The San Diego Padres have stunned the pundits this 12 months. The Padres decisively diminished their payroll initially of 2024 — and supposedly lowered their expectations accordingly.
The latter deduction was incorrect. San Diego could be very a lot within the hunt for a playoff berth, even perhaps the Nationwide League West title.
One cause is the membership’s talent on the plate. The Padres led the majors in a few key classes as of mid-August.
The primary of these stats is intently monitored (if disparaged by some analysts). San Diego’s group batting common of .267 is 5 factors higher than the .262 for the runner-up in that class, the Boston Crimson Sox.
The second is hardly watched in any respect, however could also be much more essential. The Padres have the very best contact fee (CT) within the majors: .805.
CT is just the share of at-bats that don’t finish in strikeouts. San Diego’s .805 signifies that its hitters put the ball in play 80.5 p.c of the time. And when the ball is in play, good issues can occur.
Beneath is the record of the ten ballclubs with the very best contact charges on the season’s 20-week mark (August 15). It’s notable that these 10 groups are collectively 85 video games above .500, whereas the ten golf equipment with the worst CTs are a complete of 112 video games beneath the break-even mark.
The massive-league common for CT, by the way in which, is .751 this season. The Seattle Mariners are the worst at .686.
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1. San Diego Padres, CT .805
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2. Kansas Metropolis Royals, CT .798
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3. Houston Astros, CT .791
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4. Cleveland Guardians, CT .780
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5. Washington Nationals, CT .774
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6. Arizona Diamondbacks, CT .773
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6. Toronto Blue Jays, CT .773
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8. Texas Rangers, CT .770
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9. Minnesota Twins, CT .764
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10. New York Yankees, CT .763
This has been a very good 12 months, thus far, for the Cleveland Guardians, Milwaukee Brewers, and San Diego Padres. All three golf equipment have a very good likelihood of creating the playoffs.
That’s essential as a result of these three franchises are presently enduring baseball’s longest championship droughts.
The Guardians, then often called the Indians, most not too long ago received a World Sequence in 1948. Their drought dates from the next 12 months, 1949, by way of final season, 2023. That’s a title-less streak of 75 years and counting.
The Brewers and Padres have two traits in frequent. They have been based in 1969, they usually have by no means received a world title. That places their championship droughts at 55 seasons, as they enter 2024’s postseason.
Six franchises have gone a minimum of 40 years with no World Sequence trophy. The 12 months in parentheses is the one by which the drought started:
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1. Cleveland Guardians (1949), 75 years
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2. Milwaukee Brewers (1969), 55 years
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2. San Diego Padres (1969), 55 years
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4. Seattle Mariners (1977), 47 years
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5. Pittsburgh Pirates (1980), 44 years
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6. Baltimore Orioles (1984), 40 years
August 15 is the casual three-quarters mark of the season, 4 and a half months into the schedule, with solely a month and a half to play.
It’s a very good level to find out which groups are working scorching because the stretch drive approaches — and that are cooling off.
Right this moment’s graph exhibits the 4 golf equipment that posted the perfect profitable percentages between the beginning of July and the midpoint of August, led by the Diamondbacks. Arizona went 28-10 (.737) over that stretch of a month and a half, rocketing again into playoff competition.
If solely the Chicago White Sox might say the identical. The Sox performed 5-31 ball from July 1 to August 15 for a very depressing profitable proportion of .139, simply the worst over that interval.
The graph consists of the 4 golf equipment with the perfect data from the midway mark to the three-quarters pole, in addition to the 4 worst. It’s notable that the allegedly hapless Oakland Athletics are among the many 4 leaders, whereas the supposedly invincible Philadelphia Phillies are one of many tailenders.
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We’re not solely nearing the top of the 2024 season, but additionally the midway level of all the decade. The (practically) 5 preliminary years of the 2020s have been removed from regular, an inevitable outgrowth of the Covid-19 pandemic.
But issues have settled down, giving us an opportunity to scrutinize the leaders in numerous statistical classes. Right this moment’s quiz is concentrated on the highest batters between 2020 and the midpoint of August 2024.
You’ll be able to, as all the time, look to the underside of this article for the solutions.
1. Who has hit essentially the most residence runs for the reason that begin of the 2020 season?
2. Which batter has amassed essentially the most hits within the half-decade?
3. Who has pushed in essentially the most runs over the newest 5 seasons?
4. Which batter has drawn essentially the most walks since 2020?
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A. Aaron Choose
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B. Matt Olson
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C. Kyle Schwarber
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D. Juan Soto
5. And who has suffered essentially the most strikeouts over the (virtually) five-year interval?
No one would dispute that Manny Machado is one in every of as we speak’s superstars — certainly, one of many biggest baseball gamers of latest instances.
The third baseman for the San Diego Padres has additionally performed for the Baltimore Orioles and Los Angeles Dodgers since his big-league debut in 2012. Machado has by no means received a Most Priceless Participant Award, but he’s usually within the dialog. He has completed among the many high 10 vote-getters in 5 completely different MVP elections, most not too long ago in 2022, when he positioned second.
However there are just a few flaws in Machado’s sport, notably his tendency to hit into double performs. He has grounded into 174 DPs over the previous 10 seasons (2015 to mid-August 2024), the very best complete within the majors.
Listed here are the ten batters with essentially the most groundouts into double performs (GDP) in that span of (practically) 10 years, in response to Baseball Reference:
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1. Manny Machado, GDP 174
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2. Jose Abreu, GDP 173
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3. Nolan Arenado, GDP 157
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4. J.D. Martinez, GDP 152
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5. DJ LeMahieu, GDP 146
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6. Jose Altuve, GDP 133
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7. Carlos Correa, GDP 132
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8. Xander Bogaerts, GDP 130
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8. Miguel Cabrera, GDP 130
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10. Albert Pujols, GDP 129
The week of August 13-19 started poorly for the 1984 Detroit Tigers, who have been destined to be ranked as the best ballclub of baseball’s Fashionable Period (1961 to the current).
Detroit misplaced each ends of a doubleheader to California on August 14, and the second sport was an actual blowout: Angels 12, Tigers 1. The 2 defeats lower the Tigers’ lead within the American League East to 7.5 video games, the smallest it had been for the reason that first half of July.
However the membership rapidly reverted to kind, profitable the ultimate two video games of its collection with California, then two of three with the Seattle Mariners. The very best second of drama occurred on August 16, when Barbaro Garbey doubled within the twelfth inning for a 8-7 walk-off win over the Angels.
The Tigers held an 81-44 report (.648) on the morning of August 20, placing them 10 video games forward of the second-place Toronto Blue Jays.
The 1962 New York Mets would go down in historical past because the Fashionable Period’s losingest group. Their closing report could be 40-120.
The week of August 13-19 helped to cement that legacy. The Mets performed six video games, they usually misplaced all six. The mixed rating for the week: Opponents 47, Mets 20.
The most important blowout occurred within the nightcap of an August 18 doubleheader. The St. Louis Cardinals rapped 13 hits and drew six walks from three New York pitchers, whereas future Corridor of Famer Bob Gibson held the Mets to a few hits. Closing rating: Playing cards 10, Mets 0.
The Nationwide League standings on August 20, 1962, confirmed New York in final place, in fact. The Mets have been 30-92 (.246) and sat 50.5 video games — sure, 50.5 — behind the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers.
1-B. (No shock right here. Choose is the simple chief with 191 homers from 2020 to mid-August 2024. Ohtani is the runner-up at 169.)
2-A. (Freeman holds a snug lead with 788 hits. Turner is subsequent within the rankings for the half-decade with 744.)
3-C. (It’s a good race. Olson is on high with 457 RBIs since opening day in 2020, however Ramirez is on his heels with 455.)
4-D. (This one isn’t shut. Soto has drawn 556 walks over the half-decade. Schwarber is a distant second with 394 walks.)
5-D. (Suarez is the whiff king with 780 strikeouts since 2020. Schwarber is subsequent with 751.)
