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A Friday Nuggetpalooza 05.14.10 at 12:40 pm ET
By Gary Marbry

Here’s a slew of random nuggets to carry you through the weekend:

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* – Over the last 6 games, the Red Sox have 96 plate appearances versus opposing bullpens but they’ve hit just .209 with a .513 OPS (2nd worst in the AL in that span; LA Angels, .399). This after they torched bullpens from April 26 through May 5 to the tune of a .354 average and 1.023 OPS. No other MLB team batted .300+ or put up an OPS of .950+ versus opposing pens during that span.

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* – Since allowing 37 stolen bases (and throwing out just 2) over their first 17 games, the Red Sox have allowed just 7 (and thrown out 7) over the last 18 games (since April 24). Only one AL team has allowed fewer steals (Seattle, 5) and Boston and their next opponent, Detroit, are the only AL teams to allow a 50% success rate or lower during that almost three week span.

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* – Since last September 6, Tampa Bay’s Carlos Pena is 0-33 in games that the Rays lost.

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* – The Red Sox have collected 6+ hits in their last 22 straight games. It’s the longest such streak in the majors this season and the longest by the Red Sox since 2007. They’ve still got some work to do to break the longest such streak since 1952: 69 games by the 1987 Red Sox. They hit .297 during the streak from May 18 through August 14 that year, but went just 34-35 in those games.

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* – The Red Sox have won 6 of 7 in Detroit over the last two seasons, batting .299 with 11 HR in those games.

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* – David Ortiz has averaged one RBI every 3.74 AB in his career at Detroit’s Comerica Park (34 RBI in 127 AB), the best career mark by any opposing player there (min. 100 AB). Lower that minimum to 50 AB, and the all-time leader becomes Kevin Youkilis (2.80; 20 RBI in 56 AB).

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* – Last year, the Red Sox (and their so-called “poor” defense) allowed 41 unearned runs, the 2nd LOWEST figure in the AL (Minnesota 39). This year, the Twins are again leading the league, having allowed only 3 unearned runs. But the Red Sox have allowed 13, which is the 10th lowest in the AL.

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* – The Red Sox have not turned a DP in their last two games. This comes on the heels of a 7 game streak in which they turned at least one in each, their longest since 2007.

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* – OK, this probably won’t matter in the end, but the Red Sox longest current road hitting streak is 3 games (JD Drew) and their longest of the season is 8 (Marco Scutaro). They’ve had at least one road hitting streak of 10+ games in every non-strike season since 1982. For a little perspective, the Yankees failed to turn that trick in 2004 but an Oriole has done it every year sine 1969.

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* – Here are three leaderboards (thru Wednesday):

MAJOR LEAGUE RBI LEADERS

37 – Andre Ethier, LAD
36 – Miguel Cabrera, DET
32 – Casey McGehee, MIL
29 – Evan Longoria, TB
29 – Jorge Cantu, FLA

MAJOR LEAGUE RBI LEADERS PER RUNNER ON BASE
(min. 50 runners on base)

48.1% – Andre Ethier, LAD
42.6% – Jose Bautista, TOR
41.8% – Jason Heyward, ATL
41.2% – Paul Konerko, CHW

MAJOR LEAGUE RBI LEADERS PER RUNNER IN SCORING POSITION
(min. 30 RISP)

82.2% – Andre Ethier, LAD
76.7% – Dustin Pedroia, BOS
73.0% – Mark Reynolds, ARI
71.8% – Jason Heyward, ATL

Other than Ethier, these leaderboards show that RBI leaders are largely a product of opportunity. Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera and Milwaukee’s Casey McGehee have batted with 97 and 96 runners on base, respectively, the 5th and 6th highest figures in the league. Below are the totals and percentages for the Red Sox so far (sorted by total RBI). I know exactly where you are going to look first, so I’ve highlighted David Ortiz’ line:

23 – Dustin Pedroia (79 runners; 30 RISP; 29% RBI/runner; 77% RBI/RISP)
21 – JD Drew (71; 37; 30%; 57%)
20 – Adrian Beltre (94; 54; 21%; 37%)
19 – Jeremy Hermida (66; 40; 29%; 48%)
17 – Kevin Youkilis (60; 24; 28%; 71%)
17 – Victor Martinez (79; 37; 22%; 46%)
11 – David Ortiz (70; 41; 16%; 27%)
11 – Darnell McDonald (48; 28; 23%; 39%)
10 – Jason Varitek (14; 9; 71%; 111%)
9 – Mike Lowell (43; 19; 21%; 47%)
7 – Marco Scutaro (75; 34; 9%; 21%)

NOTES: Last season, Pedroia batted with 192 RISP and had 75 RBI (39%) compared to his 77% start this season… The 54 runners in scoring position with Beltre batting ranks 11th in the majors so far… Jeremy Hermida has batted with an average of .805 runners on base and .488 RISP this season, the 2nd highest rates in baseball (Troy Glaus: .813 and .500)… David Ortiz’ RBI rates last season were 26% per runner and 50% per RISP… If you drop the minimum to 10 runners, Jason Varitek is far and away the major league leader with his 71% and 111% rates… Marco Scutaro’s RBI rate of 9% per runner is the lowest in the majors among those who have batted with more than 65 runners on this season.

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  • sj

    Unearned runs are not a good measure of defense.

    We all know that errors alone are not a good measure of defense. You have to include range, arm, situations, etc.

    And unearned runs are often a measure of how the pitcher and fielders played for the few batters AFTER an error has been made.

    That takes you even further away from being a good tool to use to evaluate defense.

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