Twins Tidbit: Do the Twins Suck at Turning Hits into Actual Runs?

[ashbury]

3 hours ago, chpettit19 said:

 but they are very bad at "get 'em in" with a guy on 3rd and less than 2 outs. At least it feels that way. I haven't looked up any stats.

And yet, stats are available to anyone with an internet connection.  I know you know how to look them up, but let me provide a couple of quick links, to the Twins season and to MLB as a whole:

https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/split.cgi?t=b&team=MIN&year=2022#all_bases

https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/split.cgi?t=b&lg=MLB&year=2022#all_bases

Toward the middle of the "Bases Occupied" table, there is a line for 3rd base occupied and fewer than 2 outs, exactly the situation you are thinking about.  Our 2022 Twins are batting .402 (!) in 107 PA in that situation.  Sac flies numbered 18 (17%).  OPS total is a robust 1.008, with 75 RBI (.70 per opportunity).  Compare those numbers to MLB-wide: .316 BA in 3699 PA.  528 sac flies (14%).  834 OPS and 2329 RBI (.63 per).  In comparison to other teams (click on the "on 3rd, <2 out" link itself), we're 3rd in the majors in BA, 6th in On Base Percentage (which arguably means we're not taking many walks leaving that runner at 3rd), 3rd in slugging and 4th in OPS. 

In terms of super-clutchy-magicalness with a man on third, our guys stack up very well.

But this line of the table does reveal a problem (IMHO): we are 22nd in plate appearances, in those situations.  Those 107 opportunities with a man on third do not reflect a good offense getting men on base for the boppers to drive in.  There are 8 teams with over 140, with Boston leading everyone with 156.

Shouldn't be a surprise, if you look at the top of this Bases Occupied table.  We're batting .230 with the bases empty.  With runners, it's .279.  League wide it's .232 and .254 respectively.  So we're just middle of the pack, not above average, at getting men on.   And somehow, based on the number of men-on-third opportunities, we seem to be streaky in that way.

The bases start empty, and too often they stay empty.  We give opposing pitchers way too many comfortable (and probably clean) innings.

Feast or famine, but we already knew that.