0.32
103 Yasmani Grandal Brewers 90 106 137 44 0.32
110 Jurickson Profar Athletics 79 114 134 43 0.32
49 Nick Ahmed Diamondbacks 111 142 175 56 0.32
119 Robinson Chirinos Astros 78 98 122 39 0.32
85 Dansby Swanson Braves 89 123 148 47 0.32
103 Kolten Wong Cardinals 87 113 139 44 0.32
80 Khris Davis Athletics 97 134 153 48 0.31
113 David Fletcher Angels 89 119 135 42 0.31
67 Starlin Castro Marlins 103 145 165 51 0.31
123 Melky Cabrera Pirates 88 116 124 38 0.31
58 Cesar Hernandez Phillies 106 149 173 53 0.31
41 Carlos Santana Indians 114 142 190 58 0.31
85 Avisail Garcia Rays 95 143 154 47 0.31
119 Nomar Mazara Rangers 83 112 130 39 0.30
75 Eugenio Suarez Reds 109 133 168 50 0.30
119 Shin-Soo Choo Rangers 91 108 132 39 0.30
123 Jason Heyward Cubs 90 100 130 38 0.29
117 Josh Reddick Astros 91 111 137 40 0.29
113 Orlando Arcia Brewers 101 120 146 42 0.29
130 Joe Panik - - - 74 107 122 35 0.29
130 Omar Narvaez Mariners 75 102 122 35 0.29
127 Adam Frazier Pirates 89 109 131 37 0.28
98 Christian Walker Diamondbacks 109 135 163 46 0.28
119 Jackie Bradley Jr. Red Sox 94 112 140 39 0.28
113 Tommy Pham Rays 97 129 153 42 0.27
129 Francisco Lindor Indians 93 109 133 36 0.27
110 Randal Grichuk Blue Jays 98 144 159 43 0.27
123 Yolmer Sanchez White Sox 98 121 141 38 0.27
123 Brandon Belt Giants 92 112 142 38 0.27
135 J.D. Davis Mets 87 105 123 31 0.25
130 Lorenzo Cain Brewers 93 122 140 35 0.25
137 Brian Dozier Nationals 81 97 122 30 0.25
127 Kole Calhoun Angels 102 122 152 37 0.24
85 Rhys Hoskins Phillies 113 151 199 47 0.24
135 Willy Adames Rays 90 117 134 31 0.23
133 Paul DeJong Cardinals 99 119 145 33 0.23
133 Adam Eaton Nationals 104 120 155 33 0.21
138 Mallex Smith Mariners 84 112 124 26 0.21

Stay safe everyone!

Next Up In Fantasy Baseball