Weeks OBP as a leadoff man

[adambr2]

...is now .372 in 2007.

That's the 4th highest of players with at least 200 plate appearances leading off in 2007 out of 17. That's higher than Biggio. That's higher than Furcal, higher than Taveras, higher than Rollins.

That's higher than Jose Reyes.

Gee, I wonder what he could do when he actually has a good year?

(added tag --1992)

[trwi7]

Nice. Weeks has been incredible at getting on base this year despite a poor batting average. Now quick adam go tell that to BerkElmSipsa.

[adambr2]

Nice. Weeks has been incredible at getting on base this year despite a poor batting average. Now quick adam go tell that to BerkElmSipsa.

 

Already done, I don't think that'll do much good though!

[JoeHova]

That's higher than Biggio. That's higher than Furcal, higher than Taveras, higher than Rollins.

That's higher than Jose Reyes.

Except for Reyes, none of the guys you name are good lead-off men. Biggio used to be but is terrible now and the other guys have never been known for OBP. Taveras and Rollins have below league-average OBP's for their careers and Furcal's is less than .010 above league average. Reyes's career OBP is also below league-average, but he's improving steadily in that department.

 

That said, Weeks' OBP is pretty impressive. However, most teams seem to have guys that aren't good at getting on base as their lead-off men, which is just weird.

[RU Rah Rah]

Shhhhhhh, don't tell Ned. If he finds out that Rickie has an OK OBP, he's liable to move him down in the order.

[gregmag]

His OPS is also back up around .750. Not bad for a terrible season.

 

Rickie's return to form since he came back from AAA has been one of the few major bright spots recently. I haven't actually gotten to see him much, but the numbers and my limited observation suggest he's driving the ball a lot better. It's funny -- I used to think he was miscast as a leadoff man, but given the rest of the team, he's obviously the guy for that job, even if he does develop power.

 

The fact that his OBP is higher as a leadoff man probably has a lot to do with luck and timing, but my sense is that Weeks is one of those players, like Molitor, who does a very good job of adjusting his approach to the job the team asks him to do. I really can't wait to see what he does next year -- but then, next year is looking better every day for a lot of reasons.

 

Greg.

[colbyjack]

Rickie was made for batting leadoff. He grew up idolizing Rickey Henderson, and he carries that same mentality.

 

Here are a few excerpts from him in the interview I conducted back when he was with the Snappers that kind of gives a glimpse at what gregmag1 was talking about:

 

My whole main idea is to try & get on base. When you get on base you make things happen, steal a base, passed balls, just stuff here & there, you'll score runs. The main thing is to get on base, the average is going to come the power is going to come, eventually, hopefully, the doubles and stuff like that, all that's going to come. But if you keep getting on base, working the count, getting walks, you're going to make things happen. I think I'm doing that pretty well right now...

 

...For me growing up my favorite player hands down was Rickey Henderson. For all of the things he brought to the table, he could run, hit for power, steal, score runs, walk, he did what he did to get on base & help the team which makes him a team player.

[TerraceReserved]

Rickie been great since his recall on Aug 10. Since then, in 66 PA, he has a stellar line of: .347/.515/.551/1.066

 

Even more encouraging is that he's driving the ball and almost always hitting it hard. He has 2 HR, 2 2B, and 1 3B in that time. This makes me all the more excited for when he can put together a full healthy season.

[JJHardy7]

I don't really think we can say Rickie has returned to form after AAA. He was barely there and I highly doubt it did anything for him except upset him. He's good at getting on base, but I personally think Rickie has a ways to go in his development to reach his draft status.

 

I didn't think when he was coming up oh great we have a guy who will have an awesome on base %! If this is the player he will always be, he's not horrible...just not what I was hoping for. If Rickie can pan out and drive runs in and HRs throughout a season he would be just what the Brewers need right now.

[lukevan]

I don't really think we can say Rickie has returned to form after AAA. He was barely there and I highly doubt it did anything for him except upset him. He's good at getting on base, but I personally think Rickie has a ways to go in his development to reach his draft status.

 

I didn't think when he was coming up oh great we have a guy who will have an awesome on base %! If this is the player he will always be, he's not horrible...just not what I was hoping for. If Rickie can pan out and drive runs in and HRs throughout a season he would be just what the Brewers need right now.

 

I think what AAA did for Rickie was just get him in rhythm; he got to face some lesser pitching and got to feel what its like to hit the ball hard again. That was a bomb he hit into the wind in the first inning last night

[splitterpfj]

I don't think there's much doubt that AAA helped Rickie's confidence. He just looks like a completely different guy up there now, he's got a plan, and he's attacking the ball instead of waving at it.

 

I'll sure take him at the top of the order going forward.

[rluzinski]

And if Graffy hadn't gotten hurt, the Brewers would have missed out on all this production.

[trwi7]

And if Graffy hadn't gotten hurt, the Brewers would have missed out on all this production.

 

But without Graffy we're missing veteran grittiness which apparently is a skill and something we need.http://static.yuku.com//domainskins/bypass/img/smileys/eek.gif

[jaybird2001wi]

Rickie Weeks has stated before that he doesn't like the leadoff spot, preferring to be placed in a more power-oriented part of the order. But I have to give him credit for sucking up his pride and taking one for the team. He has shown tremendous patience at the plate and doesn't seem to be swinging at things well out of the strike zone. He has the speed and the makings of a leadoff man, but I think he would eventually like to be considered a power hitter.

I think his batting average is a bit deceptive though. A walk doesn't effect his batting average for the good or for the bad, obviously. There were years where Rickey Henderson's batting average wasn't that stellar, but his OBP was quite good. There was a year where Henderson batted .248 and had an OBP of .400.

 

As a matter of fact, Henderson is the classic example of a guy who takes a ton of walks and gets on base with no regard to his batting average. You think a typical leadoff hitter would have a batting average around .300, but Henderson's career BA was .279 with a whopping .401 OBP and 127 OPS. His OBP is good considering that he hung around the game way longer than he should have.

[homer]

Hit By Pitch counts towards OBP right? That accounts for half his numbers right there. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

 

[jaybird2001wi]

Yeah homer, HBP is essentially counted as a walk. They count HBP as part of total bases and equate into slugging percentage as well.

[JJHardy7]

I think maybe Nashville gave him the confidence, but I still worry about his power. I hope that that will also keep getting better or maybe this off-season it will heal?

 

Maybe change the "wiggling" of the bat stance?

[gregmag]

I don't know that you can complain about his power since he came back, as TerraceReserved pointed out. Obviously it's too small a sample to prove anything, but a .551 SLG / .204 ISO from a leadoff man is spectacular. Besides, OBP is what this team needs to crank up. Given what the rest of the offense does, I'd rather have Rickie put up a .380/.420 line than a .350/.480.

 

As to homer's point about HBPs, two things are worth noting. First, that appears to be a sustainable skill; Weeks has been hit a lot ever since he signed. It's a great edge for a leadoff man, as long as he doesn't get hurt. Second, his walk rate really has taken off this year. In 2005, he had 40 walks against 360 ABs; that dropped to 30/359 last year. This year, in contrast, it's 51/308. With that walk rate, if he hits .270, he's got a .374 OBP before you even factor in the HBPs (or, granted, the sac flies).

 

Greg.