RAR has Longoria, Ibanez as MVPs through May

By Jun 1, 2009, 1:08 PM EDT
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Fan Graphs is a site that I couldn’t live without and has a great stat called Runs Above Replacement
(RAR) that combines offensive and defensive contributions while
comparing players to “replacement-level” guys at the same position.

For example, how many runs would the Cardinals lose if they had to
replace Albert Pujols with a random first baseman called up from the
minors? Last year the answer was 89.2 runs, which led baseball.

While not perfect, Runs Above Replacement is an excellent way to
examine all-around contributions and can be used to determine the top
MVP candidates based strictly on their between-the-lines performance.

Now that May is in the books I thought it would be interesting to update the RAR leaders through the season’s first two months: 

AMERICAN LEAGUE        RAR          NATIONAL LEAGUE        RAR
Evan Longoria         33.1          Raul Ibanez           28.7
Joe Mauer             27.1          Albert Pujols         26.6
Jason Bartlett        27.1          Mike Cameron          26.5
Ian Kinsler           25.6          Ryan Zimmerman        26.3
Marco Scutaro         25.3          Hanley Ramirez        26.1
Kevin Youkilis        25.0          Adrian Gonzalez       26.0
Nelson Cruz           23.9          Matt Kemp             25.2
Victor Martinez       23.3          Chase Utley           23.0
Aaron Hill            23.2          Justin Upton          22.1
Torii Hunter          22.2          Ryan Braun            20.8

Evan Longoria ranked as the best player in baseball through the end of April
and he’s still atop the RAR leaderboard a month later, hitting
.327/.396/.623 with 13 homers, 20 doubles, 55 RBIs, and excellent
defense in 51 games overall. Through his first 173 career games,
Longoria has been 86.7 runs better than a replacement-level third
baseman.

Joe Mauer has amazingly vaulted into the No. 2 spot among AL
position players despite spending all of April on the disabled list,
which shows just how spectacular he was in May. Mauer hit
.414/.500/.838 with 11 homers and 32 RBIs in 28 games while logging 176
innings at catcher last month, guiding Twins pitchers to a 4.19 ERA
with him behind the plate after the staff posted a 5.26 ERA in April.

Raul Ibanez ranked second among NL position players in RAR through
the end of April and barely slowed down in May, hitting .312/.366/.661
with 10 homers and 29 RBIs in 28 games to take over the top spot from
Mike Cameron. Of course, Ibanez is having by far the best season of his
14-year career, topping his previous high OPS by nearly 200 points, yet
has been all of 2.1 runs better than Albert Pujols.

At the other end of the RAR spectrum, Garrett Atkins (-13.3) and Delmon Young (-12.2) rank as the least valuable all-around players in their respective leagues, with Brian Giles (-10.5) and David Ortiz (-11.8) not far behind.

Nationals blow 6-run lead, rebound to beat Phillies 8-7

Associated PressJun 3, 2023, 12:55 AM EDT
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WASHINGTON (AP) Lane Thomas singled in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning and the Washington Nationals sent the Philadelphia Phillies to their fifth straight loss, winning 8-7 after blowing a six-run lead.

The defending NL champion Phillies have just five victories in their last 18 games and are tied with the Nationals at the bottom of the NL East at 25-32.

“We’ve got to overcome it,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “We’ve got to play better, get consistent in all phases and keep moving forward.”

Alex Call drew a two-out walk against Connor Brogdon (2-1) in the eighth, stole second on a low pitch that catcher JT Realmuto couldn’t make a throw on and scored on Thomas’ single to right center.

“The way Lane’s swinging the bat, if you can get on second base, we can win the game,” Call said. “I look over and the ball’s in the dirt, he doesn’t catch it. Now I’m saying: ‘All right, Lane. Come on!’”

Kyle Finnegan (3-2) pitched 1 2/3 innings for the victory, stranding the tying run on second in the ninth.

Nick Castellanos homered twice, singled, doubled and drove in five runs for Philadelphia, which had scored just three runs in its past three games.

“There’s definitely a lot of positives as a group,” Castellanos said. “Showing some fight. It would have been really, really easy to lay down and allow the way the game started to be the way that it finished.”

Down 7-1 after four innings, Philadelphia tied it at 7 in the eighth. Brandon Marsh worked a nine-pitch walk against Mason Thompson leading off, and Drew Ellis singled with one out. Finnegan came on to face Kyle Schwarber, who hit a ground ball up the middle. Shortstop CJ Abrams fielded it behind it behind second base, touched second for one out, but threw wildly to first and Marsh came home with the tying run.

Castellanos’s second homer, a two-run shot to center in the sixth, pulled the Phillies to 7-3 and Marsh added an RBI single in the inning.

In the seventh, Schwarber doubled with one out and Bryson Scott reached on an infield single. Hunter Harvey came on and walked Bryce Harper to load the bases. Castellanos singled to center scoring two runs to make it 7-6.

Luis Garcia homered and Jeimer Candelario doubled twice and drove in three runs for the Nationals, who have won seven of 12.

Philadelphia starter Zack Wheeler, coming off eight shutout innings against Atlanta, allowed seven runs on eight hits in 3 2/3 innings.

“This one’s on me really,” Wheeler said. “Guys battled back. Just couldn’t finish it out. We know who we have in this room and what we’ve got to do.”

Josiah Gray gave up four runs on six hits in 5 1/3 innings for Washington.

Candelario doubled just beyond the reach of left fielder Schwarber to drive in the first of Washington’s two runs in the first.

In the second, Abrams hit a one-out drive to deep center that Marsh misplayed into a double. With two outs and two on, Candelario doubled off the wall in right center to make it 5-0.

Garcia ended Wheeler’s night with a solo homer in the fourth.

“When you come out the way we did, you’ve got to tack on,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. “It didn’t happen tonight, but we got one more than the other guys.”

CANDY MAN

Candelario is 9 for 26 (.346) with four doubles, a home run, nine RBIs, five walks, and seven runs scored in his last seven games.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Phillies: Thomson said RHP Taijuan Walker played catch Friday and there are “no worries about his next start.” In a four-inning outing against the Mets on Thursday, Walker’s sinker velocity averaged 90.6 mph, down from 92.7 mph for the season. His fastball, splitter and curveball velocity also dropped.

Nationals: OF Victor Robles (back spasms) took batting practice on the field for the first time since going on the injured list. … LHP Sean Doolittle (elbow) gave up a run on two hits and struck out two batters in 2/3 of an inning working his second straight night for Class A Fredericksburg.

UP NEXT

Phillies: LHP Matt Strahm (4-3, 3.20) will start a bullpen game on Saturday.

Nationals: LHP MacKenzie Gore (3-3, 3.57) went seven innings and struck out a career-high 11 batters in his previous outing – a no decision against the Royals.

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