The National League Owns in One Regard
Being National League baseball fan means being a fan of tradition. Of legacy. Of sepia-toned halcyon days of lore. And being a barbaric sadist obsessed with watching pitchers fail at batting. The good news for N.L. fans (or perhaps bad, if they really are sadists) is that they can brag to their elitist American League counterparts about having the best shortstops in the land.
Hanley Ramirez and Troy Tulowitzki play the role of Shortstop #1 and #2. If you go by offensive numbers of shortstops with 250+ plate appearances, then Rafael Furcal and Stephen Drew are the next two, with Jose Reyes, Alex Gonzalez, Starlin Castro, Jamey Carroll (clearly he’s hit decently while playing short), and Ian Desmond making up the top nine. The American League’s first entry comes at 10, with Alexei Ramirez.
The leagues alternate over the next few positions as such:
Jimmy Rollins .319
Derek Jeter .318
Edgar Renteria .317
J.J. Hardy .317
Marco Scutaro .316
Juan Uribe .315
Reid Brignac .314
It takes 17 shortstops to find five American Leaguers. Since those numbers are not adjusted for league or park there is some reason to believe the exact order might differ here or there. Defense and baserunning also come into play. WAR has Ramirez, Cliff Pennington, Hardy, and double agent Yunel Escobar placing in far more respectable slots.
The balance of power at any position should be nothing more than a cyclical process. For instance, 2005 (a random year I selected) had six of the top 10 shortstops (via WAR) residing in the American League. Another random year, 2002, had seven ALers in the top 10. That is to say, don’t confuse this for some grandstanding analysis about how National League teams evaluate shortstop talent better. It’s just their time, and boy, are they ever making the most of it.
The real question: Tulo vs. HanRam for #1?
It’s a tough question, if you take defense into account I think Tulo has the slight edge, though if just by offense I lean towards Hanley. Tulo has had a great season, possibly even MVP worthy, but by career’s Hanley is still a stronger canidate. Hanley also brings plus-plus speed to the table. Their 2010 seasons are essentially opposite of each other’s career norms, the winds of change may be coming around, but Hanley is still #1 for me.
Even with the injury Tulo has been the better hitter since june of last year.
Usually broken wrists sap a hitters power for at least a year after the player returns, Tulo has been even better since the injury, and considering that Hanley is a 2B/3B playing short I would rather have Tulo going forward
Alex Gonzalez should count half for each league.
especially when he did most of his damage in the AL.
I was just looking at this today.
Did you guys know that Derek Jeter leads (!) all American League shortstops in batting runs?
I bet a lot of teams would take that from a “sky is falling” type season from a 36 year old player.
It’s sad.
That might help if he wasn’t terrible defensively.
I wonder how many spots Juan Uribe jumped up the list tonight in the 2nd inning alone.
So you’re saying that Alexie Ramirez is the best offensive shortstop in the AL? Given the fantastic defense he’s played this year, doesn’t that make him the best shortstop in the AL?
Real nit-picky comment to make I know, but if they were sadists they would enjoy seeing other people watch pitchers fail. Masochists enjoy self-inflicted pain, sadists enjoy inflicting pain on others.
the sadists would enjoy watching the pitchers suffer in their hitting. He’s not saying the viewers are the ones suffering
I enjoy watching the other pitcher hitting. And since the Giants would probably use the DH to get Rowand into the lineup anyway, it’s worth the trade off.
As an NL fan I’m really crying after ’06 and ’08 when the mighty AL couldn’t win it all.
The headline (“The National League Owns in One Regard”) makes no sense
It does if you take “owns” to mean “kicks ass”.
FIXED: “don’t confuse this for analysis”
Don’t worry, I won’t. Considering “If you go by offensive numbers of shortstops with 250+ plate appearances” —>I’m not even sure what ‘offensive numbers’ we are looking at here, since it wasn’t specified. Not to mention, all you do is create a list.
Not analysis.
Also, hating on the NL is extremely tired.
NL has 6 of the top 7 second basemen (in wOBA) this year too, the exception being Cano.
So what was the point of this again?
He’s just taking a shot at the NL while trying to point out something positive about it.
The point is to pretend that Tulowitzki measures up to Hanley Ramirez. When he sucks, nobody talks about him. When he’s hot, he’s already measured against the games elite. It’s an internet baseball phenomenon. Whether its for 5 starts (Strasburg) or a couple months (Tulo), when a “favored” player is doing well, jump all over it.
How was tulo from June-September last year? how many SS have 4 straight months of 1000+ ops? Hanley is a great hitter but is no shortstop.
Until this is normalized by pitcher faced, it really doesn’t mean anything.
because AL pitching is so dominant?
We need more talking about starlin castro, dadgummitt. The boy was born in the 90s and is pretty high up that list.