CSS Button No Image Css3Menu.com

Baseball Prospectus home
  
  
Click here to log in Click here to subscribe
<< Previous Article
Premium Article Prospects Will Break Y... (07/06)
<< Previous Column
BP Unfiltered: Almost ... (07/09)
Next Column >>
BP Unfiltered: A Corre... (07/11)
Next Article >>
Premium Article The Prospectus Hit Lis... (07/09)

July 9, 2012

BP Unfiltered

Erick Aybar Takes an Extra Base

by R.J. Anderson

Few things in baseball are more fun to watch than clever baserunning. Therefore, Erick Aybar’s heads-up play on Saturday night deserves a mention.

The play started conventionally enough. Aybar, who had reached on a fielder’s choice, stood at first base with two outs in the inning. The fun began when Bobby Wilson hit a groundball past a diving Wilson Betemit. Betemit remained on the grounder longer than necessary, at which point Aybar took off for third base. By doing so Aybar tested J.J. Hardy’s speed (as Hardy took off to cover third) and Xavier Avery’s arm strength and accuracy (he had to make a strong throw to a moving target). Neither Hardy nor Avery passed Aybar’s pop quiz.

With runners on first and third with two outs and Mike Trout do up, you might expect that the Angels cash in on Aybar’s brilliance. They didn’t—Trout popped up on the second pitch. Aybar’s play didn’t affect the score, and only nudged the Angels’ run expectancy by 0.04 runs. Some may argue that the risk didn’t match the reward, and it’s an interesting point—especially with Trout due up and Aybar’s capability of scoring from second on a single.

But Aybar’s play did accomplish two things: 1) it entertained us and 2) it works as a segue to introduce extra bases taken. Baseball-Reference’s stat gives credit to a player whenever he takes more bases than necessary on a play—i.e. if a player goes first-to-third on a single. Here are the leaders in raw total (minimum: 150 plate appearances):

Player

XBT

Michael Bourn

19

Martin Prado

18

Melky Cabrera

16

Angel Pagan

16

Miguel Cabrera/Jimmy Rollins

15

And in percentage form:

Player

XBT%

Hanley Ramirez

80%

Matthew Joyce

73%

Rajai Davis

73%

Mike Trout

71%

Desmond Jennings

71%

Aybar, for his part, is taking an extra base a career-worst 42 percent of the time (previously 53 percent). League-average is 40 percent.

R.J. Anderson is an author of Baseball Prospectus. 
Click here to see R.J.'s other articles. You can contact R.J. by clicking here

Related Content:  Hanley Ramirez,  Erick Aybar,  Michael Bourn

2 comments have been left for this article.

<< Previous Article
Premium Article Prospects Will Break Y... (07/06)
<< Previous Column
BP Unfiltered: Almost ... (07/09)
Next Column >>
BP Unfiltered: A Corre... (07/11)
Next Article >>
Premium Article The Prospectus Hit Lis... (07/09)

RECENTLY AT BASEBALL PROSPECTUS
Playoff Prospectus: Come Undone
BP En Espanol: Previa de la NLCS: Cubs vs. D...
Playoff Prospectus: How Did This Team Get Ma...
Playoff Prospectus: Too Slow, Too Late
Premium Article Playoff Prospectus: PECOTA Odds and ALCS Gam...
Premium Article Playoff Prospectus: PECOTA Odds and NLCS Gam...
Playoff Prospectus: NLCS Preview: Cubs vs. D...

MORE FROM JULY 9, 2012
Premium Article Pebble Hunting: The Blind BABIP Test: Result...
Fantasy Article Value Picks: Second, Short, and Catcher for ...
Fantasy Article Resident Fantasy Genius: Making the Most of ...
The Week in Quotes: July 2-July 8
What You Need to Know: Monday, July 9
Premium Article Collateral Damage Daily: Monday, July 9
Premium Article The Prospectus Hit List: Monday, July 9

MORE BY R.J. ANDERSON
2012-07-16 - Premium Article Painting the Black: The Rewritable Alex Rios
2012-07-15 - BP Unfiltered: Andrew McCutchen and Grown-Ma...
2012-07-13 - Premium Article Transaction Analysis: The Wages of Edwin
2012-07-09 - BP Unfiltered: Erick Aybar Takes an Extra Ba...
2012-07-06 - Premium Article Painting the Black: Tiptoeing Around Landmin...
2012-07-05 - Premium Article What the Contenders Need
2012-07-05 - Premium Article Transaction Analysis: El Caballo Rides Out E...
More...

MORE BP UNFILTERED
2012-07-12 - BP Unfiltered: Four Pitchers
2012-07-12 - BP Unfiltered: MVPs Who Weren't All-Stars
2012-07-11 - BP Unfiltered: A Correction from Down Under
2012-07-09 - BP Unfiltered: Erick Aybar Takes an Extra Ba...
2012-07-09 - BP Unfiltered: Almost Every Oriole Lost Trac...
2012-07-09 - BP Unfiltered: Scott Kazmir's Theoretically ...
2012-07-09 - BP Unfiltered: Billycocks and Derbies
More...