01-16-2020, 06:41 PM
(01-16-2020, 04:46 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: Just always find it silly to post RBIs as a reason for a player being good or bad, so I have to throw out stats to prove that it's a silly reason.
George Foster had 149 RBI in 1977. He had a great year that year, but you simply can't get 149 on your own if nobody else is getting on.
5 highest non-Foster Reds OBP in 1977....
Morgan: .417 OBP
Griffey: .389 OBP
Rose: .377 OBP
Driessen: .375 OBP
Bench: .348 OBP
Now look at Votto's 2010 season when he had his career high of 113 RBI....
Hernandez: .364
Rolen: .358
Bruce: .353
Phillips: .332
Stubbs: .329
Foster hit .269 with RISP and .190 with 2 outs RISP in '77.
Votto hit .369 with RISP and .327 with 2 outs RISP in '10.
Difference is Foster had 241 PA with RISP that year, and Votto only had 167, so Foster got 149 RBI and Votto got 113 despite hitting a full hundred points higher with RISP.
RBI aren’t only about hitting with runners in scoring position. It’s also about driving the ball. Homeruns and doubles with a guy on first are a big reason that sluggers get paid. Votto is more of an OBP guy than a slugger. He got paid a contract that a 30HR 100RBI .300 AVG guy would get. He had 15HR 47RBI and .261 AVG and takes up 20% of the payroll. If he had 30 more runners in scoring position, he may have had 10 more RBI. He really needs to drive the ball more. A high OBP is not a bad thing but it’s more valuable for a speedster than for a slow and bad base runner.
