All eight teams in the playoffs have over 90 wins in the regular season.
- 97-65 Boston Red Sox
- 97-65 St. Louis Cardinals
- 96-66 Oakland Athletics
- 96-66 Atlanta Braves
- 94-68 Pittsburgh Pirates
- 93-69 Detroit Tigers
- 92-70 Los Angeles Dodgers
- 92-71 Tampa Bay Rays
That race is too close to call.
Let’s take a look at three key stats that bring out how good a team is in batting, running, and defense.
- For batting we’ll use AB/SO
- For running we’ll use stolen bases
- For defense we’ll use zone runs
Yes, I’m not using batting average, or slugging, or even WAR. Just good ol’ which team strikes out least often. And for stolen bases, i’m not subtracting caught stealing. Or figuring out percentages. These three stats are the key statistics for a player to get into MY hall of fame. It would be fun to see how they apply this year’s playoff teams.
Some interesting things come out from this graph.
1) The Dodgers are the best overall in all three categories. I’ll root for the Dodgers this playoffs.
2) Atlanta has the 3rd best defense in the majors, yet their baserunning and hitting is atrocious.
3) Detroit’s batting is super excellent. Ranking third. But wow, they are the slowest team in the majors ranking dead last in stolen bases.
Who will you be rooting for in the 2013 MLB playoffs?