Stat of the Day: RBI%

Who has been baseball’s best and worst RBI men this season? Well, RBI alone won’t tell you that, any more than the hits leaders tell you who has the best batting average. I decided to divide the number of RBI with men in scoring position by the number of plate appearances each player had with men in scoring position. It’s not a perfect measurement, since (1) this excludes driving in runners from first and (2) players on good offensive teams are more likely to bat with multiple men in scoring position and/or with a man also on first. Still, for a rough cut on the data, it’s useful and interesting. I excluded intentional walks from plate appearances for these purposes, since it would be unfair to penalize the guys who are sufficiently feared to regularly get the bat taken out of their hands. Minimum number of plate appearances with RISP to count: 50. Source is David Pinto’s database.
Best in MLB this season? Jesus Flores. No kidding.
Worst? His teammate Dmitri Young.
The full chart is below the fold.

Player	RBI	PA	BA	OBA	Slug%	RBI%
Jesus Flores	36	61	0.346	0.419	0.673	0.590
Jason Michaels	32	55	0.375	0.400	0.667	0.582
Mike Lowell	49	85	0.319	0.391	0.652	0.576
David DeJesus	41	72	0.460	0.500	0.683	0.569
Alexi Casilla	32	60	0.367	0.400	0.571	0.533
Josh Hamilton	71	136	0.336	0.377	0.578	0.522
Nathan McLouth	42	83	0.333	0.443	0.609	0.506
Casey Blake	46	92	0.390	0.495	0.688	0.500
Cody Ross	31	64	0.302	0.344	0.604	0.484
Carl Crawford	39	82	0.284	0.301	0.446	0.476
Johnny Damon	33	71	0.365	0.423	0.556	0.465
Carlos Quentin	49	106	0.345	0.453	0.619	0.462
Emil Brown	39	85	0.320	0.391	0.493	0.459
Grady Sizemore	32	70	0.322	0.468	0.576	0.457
Reed Johnson	30	66	0.375	0.418	0.536	0.455
Jay Payton	22	49	0.304	0.347	0.435	0.449
Corey Hart	45	102	0.337	0.398	0.663	0.441
Ian Kinsler	45	102	0.419	0.466	0.605	0.441
Maicer Izturis	26	59	0.315	0.356	0.389	0.441
Daniel Uggla	34	78	0.290	0.427	0.597	0.436
Ryan Howard	59	136	0.328	0.441	0.629	0.434
Aramis Ramirez	46	107	0.297	0.393	0.560	0.430
Albert Pujols	30	70	0.276	0.511	0.500	0.429
Mike Lamb	24	56	0.348	0.356	0.435	0.429
Jeffery Mathis	21	49	0.368	0.491	0.632	0.429
Jose Lopez	41	96	0.312	0.367	0.455	0.427
Alfonso Soriano	29	68	0.322	0.427	0.627	0.426
Wes Helms	23	54	0.326	0.389	0.535	0.426
Mark Reynolds	40	94	0.302	0.340	0.581	0.426
Carlos Lee	54	127	0.315	0.402	0.509	0.425
J.D. Drew	39	92	0.304	0.447	0.594	0.424
Adrian Gonzalez	46	109	0.283	0.362	0.535	0.422
Matt Holliday	38	91	0.308	0.421	0.526	0.418
Justin Morneau	50	121	0.343	0.454	0.569	0.413
David Murphy	49	119	0.286	0.336	0.505	0.412
Lance Berkman	43	105	0.348	0.483	0.573	0.410
Ryan J Braun	45	110	0.314	0.368	0.539	0.409
David Ortiz	31	76	0.338	0.444	0.585	0.408
Vladimir Guerrero	33	81	0.292	0.413	0.528	0.407
Juan Pierre	23	57	0.377	0.431	0.491	0.404
Matthew Kemp	41	102	0.307	0.411	0.443	0.402
Jose Guillen	49	122	0.272	0.311	0.439	0.402
Carlos Beltran	51	127	0.283	0.376	0.496	0.402
Curtis Granderson	22	55	0.294	0.327	0.471	0.400
Xavier Nady	39	98	0.333	0.404	0.452	0.398
Joe Crede	35	88	0.280	0.352	0.520	0.398
Pat Burrell	33	83	0.288	0.438	0.576	0.398
Gerald Laird	24	61	0.340	0.419	0.547	0.393
Ben Molina	46	117	0.303	0.350	0.444	0.393
John Bowker	31	79	0.319	0.380	0.609	0.392
Eric Hinske	29	74	0.306	0.421	0.532	0.392
Ryan Ludwick	41	105	0.289	0.364	0.500	0.390
Manny Ramirez	39	100	0.310	0.429	0.552	0.390
Chris Iannetta	23	59	0.327	0.424	0.592	0.390
Adam Dunn	37	95	0.224	0.364	0.526	0.389
Yorvit Torrealba	21	54	0.245	0.278	0.469	0.389
Raul Ibanez	38	98	0.300	0.383	0.422	0.388
Aubrey Huff	38	98	0.298	0.392	0.476	0.388
Michael Napoli	19	49	0.263	0.396	0.553	0.388
Casey Kotchman	36	93	0.289	0.365	0.434	0.387
Kevin Youkilis	41	106	0.360	0.422	0.528	0.387
Garret Anderson	32	83	0.307	0.356	0.413	0.386
Conor Jackson	37	96	0.351	0.464	0.519	0.385
Evan Longoria	40	104	0.239	0.302	0.489	0.385
Howie Kendrick	21	55	0.417	0.436	0.583	0.382
Mike Cuddyer	32	84	0.347	0.443	0.507	0.381
Ryan Sweeney	25	66	0.386	0.426	0.456	0.379
Ryan Garko	38	101	0.293	0.402	0.451	0.376
Dioner Navarro	30	80	0.315	0.370	0.438	0.375
A.J. Pierzynski	27	72	0.275	0.325	0.420	0.375
Mike Cameron	21	56	0.239	0.339	0.500	0.375
Freddy Sanchez	31	83	0.274	0.289	0.397	0.373
Mark DeRosa	42	113	0.312	0.389	0.495	0.372
Skip Schumaker	26	70	0.312	0.380	0.547	0.371
Yunel Escobar	30	81	0.282	0.373	0.423	0.370
Mark Teixeira	47	127	0.277	0.444	0.455	0.370
Jose Reyes	34	92	0.260	0.381	0.429	0.370
Randy Winn	33	90	0.333	0.398	0.440	0.367
Brandon Boggs	22	60	0.260	0.350	0.400	0.367
John Buck	26	71	0.361	0.408	0.574	0.366
Adam Jones	34	93	0.241	0.280	0.373	0.366
Bobby Crosby	36	99	0.256	0.313	0.411	0.364
Derek Jeter	36	99	0.314	0.384	0.430	0.364
Carlos Pena	36	99	0.244	0.382	0.538	0.364
Mike Jacobs	32	88	0.225	0.309	0.537	0.364
Ryan Spilborghs	28	77	0.295	0.403	0.492	0.364
Jayson Werth	24	66	0.264	0.394	0.415	0.364
Damion Easley	20	55	0.319	0.364	0.340	0.364
Troy Glaus	45	124	0.267	0.368	0.486	0.363
Chipper Jones	31	86	0.312	0.505	0.500	0.360
Jeff Keppinger	18	50	0.390	0.500	0.512	0.360
Vernon Wells	32	89	0.286	0.326	0.416	0.360
Nicholas Markakis	38	106	0.292	0.427	0.494	0.358
Alexei Ramirez	19	53	0.388	0.396	0.429	0.358
Joe Mauer	34	95	0.329	0.434	0.395	0.358
Bobby Abreu	41	115	0.287	0.336	0.444	0.357
Hideki Matsui	26	73	0.338	0.449	0.462	0.356
Brandon Phillips	42	118	0.295	0.342	0.429	0.356
Geovany Soto	42	118	0.248	0.333	0.455	0.356
Kelly Johnson	27	76	0.277	0.359	0.431	0.355
Jim Thome	33	93	0.289	0.417	0.566	0.355
Melvin Mora	34	96	0.333	0.418	0.457	0.354
Ray Durham	30	85	0.260	0.353	0.384	0.353
David Wright	49	139	0.239	0.326	0.393	0.353
Chase Utley	43	122	0.240	0.377	0.520	0.352
Jose Vidro	32	91	0.247	0.323	0.333	0.352
Miguel Olivo	20	57	0.296	0.339	0.630	0.351
Ramon Hernandez	27	77	0.323	0.405	0.446	0.351
Brad Hawpe	28	80	0.224	0.388	0.478	0.350
Orlando Hudson	30	86	0.371	0.466	0.557	0.349
Orlando Cabrera	32	92	0.274	0.283	0.381	0.348
Chris Snyder	24	69	0.217	0.311	0.367	0.348
Gary Matthews Jr.	25	72	0.266	0.338	0.344	0.347
Luis Gonzalez	26	75	0.338	0.395	0.446	0.347
Carlos Delgado	35	101	0.220	0.333	0.396	0.347
Miguel Cabrera	37	107	0.239	0.318	0.380	0.346
Derrek Lee	36	105	0.304	0.374	0.402	0.343
Rich Aurilia	25	73	0.309	0.373	0.382	0.342
Ben Francisco	26	76	0.254	0.303	0.463	0.342
James Loney	44	129	0.295	0.381	0.455	0.341
Gabe Kapler	17	50	0.304	0.340	0.370	0.340
Aaron Rowand	38	112	0.330	0.440	0.383	0.339
Ramon Vazquez	22	65	0.255	0.353	0.327	0.338
Cristian Guzman	24	71	0.338	0.375	0.415	0.338
Stephen Drew	24	71	0.277	0.315	0.585	0.338
David Dellucci	24	71	0.262	0.319	0.477	0.338
Bill Hall	26	77	0.265	0.354	0.426	0.338
Blake Dewitt	26	77	0.284	0.402	0.373	0.338
Nick Swisher	29	86	0.229	0.378	0.414	0.337
Rick Ankiel	32	96	0.270	0.316	0.506	0.333
Andre Ethier	32	96	0.284	0.385	0.473	0.333
Joey Votto	26	78	0.227	0.350	0.455	0.333
Daric Barton	23	69	0.278	0.423	0.444	0.333
Paul Bako	21	63	0.241	0.323	0.397	0.333
Kazuo Matsui	16	48	0.295	0.312	0.364	0.333
Carlos Guillen	35	106	0.298	0.361	0.394	0.330
Yadier Molina	27	82	0.323	0.440	0.400	0.329
Paul Konerko	24	73	0.203	0.293	0.328	0.329
Jeff Baker	22	67	0.228	0.279	0.351	0.328
Ryan Church	21	64	0.314	0.424	0.412	0.328
Victor Martinez	18	55	0.319	0.424	0.340	0.327
Jermaine Dye	32	98	0.293	0.327	0.435	0.327
Hunter Pence	32	98	0.273	0.316	0.409	0.327
Ken Griffey Jr.	30	92	0.231	0.400	0.462	0.326
Torii Hunter	29	89	0.259	0.333	0.407	0.326
Yuniesky Betancourt	24	74	0.257	0.257	0.357	0.324
Jhonny Peralta	33	102	0.253	0.314	0.495	0.324
Jason Giambi	32	99	0.192	0.337	0.321	0.323
Jason Kubel	30	93	0.243	0.362	0.419	0.323
Mike Fontenot	16	50	0.238	0.373	0.500	0.320
BJ Upton	35	110	0.272	0.429	0.370	0.318
Matt Treanor	18	57	0.260	0.328	0.400	0.316
Kevin Millar	35	111	0.277	0.377	0.372	0.315
Milton Bradley	29	92	0.265	0.490	0.456	0.315
Jim Edmonds	23	73	0.274	0.373	0.452	0.315
Magglio Ordonez	34	108	0.304	0.404	0.467	0.315
Tadahito Iguchi	17	54	0.292	0.370	0.354	0.315
Pedro Feliz	28	89	0.272	0.333	0.383	0.315
Matt Stairs	22	70	0.190	0.338	0.379	0.314
Alex Rodriguez	32	102	0.238	0.383	0.429	0.314
Jeremy Hermida	26	83	0.308	0.357	0.410	0.313
Kosuke Fukudome	31	99	0.325	0.448	0.518	0.313
Adam Kennedy	19	61	0.304	0.349	0.339	0.311
Jamey Carroll	19	61	0.286	0.410	0.408	0.311
Prince Fielder	33	106	0.233	0.371	0.465	0.311
Melky Cabrera	28	90	0.212	0.298	0.312	0.311
Brendan Harris	28	90	0.241	0.289	0.342	0.311
Dustin Pedroia	37	119	0.311	0.353	0.406	0.311
Delmon Young	32	103	0.271	0.308	0.365	0.311
Aaron Hill	17	55	0.255	0.291	0.353	0.309
Carlos Joaquin Ruiz	17	55	0.280	0.400	0.360	0.309
Travis Hafner	17	55	0.262	0.404	0.405	0.309
Michael Young	42	136	0.297	0.360	0.364	0.309
Garrett Atkins	36	117	0.230	0.299	0.390	0.308
Jose Bautista	27	88	0.253	0.352	0.373	0.307
Robinson Cano	30	98	0.250	0.280	0.315	0.306
Carlos Gomez	25	82	0.315	0.390	0.425	0.305
Jeff Francoeur	34	112	0.198	0.256	0.311	0.304
Franklin Gutierrez	17	56	0.176	0.263	0.314	0.304
Alexis Rios	30	99	0.256	0.307	0.333	0.303
Brian McCann	32	106	0.293	0.389	0.489	0.302
Jimmy Rollins	21	70	0.298	0.474	0.491	0.300
Erick Aybar	18	60	0.228	0.250	0.316	0.300
Rod Barajas	18	60	0.255	0.317	0.364	0.300
Brian Schneider	18	60	0.226	0.354	0.264	0.300
Ross Gload	17	57	0.250	0.344	0.308	0.298
Kenji Johjima	17	57	0.269	0.298	0.462	0.298
Jorge Cantu	31	104	0.261	0.333	0.315	0.298
Marco Scutaro	29	98	0.269	0.388	0.321	0.296
David Eckstein	21	71	0.323	0.389	0.419	0.296
Russell Martin	31	105	0.287	0.427	0.368	0.295
Ivan Rodriguez	23	78	0.239	0.291	0.352	0.295
Lyle Overbay	28	95	0.203	0.392	0.333	0.295
Ryan Doumit	15	51	0.375	0.404	0.458	0.294
Placido Polanco	27	92	0.329	0.383	0.378	0.293
Chris B Young	33	113	0.228	0.298	0.416	0.292
Scott Hairston	15	52	0.239	0.302	0.478	0.288
Kurt Suzuki	25	87	0.273	0.360	0.403	0.287
Jeff Kent	28	98	0.235	0.323	0.353	0.286
Jason Bartlett	20	70	0.250	0.282	0.281	0.286
Ty Wigginton	16	56	0.159	0.333	0.318	0.286
Mark Ellis	27	96	0.253	0.347	0.410	0.281
Kevin Kouzmanoff	30	107	0.263	0.312	0.434	0.280
Edgar Renteria	28	100	0.297	0.330	0.396	0.280
Josh Willingham	14	50	0.233	0.353	0.512	0.280
Ryan Zimmerman	17	61	0.170	0.230	0.264	0.279
Brian Roberts	20	72	0.259	0.387	0.448	0.278
Luis Castillo	23	83	0.300	0.400	0.400	0.277
Adam LaRoche	29	105	0.231	0.330	0.363	0.276
Clint Barmes	16	58	0.259	0.310	0.407	0.276
Fred Lewis	19	69	0.254	0.380	0.424	0.275
Geoff Blum	14	51	0.234	0.302	0.319	0.275
Mark Teahen	28	103	0.219	0.276	0.417	0.272
Adrian Beltre	29	107	0.239	0.374	0.370	0.271
Brian Giles	23	86	0.250	0.407	0.422	0.267
Khalil Greene	23	87	0.155	0.239	0.310	0.264
Luke Scott	17	65	0.200	0.352	0.382	0.262
Austin Kearns	19	73	0.220	0.370	0.271	0.260
Alex Gordon	27	104	0.221	0.340	0.291	0.260
Gary Sheffield	15	58	0.224	0.345	0.408	0.259
Todd Helton	23	89	0.270	0.443	0.392	0.258
Joey Gathright	16	62	0.250	0.339	0.250	0.258
Gregor Blanco	17	66	0.273	0.368	0.364	0.258
Hanley Ramirez	23	90	0.216	0.351	0.459	0.256
Aaron Miles	15	59	0.268	0.300	0.393	0.254
Jason Bay	22	87	0.214	0.348	0.343	0.253
Edwin Encarnacion	19	76	0.233	0.377	0.350	0.250
Chris Duncan	16	64	0.241	0.373	0.296	0.250
Eric Byrnes	16	64	0.212	0.359	0.365	0.250
Alfredo Amezaga	12	48	0.256	0.408	0.410	0.250
Justin Upton	21	85	0.164	0.322	0.313	0.247
Felipe Lopez	20	81	0.200	0.305	0.257	0.247
Willy Taveras	17	69	0.203	0.246	0.281	0.246
Coco Crisp	14	57	0.196	0.246	0.275	0.246
Gabe Gross	14	57	0.222	0.351	0.378	0.246
Shane Victorino	23	94	0.233	0.312	0.372	0.245
Brad Wilkerson	17	70	0.203	0.338	0.254	0.243
Lastings Milledge	24	99	0.220	0.313	0.317	0.242
Billy Butler	15	62	0.255	0.323	0.309	0.242
Asdrubal Cabrera	11	46	0.175	0.292	0.200	0.239
Ryan Theriot	20	84	0.282	0.388	0.310	0.238
Gregg Zaun	15	63	0.228	0.297	0.368	0.238
Jose Castillo	23	97	0.225	0.296	0.348	0.237
Nick Johnson	11	47	0.219	0.490	0.312	0.234
Akinori Iwamura	17	73	0.254	0.370	0.288	0.233
Mark Kotsay	16	69	0.254	0.314	0.302	0.232
Scott Rolen	19	83	0.209	0.357	0.358	0.229
Mark Grudzielanek	16	70	0.246	0.352	0.311	0.229
Jacoby Ellsbury	20	88	0.264	0.378	0.292	0.227
Jason Varitek	19	84	0.192	0.294	0.247	0.226
Jack Cust	22	99	0.228	0.366	0.291	0.222
Miguel Tejada	23	104	0.216	0.278	0.268	0.221
Geoff Jenkins	13	59	0.180	0.279	0.240	0.220
Jason Kendall	20	91	0.267	0.394	0.293	0.220
Omar Vizquel	9	41	0.222	0.362	0.278	0.220
Richie Sexson	18	83	0.123	0.277	0.277	0.217
Omar Quintanilla	10	47	0.190	0.271	0.310	0.213
Cesar Izturis	12	57	0.200	0.298	0.260	0.211
Chone Figgins	10	50	0.297	0.500	0.297	0.200
Julio Lugo	20	101	0.139	0.277	0.152	0.198
Jack Hannahan	16	81	0.161	0.329	0.194	0.198
Ichiro Suzuki	15	78	0.219	0.402	0.250	0.192
Rickie Weeks	15	78	0.175	0.295	0.286	0.192
James Hardy	15	79	0.194	0.280	0.278	0.190
Michael Bourn	10	58	0.122	0.241	0.143	0.172
Marlon Byrd	9	55	0.130	0.268	0.239	0.164
Frank Catalanotto	8	51	0.200	0.275	0.244	0.157
Endy Chavez	9	58	0.196	0.300	0.235	0.155
Andruw Jones	8	56	0.067	0.232	0.067	0.143
Dmitri Young	6	46	0.125	0.420	0.156	0.130

4 thoughts on “Stat of the Day: RBI%”

trooper york says:

July 16, 2008 at 8:21 pm

I guess Jesus is the answer.
A.S. says:

July 16, 2008 at 8:29 pm

First, shouldn’t you be subtracting the number of home runs from the number of RBIs? This isn’t meant to measure how often a guy drives himself in (with a HR), but rather how often a guy drives men on base in, right? Or am I misunderstanding the stat? Otherwise I would think you’d simply use RBI/PA.
Also, the failure to account for guys on first seems to me to be a major flaw. Isn’t it easily correctable, given the database? Oddly, the database doesn’t seem to have a split for “men on”, but plate appearances with men on should be easily calculable by subtracting PA with none on from total PA. The formula for RBI% should be (RBI – HR) / (PA – PA(none on)).
Crank says:

July 16, 2008 at 8:37 pm

Oh, there are a couple different ways to skin this particular cat. But I’m not gonna ignore the value of a 3-run homer.
A truly scientific measure would at a minimum assign different values to the following
*Runners on first
*Runners on second
*Runners on third with two outs and the bases not loaded (if the bases are loaded, a walk can drive a runner in, so the scoring opportunity is better)
*Runners on third with less than two outs and the bases not loaded
*Runners on third with two outs and the bases loaded
*Runners on third with less than two outs and the bases loaded
This is a quick-n-dirty measurement. It’s not bad, for that.
BTW, look at Wright and Utley…that there is the value of Reyes’ speed.
Rage says:

July 17, 2008 at 7:28 am

What if you instead looked at the number of RBI with men in scoring position divided by the number of men left in scoring position? Might that be a bit more conclusive of a number?

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