The 2014 MLB All-Star Game

In honor of the first half of the 2014 MLB campaign coming to an end, I would like to dedicate this next post to evaluating the players performances thus far.  First off, I want to iterate the fact that the Oakland Athletics have the best record in the MLB right now with a 59-36 record.  As we all are aware from the movie "Moneyball", Billy Beane and his assistants heavily utilize statistical analysis when constructing their roster.  The Athletics also have the sixth lowest payroll in the MLB, with roughly an $83.5 million payout (Deadspin.com).  With this being said, the Oakland Athletics typically have a very low payroll and somehow they seem to be perennial contenders in the playoffs.   Hopefully, the preceding facts can sway some of you skeptics who believe that statistical analysis is not important in baseball.

In my analysis, I want to distinguish those players who may have been snubbed and not selected to a 2014 ASG roster.  I will be statistically evaluating position players only.  However, I would like to start off by sharing my general opinion on a pitcher, who I believe got cheated severely.  This pitcher is Sonny Gray of the Oakland Athletics.  The fact that Gray is not on the American League roster is an utter outrage.  I comprehend the fact that the Athletics already have the most representatives at the game and the league wants representatives from every team, but statistically speaking, Gray is one of the best pitchers in the game right now.  Sonny Gray boasts a 10-3 record and 2.79 ERA, along with having amassed 108 strikeouts already (MLB.com).  He should of at least been one of the players chosen to replace an injured or unavailable pitcher.

Now, on to the evaluation of the position players.  To evaluate the players, I will use my statistics that I created and explicated in previous posts.  These statistics are the Individual Offensive Rating (IOR) and the Offensive Team Contribution Rating (OTCR).  The data and statistics which I will be using for the analysis is from the 2014 MLB season only.  I also will only be considering those players who have over 200 at-bats in order to avoid any large statistical discrepancies.  I am taking the top 100 players in terms of IOR, they are ranked in descending order.

IOR/OTCR Rank	IOR Rank	Name	IOR	OTCR	IOR/OTCR
38	1	Troy Tulowitzki	0.613	0.619	0.990
27	2	Andrew McCutchen	0.608	0.600	1.014
34	3	Jose Bautista	0.596	0.594	1.003
23	4	Giancarlo Stanton	0.589	0.576	1.022
64	5	Mike Trout	0.588	0.632	0.931
41	6	Victor Martinez#	0.573	0.586	0.977
5	7	Coco Crisp#	0.571	0.529	1.080
44	8	Paul Goldschmidt	0.560	0.576	0.972
50	9	Corey Dickerson*	0.545	0.568	0.960
24	10	Anthony Rizzo*	0.539	0.529	1.019
61	11	Adam LaRoche*	0.535	0.573	0.935
49	12	David Ortiz*	0.534	0.556	0.961
11	13	Joey Votto*	0.532	0.504	1.056
3	14	Jose Altuve	0.526	0.453	1.161
19	15	Adam Dunn*	0.525	0.509	1.030
57	16	Yasiel Puig	0.522	0.553	0.943
89	17	Devin Mesoraco	0.522	0.597	0.874
81	18	Edwin Encarnacion	0.518	0.581	0.891
35	19	Mike Napoli	0.517	0.516	1.001
17	20	Seth Smith*	0.516	0.499	1.032
8	21	Brian Dozier	0.514	0.484	1.061
1	22	Eric Young#	0.512	0.400	1.282
55	23	Hanley Ramirez	0.512	0.537	0.953
75	24	Robinson Cano*	0.510	0.563	0.906
2	25	Dee Gordon*	0.510	0.425	1.200
79	26	Nelson Cruz	0.508	0.569	0.893
84	27	Lonnie Chisenhall*	0.508	0.571	0.888
40	28	Carlos Gomez	0.504	0.513	0.983
85	29	Michael Brantley*	0.504	0.570	0.885
90	30	Jose Abreu	0.503	0.578	0.870
47	31	George Springer	0.500	0.519	0.964
13	32	Rajai Davis	0.498	0.478	1.042
52	33	Charlie Blackmon*	0.497	0.519	0.959
33	34	Curtis Granderson*	0.495	0.494	1.003
6	35	Billy Hamilton#	0.492	0.457	1.077
67	36	Freddie Freeman*	0.492	0.532	0.925
16	37	Shin-Soo Choo*	0.491	0.474	1.036
72	38	Mark Teixeira#	0.490	0.536	0.914
69	39	Matthew Joyce*	0.490	0.533	0.919
100	40	Miguel Cabrera	0.490	0.606	0.808
45	41	Todd Frazier	0.489	0.505	0.968
10	42	Dexter Fowler#	0.488	0.461	1.057
21	43	Jacoby Ellsbury*	0.487	0.476	1.025
92	44	Brandon Moss*	0.486	0.561	0.867
32	45	Brett Gardner*	0.485	0.481	1.009
66	46	Jonathan Lucroy	0.482	0.520	0.927
93	47	Adrian Beltre	0.482	0.558	0.865
9	48	Ruben Tejada	0.482	0.455	1.058
25	49	Carlos Santana#	0.482	0.473	1.019
39	50	Matt Carpenter*	0.481	0.487	0.987
74	51	Lucas Duda*	0.480	0.530	0.907
73	52	Justin Upton	0.480	0.527	0.911
62	53	Matt Holliday	0.478	0.512	0.934
26	54	Christian Yelich*	0.476	0.467	1.018
12	55	Jimmy Rollins#	0.474	0.453	1.048
86	56	Miguel Montero*	0.472	0.534	0.884
7	57	Carlos Ruiz	0.470	0.437	1.075
78	58	Jayson Werth	0.470	0.523	0.899
36	59	Drew Stubbs	0.465	0.466	0.997
15	60	Leonys Martin*	0.464	0.447	1.039
60	61	Chris Davis*	0.463	0.494	0.936
4	62	Desmond Jennings	0.462	0.426	1.084
94	63	Ryan Braun	0.461	0.534	0.863
63	64	Scooter Gennett*	0.461	0.495	0.931
51	65	Kole Calhoun*	0.461	0.480	0.959
98	66	Casey McGehee	0.460	0.544	0.845
87	67	Evan Gattis	0.460	0.521	0.883
82	68	Albert Pujols	0.458	0.515	0.890
14	69	Ben Zobrist#	0.458	0.440	1.041
97	70	Kyle Seager*	0.457	0.541	0.846
20	71	Angel Pagan#	0.456	0.443	1.030
54	72	Ike Davis*	0.455	0.477	0.954
77	73	Anthony Rendon	0.454	0.505	0.900
71	74	Chase Utley*	0.454	0.495	0.915
42	75	Evan Longoria	0.453	0.464	0.976
53	76	Pedro Alvarez*	0.451	0.472	0.955
28	77	Jason Heyward*	0.449	0.443	1.013
70	78	Alex Gordon*	0.449	0.490	0.918
31	79	Hunter Pence	0.449	0.444	1.010
29	80	DJ LeMahieu	0.448	0.442	1.013
48	81	Brock Holt*	0.447	0.464	0.964
65	82	John Jaso*	0.447	0.481	0.928
95	83	Conor Gillaspie*	0.446	0.524	0.850
58	84	Jay Bruce*	0.444	0.471	0.943
76	85	Neil Walker#	0.444	0.492	0.903
59	86	Brandon Crawford*	0.443	0.472	0.938
43	87	Alex Avila*	0.442	0.454	0.975
18	88	Starling Marte	0.442	0.428	1.032
37	89	Mark Reynolds	0.440	0.442	0.996
46	90	Jarrod Saltalamacchia#	0.438	0.454	0.965
88	91	Buster Posey	0.438	0.501	0.874
80	92	David Wright	0.438	0.491	0.892
22	93	Jason Kipnis*	0.437	0.427	1.024
83	94	Lorenzo Cain	0.437	0.491	0.889
96	95	Aramis Ramirez	0.436	0.515	0.846
68	96	Howie Kendrick	0.436	0.471	0.924
99	97	Kurt Suzuki	0.435	0.520	0.838
30	98	Alcides Escobar	0.434	0.428	1.012
56	99	Yadier Molina	0.432	0.457	0.947
91	100	Matt Adams*	0.432	0.498	0.868

A very good IOR/OTCR ratio would be anything above 1.000.  An above average would be anything over 0.900.   The higher the ratio, the more well rounded and self-sufficient the player is.  Reiterating my statements from my prior posts, the higher the IOR/OTCR ratio the more of an offensive instigator the player is.  Where as a lower ratio could indicate that a player is more of a complimentary asset to a line-up.  With all that being said, let me begin with the analysis.  The two players who got cheated out of an all-star roster spot the most are Coco Crisp and Billy Hamilton.  They both have excellent IOR/OTCR ratio ratings and their IORs are also very good by themselves.  I believe that these two players are game changers and can ignite an offensive rally.  Coco Crisp has had some inconsistencies with his starts this season, due to minor injuries.  These lost starts, cost him at-bats, which probably was a major factor in him not being selected as an all-star.  However, there is no excuse for Billy Hamilton not to be an all-star.  After a slow start to the season, Hamilton really heated up as of lately and has been putting up very good offensive figures.  The only problem with Hamilton is a lack of patience at the plate and on the base paths.  Hamilton does not walk as much as he should and strikes out a good amount.  With world-class speed like Hamilton has, he needs to focus more on contact and OBP in order to transcend his game.  Hamilton also needs to be more selective with the pitches and counts he steals on because he does get caught stealing a significant amount.

Other players, who I believe got snubbed, have there names highlighted in yellow (Hamilton and Crisp are also highlighted).  These players include Corey Dickerson of the Rockies, David Ortiz of the Red Sox, Jacoby Ellsbury of the Yankees, Scooter Gennett of the Brewers, and Brock Holt of the Red Sox.  I personally recommend keeping an eye on both Holt and Dickerson for the second half.  They both have put forth incredible numbers thus far.