Stat Facts

[stringer bell]

Here's a list of Twins pitchers who shared a positive stat--Jared Burton, Kyle Gibson, Brian Duensing, and Lester Oliveros. What "positive stat" do they share? Answer at the end of this posting.

 

Bold numbers--The Twins had only four position players qualify for the batting championship and any other percentage lead: Suzuki, Mauer, Plouffe, and Dozier. Only two pitchers qualified for the ERA championship: Hughes and Gibson.

 

Runs scored: The Twins finished fifth in the AL and seventh overall in runs scored. Dozier scored 112 runs in 156 games and Santana scored 70 in 101.

 

Home Run Differential: At one point in mid-season the Twins had a positive home run differential. They finished minus 19.

 

Strikeout Differential: The Twins struck out 1329 times, but only struck out 1031 opposition hitters. The -298 K differential is easily the worst in the major leagues.

 

No weak spots: As was posted elsewhere, the Twins preferred lineup at the end of the season had all nine players with an OPS+ equal to or greater than 100. Suzuki, Mauer, Dozier, Plouffe, Escobar, Schafer, Santana, Arcia and Vargas. While it isn't a powerhouse starting lineup, it doesn't have any black holes.

 

OK, the answer to the riddle is more innings pitched than hits. Notably, Hughes, All-Star Glen Perkins and primary setup guy Casey Fien all yielded more hits than innings pitched.

[Badsmerf]

At the end of post I forgot I was supposed to be answering a question....