Go Figure: OPS-ession with home runs comes with a sacrifice
What do Miguel Cabrera, Cody Bellinger and Jose Altuve have in common?
In addition to Most Valuable Player pedigrees, all were batting below .200 heading into weekend action. South of the Mendoza Line, they are far from alone - joined by the likes of Cubs shortstop Javier Baez, the 2018 National League MVP runner-up (.189), and nearly so by the man who edged him for the honor, Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich (.205).
Going into Friday's games, hitters were batting .241 - a dozen points lower than the norm over the last decade, and a scant four points higher than the all-time low.
That .237 mark came in 1968, also known as the Year of the Pitcher that saw only one American League batter hit .300 and prompted the lowering of the mound from 15 inches to 10 inches.
Keep in mind that this year, for the first time, both leagues are playing with the designated hitter. Without that wrinkle, this year's collective average would surely be at a historic rock-bottom.
A combination of factors have contributed to this state, including a steady rise in strikeouts and more emphasis on home runs - both of which are second all-time in 2020. This year's average squad has 1.32 home runs and 8.75 strikeouts per game, behind only last year's record-setting level of homers (1.39) and whiffs (8.81).
Held in higher esteem than batting average are on-base percentage, slugging percentage and that duo's offspring: OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging percentage).
Scanning the 150-year span of big-league seasons, let's review where 2020 batters rank on those counts:
On-base percentage (.319): 105th, though only six points below the median historically.
Slugging percentage (.416): 22nd, though subpar for the 21st century (13th since 2000).
OPS (.735): 44th all-time (and 14th-highest since 2000).
Grand family tradition
When San Diego Padres shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. hit a grand slam against the Texas Rangers last Monday - the first of a MLB-record four straight games in which the Padres had grand slams - he was criticized by both managers for violating the "unwritten rule" of taking 3-0 pitches late in blowout games. That's balderdash - especially when no lead is safe these days.
Imagine if Tatis had come up again that 8th inning with three men on. What are the odds he would hit another grand slam? Any more unlikely than his father being the only man in MLB history to slug two grand slams in the same inning?
That's what happened April 23, 1999, when Fernando Tatis went yard twice, each time with the bases loaded. His infant son was 111 days old at the time. Now he's leading the Majors in home runs, runs batted in, total bases, runs scored, while sharing the lead in stolen bases.
Q1. Who was the Dodger pitcher who surrendered both grand slams to the elder Tatis?
(Ismael Valdez, Chan Ho Park, Kevin Brown)
Q2. After recording eight runs batted in that game at Dodger Stadium, Tatis trailed only one other National League player in that category. Can you name this former home run and RBI champion?
(Darren Daulton, Matt Williams, Sammy Sosa)
Q3. As a 16-year-old, Fernando Tatis was signed by the White Sox - only to be traded 11 months later to the San Diego Padres, along with pitcher Erik Johnson, in exchange for James Shields.
While Shields struggled during his 2½-year Sox tenure, with a 16-35 record, he was good enough to compile 76 starts in that span. How many starts did Johnson make for the Padres?
(4, 12, 21)
Q4. Heading into the weekend, the American League leader in Wins Above Replacement (WAR) is a former St. Louis Cardinal All-Star who is making up for his clean-shaven time with the New York Yankees by growing a beard rivaling that of men stranded on deserted islands. Can you name him?
(Lance Lynn, Carlos Martinez, Michael Wacha)
Answers
1. Chan Ho Park; 2. Matt Williams; 3. Four, all of which Johnson lost while racking up a 9.15 ERA; 4. Lance Lynn
• Matt Baron, an Oak Park-based freelance writer, supplements his baseball brainpower with Retrosheet.org for research.