Aneez Kanji evalutates the IMPACT that a Major League Baseball batter has while at the plate.

Read the original 'Methodology' post to see how the IMPACT STAT is calculated


Sunday, October 18, 2009

Impact Stat at the end of 2009

It's that time of year again when I crunch through the season end MLB numbers and evalute the best batters in the Majors! The new vizualisations are courtesy of Tableau. I hope you enjoy them. Onto the numbers...


Once again the Impact Stat has clearly highighted:
- why Mauer and Puljous should be MVP in each league.
- why those up for consideration don't really stand a chance. (Sorry Jeter!)
- a few surprises from a Prince to a Gonzo!
- Adam "no heart" Dunn - Could he really be in the top 10 across both Leagues?!

Let's start with mile high pop-up view of all the batters with 502 at bats (minumum requirement for batting title) in 2009...

Notes:
i) The blue and red vertical lines represent a .264 and .385 average
ii) The curve on left (grey/blue) is each player's Batting Average
iii) The end points on the right represent total Impact
iv) The colour transition on each line is where OBP occurs

As you look at the image below you'll see right away that a few Impact lines extend much further that the others. At the top is Mauer, a few rows down is Puljous leading the MLB in Impact! Check the detailed image extract further down to see how Jeter, Prince, A Gonzales, and Dunn have done.

(click on each image to enlarge)


The image below show just a few of the players above. Email me for a full list @ aneezkanji@hotmail.com


Ok, so now we know we now how the top players in terms of At Bats did, but it begs the question of how each performed. Here is an image for your viewing pleasure and it includes ALL at bats for the year. It is organized in the same manner.

You'll notice that in terms of Impact, the teams you would expect to make the playoffs have done so. The only expection being the mighty Phillies.

Note: i) Impact by team doesn't take into account team's pitchers who obviously contribute to a successful playoff run.



...and finally, a map showing Impact, just because I could! (Size = Impact, Colour = Win percentage. Red < .500; Green > .500 (the darker the shade, the further to the end of the scale.)



Hope you enjoyed that, let me know your thoughts, feedback, any errors you spot, and if you want to know about any other players!

Thanks - Aneez