Halfway Awards: Least Offensive Productivity

Back at the end of April, Dave posted his First Month Heroes, a position by position look at the highest WPA/LIs through one month of play. In the comments section I had joked that it would be even more interesting to see the inverse, or the worst context-neutral performers in the same span. My wish became Dave’s command and the following players surfaced: Josh Bard, Adam LaRoche, Robinson Cano, Ryan Zimmerman, Troy Tulowitzki, Garret Anderson, Andruw Jones, Jose Guillen.

Two full months later I thought it again to be prudent to check on these low-level offensive performers. So, as of July 8, the worst WPA/LIs by position are:

C: Kurt Suzuki, OAK, -0.84
1B: Daric Barton, OAK, -1.33
2B: Freddy Sanchez, PIT, -2.56
3B: Melvin Mora, BAL, -1.15
SS: Jason Bartlett, TB, -1.71
LF: Emil Brown, OAK -1.20
CF: Michael Bourn, HOU, -1.67
RF: Jeff Francoeur, ATL, -1.31
SP: Bronson Arroyo, CIN, -1.94
RP: Brad Hennessey, SF, -1.26

Yes, Frenchy was demoted to the minors, and yes, it took me three attempts at spelling his name correctly, but he has been the least productive rightfielder on offense. After him it gets a little hazy since certain guys who may be classified as rightfielders played different positions (SEE: Gary Matthews, Jr, and Mark Teahen).

One interesting part of this group is that their WPAs, which could benefit from some game state bias, are not all the lowest at their position. In fact, the only players listed above with both the lowest WPA/LI and WPA are Suzuki, Barton, and Frenchy. Sanchez, Bartlett, and Brown have the 4th worst WPA at their respective positions; Bourn has the second worst; and Mora actually ranks at the halfway point in WPA terms.

The other aspect of this group that piqued my interest is that three Oakland Athletics position players are, as of this moment, the worst win-contributors at their respective positions. In terms of WPA, not WPA/LI, the most productive offensive total is the 0.80 of Eric Chavez. Overall, though, their offense has cost them six wins; thankfully their starting rotation and bullpen have combined to the tune of ten added wins. Perhaps this is why some As fans were calling for offense in return for Harden. Regardless, I’ll be very curious to revisit this closer to the end of the season not only to see how these players improve or digress, but whether or not any of them remain.





Eric is an accountant and statistical analyst from Philadelphia. He also covers the Phillies at Phillies Nation and can be found here on Twitter.

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RSN
15 years ago

Nice. Also glad I don’t have any of them.

Another fun exercise might be the all-average team. Guys with a decent number of AB or IP but very little WPA.