Players with fewer than 100 at-bats
Posted by Andy on January 22, 2008
I did a Batting Season Finder, limiting the year to 2007, and that the batter had any position EXCEPT for pitcher. then I had the results sorted by team. Here's what you get:
Year Lg Team Number Players Matching +----+--+---------------------------------+------+-----------------------------------------+ 2007 AL Oakland Athletics 15 Jeff Davanon / Rob Bowen / Milton Bradley / Daric Barton / Todd Walker / J.J. Furmaniak / Bobby Kielty / Adam Melhuse / Danny Putnam / Kevin Thompson / Dee Brown / Hiram Bocachica / Chris Snelling / Ryan Langerhans / Kevin Melillo 2007 NL San Diego Padres 15 Scott Hairston / Morgan Ensberg / Rob Bowen / Rob Mackowiak / Hiram Bocachica / Oscar Robles / Brady Clark / Paul McAnulty / Brian Myrow / Craig Stansberry / Pete LaForest / Chase Headley / Jason Lane / Colt Morton / Drew Macias 2007 NL Cincinnati Reds 13 Juan Castro / Jason Ellison / Chad Moeller / Jorge Cantu / Joey Votto / Buck Coats / Pedro Lopez / Mark Bellhorn / Dewayne Wise / Ryan Hanigan / Ryan Jorgensen / Jerry Gil / Enrique Cruz 2007 NL Chicago Cubs 10 Ronny Cedeno / Koyie Hill / Craig Monroe / Henry Blanco / Geovany Soto / Sam Fuld / Rob Bowen / Eric Patterson / Jake Fox / Scott Moore 2007 NL Colorado Rockies 10 Steve Finley / Ian Stewart / John Mabry / Omar Quintanilla / Clint Barmes / Joe Koshansky / Seth Smith / Geronimo Gil / Edwin Bellorin / Sean Barker 2007 NL Los Angeles Dodgers 10 Brady Clark / Wilson Valdez / Mike Lieberthal / Andy LaRoche / Mark Sweeney / Marlon Anderson / Shea Hillenbrand / Delwyn Young / Chin-Lung Hu / Chad Moeller 2007 NL New York Mets 10 David Newhan / Marlon Anderson / Julio Franco / Jeff Conine / Ricky Ledee / Mike Difelice / Ben Johnson / Sandy Alomar / Anderson Hernandez / Chip Ambres 2007 NL Atlanta Braves 9 Pete Orr / Martin Prado / Craig Wilson / Ryan Langerhans / Brayan Pena / Julio Franco / Corky Miller / Brandon Jones / Clint Sammons 2007 AL Baltimore Orioles 9 Freddie Bynum / Brandon Fahey / Luis Hernandez / J.R. House / Scott Moore / Alberto Castillo / Jon Knott / Gustavo Molina / Adam Stern 2007 AL New York Yankees 9 Wilson Betemit / Josh Phelps / Shelley Duncan / Jose Molina / Wil Nieves / Kevin Thompson / Alberto Gonzalez / Bronson Sardinha / Chris Basak 2007 AL Seattle Mariners 9 Jason Ellison / Adam Jones / Jeremy Reed / Charlton Jimerson / Mike Morse / Jeff Clement / Rob Johnson / Nick Green / Wladimir Balentien 2007 AL Toronto Blue Jays 9 Howie Clark / Jason Smith / Ray Olmedo / Russ Adams / Hector Luna / Sal Fasano / Ryan Roberts / John-Ford Griffin / Joe Inglett 2007 AL Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 8 Nathan Haynes / Tommy Murphy / Juan Rivera / Brandon Wood / Ryan Budde / Terry Evans / Matthew Brown / Nick Gorneault 2007 NL Arizona Diamondbacks 8 Jeff Salazar / Robby Hammock / Jeff Cirillo / Jeff Davanon / Emilio Bonifacio / Brian Barden / Jason Smith / Donnie Sadler 2007 AL Minnesota Twins 8 Brian Buscher / Garrett Jones / Chris Heintz / Josh Rabe / Tommy Watkins / Matt LeCroy / Darnell McDonald / Jose Morales 2007 NL Pittsburgh Pirates 8 Josh Phelps / Matt Kata / Don Kelly / Rajai Davis / Steven Pearce / Brad Eldred / Carlos Maldonado / Humberto Cota 2007 NL San Francisco Giants 8 Mark Sweeney / Guillermo Rodriguez / Todd Linden / Eliezer Alfonzo / Eugenio Velez / Lance Niekro / Scott McClain / Luis Figueroa 2007 AL Tampa Bay Devil Rays 8 Ben Zobrist / Raul Casanova / Jorge Cantu / Joel Guzman / Jorge Velandia / Justin Ruggiano / Dustan Mohr / Shawn Riggans 2007 AL Kansas City Royals 7 Jason Smith / Reggie Sanders / Angel Berroa / Paul Phillips / Fernando Cortez / Justin Huber / Craig Brazell 2007 AL Texas Rangers 7 Matt Kata / Adam Melhuse / Chris Stewart / Desi Relaford / Guillermo Quiroz / Freddy Guzman / Kevin Mahar 2007 AL Boston Red Sox 6 Bobby Kielty / Brandon Moss / Kevin Cash / Royce Clayton / Jeff Bailey / David Murphy 2007 AL Cleveland Indians 6 Mike Rouse / Ben Francisco / Andy Marte / Chris Gomez / Shin-Soo Choo / Luis Rivas 2007 AL Detroit Tigers 6 Neifi Perez / Ramon Santiago / Timo Perez / Cameron Maybin / Mike Hessman / Brent Clevlen 2007 NL Florida Marlins 6 Reggie Abercrombie / Brett Carroll / Eric Reed / Robert Andino / John Gall / Paul Hoover 2007 NL St. Louis Cardinals 6 Miguel Cairo / Kelly Stinnett / Preston Wilson / Russell Branyan / Brian Barden / Brian Esposito +----+--+---------------------------------+------+-----------------------------------------+ Year Lg Team Number Players Matching +----+--+---------------------------------+------+-----------------------------------------+ 2007 NL Washington Nationals 6 Chris Snelling / Kory Casto / Josh Wilson / Justin Maxwell / Michael Restovich / Brandon Watson 2007 AL Chicago White Sox 5 Pablo Ozuna / Ryan Sweeney / Brian N. Anderson / Gustavo Molina / Donny Lucy 2007 NL Milwaukee Brewers 5 Joe Dillon / Mike Rivera / Laynce Nix / Mel Stocker / Vinny Rottino 2007 NL Houston Astros 4 Humberto Quintero / Josh Anderson / Cody Ransom / J.R. Towles 2007 NL Philadelphia Phillies 3 Chris Roberson / Pete LaForest / Russell Branyan
Why do players get fewer than 100 AB? I can think of a few reasons right off:
- September call-up
- Injured
- Minor-league fill-in for an injured player
- Reserve/pinch-hitter type
- Poor performance
Note that this goes by team. So Russell Branyan, who had fewer than 100 AB for both the Phillies and the Cardinals makes both of their lists, but he doesn't make it for the Padres since he had 122 at-bats with them. Another guy I noticed twice on here is Josh Phelps, who had under 100 AB each for NYY and PIT.
Anyway, the difference among teams is staggering. How is it that Oakland and San Diego had 15 such players, while the Phillies and Astros had just 3 and 4, respectively?
I just looked at the Yankees and here's now their numbers break down:
Yankees: 2 guys with the team most of the year who just didn't play that much (Betemit, Duncan), 2 guys who were released/sent down due to poor performance (Phelps, Nieves), 1 mid-season pick up replacement (Molina, to replace Nieves ironically), 1 minor-leaguer fill-in (Thompson), and 3 September callups (Gonzales, Sardinha, Basak, although I think Basak was called up earlier so he might also classify as a minor-league fill-in.)
Can you do the breakdown for some other teams?
January 22nd, 2008 at 9:29 am
Red Sox (as best I remember)
Bobby Kielty: late season addition for playoffs
Brandon Moss: September call-up, got hurt
Kevin Cash: AAA catcher, came up due to injuries
Royce Clayton: SS call up
Jeff Bailey: short-term call up, feel-good story for journeyman
David Murphy: showcased to trade
January 22nd, 2008 at 9:30 am
I changed the criterion to a maximum of 129 plate appearances (just short of the standard to define a rookie), then searched for the non-pitcher with the most such seasons. Tom Prince gets the award for the ultimate bench-warmer -- thirteen seasons with fewer than 130 plate appearances.
January 22nd, 2008 at 4:09 pm
Rob Bowen (
January 22nd, 2008 at 4:10 pm
Lemme try this again...
Rob Bowen (less than 100 ABs for TRHEE different teams) is that guy who's in every picture, but no one remembers him being there.
January 22nd, 2008 at 7:01 pm
I'll try and break down Oakland:
Jeff Davanon: Acquired in August.
Rob Bown: Backup catcher acquired midseason.
Milton Bradley: Injured and then traded to San Diego.
Daric Barton: September callup.
Todd Walker: Got some playing time early in the year due to injuries and then was DFA.
J.J. Furmaniak: Don't know much about this guy. He spent most of the year in the minors and probably got playing time because of injuries.
Bobby Kielty: I think he was hurt, and he was released.
Adam Melhuse: Purchased by the Rangers midseason, wasn't an everyday player to start with.
Danny Putnam: Don't know much about this guy. Looks like he bounced around the minors and earned some big-league playing time early, likely due to injuries.
Kevin Thompson: Claimed off waivers midseason from the Yankees.
Dee Brown: I don't know why he got playing time, since he hadn't even been in the majors for three years. Guess Oakland was REALLY banged up in the first half of the season
Hiram Bocachica: Claimed off waivers by the Padres early in the season. Wasn't an everyday player.
Chris Snelling: Acquired from the Nationals for Ryan Langerhans. Missed most of the season due to injury.
Ryan Langerhans: Acquired from the Braves early in the season for no apparent reason, and then they realized that it was a stupid acquisition and traded him a few days later for Chris Snelling.
Kevin Melillo: Don't know much about this guy, except that he's played mostly in the minors. He got only one PA in 07 (his first career PA), and he walked. Interesting.
January 22nd, 2008 at 9:18 pm
Atlanta Braves:
Pete Orr - Bench player who was the team's primary pinch-running option. He was sent down to the minors at some point in the season, and I think he was only called up again late in the year. He was released this off-season.
Martin Prado: Prado failed to win the second base job in spring training, so he started the season in the minors and actually hit well there. He didn't do well enough in the majors to stick as Chipper Jones's backup, though.
Craig Wilson: Originally the Braves's starting first baseman against lefties, Wilson was released less than halfway into the season with a sub-.200 batting average.
Brayan Pena: Brayan backed up a more prominent Brian (McCann) at catcher. If I remember correctly, he suffered a concussion and was replaced by Saltalamacchia, who played well enough to block Pena from returning to the majors. Considering that the Braves chose to call up Corky Miller after they traded Saltalamacchia probably says something about Pena's recovery progress.
Ryan Langerhans: Like Wilson, Langerhans was a platoon starter (left field against righties) and was gone (traded to Oakland) before he could get that batting average above .200.
Julio Franco: Before they traded for Teixeira, this is how dire the Braves' first base situation was: after the Mets released Julio Franco for being too bad or too old or some combination of the two, the Braves snatched him up quickly, believing that he could help at first base. The Braves realized that Julio Franco was not the solution, but he agreed to go to the minors so that he could play again in Sepetember, which he did. He was not re-signed in the off-season. He wants to play until he's 50, and I wish him the best of luck.
Corky Miller: He was called up because the Braves needed a backup catcher. He didn't hit particularly well, but he infield single in extra innings against the Astros allowed Matt Diaz to tie the game with a two-run homer off Brad Lidge. The Braves went on to lose anyway.
Brandon Jones: B. Jones was a September call-up who alowed the Braves to feature a starting lineup that contained A., B., and C. Jones. Not since the 1999 Pirates of Adrian, Brant, and Emil Brown had one team started three players with the same last name in one lineup.
Clint Sammons: Like B. Jones, he was a late-season call-up. He served as a third catcher.
January 25th, 2008 at 10:08 am
[...] to the good folks at Stat of the Day, no team had more players with fewer than 100 at-bats in 2007 than the Padres. That’s a lot of holes to [...]