When OBP > SLG

The best part of what analysts call a “slash line” is that we get to see the on-base percentage and slugging percentage stacked up next to the traditional barometer, batting average. Looking at the three of these metrics, side by side, can help us understand which players are great all-around, which are purely power hitters, or which ones have a tremendous eye. For instance, a .333/.420/.560 slash line looks Pujols-esque; the player has a high percentage of hits that consist of singles as well as those of the extra base variety. A Dunn-type line of .244/.368/.571 would offer that the player has a great eye, as his OBP vastly exceeds his BA, and that he is a great power hitter, because although the BA is low, the value of the hits put into the equation are, more often than not, greater than a single.

When we see the slash line, though, sometimes it looks a bit “off.” We are almost trained to see the three numbers increase as we move from left to right, but occasionally a player will post a higher OBP than SLG, which looks nutty in slash line form. Someone hitting .273/.332/.328 just looks, well, different from the mold. It tells us that he has almost no power to his name and that the vast majority of his hits are singles.

This year, five players that qualify for the leaderboard are posting higher OBPs than SLGs: Willy Taveras, Gregor Blanco, Chone Figgins, Jason Kendall, and Ryan Theriot. To no surprise, these five players have combined for a whopping six home runs this year. If a player has absolutely no power yet still holds down a major league job, he either must play Ozzie Smith-caliber defense, or serve as a menace on the basepaths. As we might expect, while these five combine for just about half the amount of home runs Ryan Howard has over the last month, they have stolen 141 bases between them.

Curious to see if players have posted a higher OBP than SLG for an extended period of time, I probed the Baseball Reference Play Index, looking for anyone from 1983-2008 with at least 3,000 PA. The following thirteen names surfaced:

1. Dave Magadan, .390/.377
2. Willie Randolph, .375/.347
3. Quilvio Veras, .372/.362
4. Luis Castillo, .367/.356
5. Walt Weiss, .351/.326
6. Ozzie Smith, .351/.346
7. Mark McLemore, .349/.341
8. Jose Oquendo, .346/.317
9. Otis Nixon, .343/.314
10. Wally Backman, .343/.335
11. Garry Pettis, .332/.309
12. Darren Lewis, .323/.322
13. Felix Fermin, .305/.303

Pretty safe to say these guys fit the bill described above, as either defensive wizards, menaces on the basepaths, or utility players that can fill any and all gaps for teams. While there were thirteen players that have posted a higher OBP than SLG over 3000+ PA, the number seems relatively small given a 25-26 year span. None of these players are hall of famers, other than Ozzie, but it is still pretty remarkable they were able to stick around for so long with next to no power in their arsenal.