Checking in on Robinson Cano and Kelly Johnson
Posted by Andy on August 23, 2010
Back at the end of April, we were marveling at the great starts posted by Robinson Cano and Kelly Johnson. Let's take another peak at how these two doing are doing with a little over a month left in the season.
Johnson's 2010 splits tell his story:
| Split | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | TB | tOPS+ | sOPS+ | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April/March | 22 | 94 | 80 | 17 | 25 | 8 | 0 | 9 | 18 | 13 | 17 | .313 | .404 | .750 | 1.154 | 60 | .291 | 162 | 207 |
| May | 27 | 115 | 98 | 18 | 24 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 15 | 28 | .245 | .351 | .418 | .769 | 41 | .313 | 80 | 110 |
| June | 25 | 119 | 102 | 12 | 24 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 17 | 25 | .235 | .345 | .333 | .678 | 34 | .303 | 61 | 87 |
| July | 24 | 105 | 96 | 17 | 32 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 16 | 7 | 24 | .333 | .381 | .552 | .933 | 53 | .406 | 115 | 152 |
| August | 20 | 85 | 73 | 9 | 20 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 12 | 14 | .274 | .376 | .452 | .829 | 33 | .316 | 94 | 130 |
After an incredible April, he went stone cold in May and June. He recovered with a very strong July and has had a good August. His overall numbers still show him posting the best season of his career, but by a fairly small margin. His OPS+ is currently 122, beating his career best of 116 in 2007. He's unlikely to top his 2007 WAR of 4.3, though, with just 2.9 so far this year.
Cano, meanwhile, has also suffered a decline:
| Split | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | TB | tOPS+ | sOPS+ | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April/March | 22 | 94 | 85 | 21 | 34 | 5 | 1 | 8 | 18 | 6 | 10 | .400 | .436 | .765 | 1.201 | 65 | .377 | 149 | 220 |
| May | 29 | 126 | 116 | 16 | 39 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 22 | 7 | 15 | .336 | .381 | .509 | .890 | 59 | .364 | 89 | 142 |
| June | 26 | 113 | 102 | 19 | 34 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 13 | 9 | 11 | .333 | .398 | .510 | .908 | 52 | .345 | 94 | 147 |
| July | 25 | 111 | 98 | 17 | 27 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 18 | 12 | 10 | .276 | .351 | .582 | .933 | 57 | .253 | 94 | 150 |
| August | 20 | 83 | 71 | 10 | 19 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 11 | 11 | .268 | .373 | .451 | .824 | 32 | .281 | 77 | 129 |
His batting average has dropped each month. However, his OPS has remained fairly constant (and good) since May--just well below his incredible March.
The numbers above don't include Cano's performance on Sunday: 2-for-5 with a homer and 6 RBI. (I did some quick math and I think his August OBP stands at about .860 as of Monday morning.)
Cano is undoubtedly posting his best season, with his 157 OPS+ blowing away his previous career high of 129 from last year, and his 2010 WAR of 6.1 already ahead of his high of 5.6 in 2007.
Incidentally, Cano is just the 9th second baseman since 2007 to post a 6-RBI game:
| Rk | Player | Date | Tm | Opp | Rslt | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | WPA | BOP | Pos. Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alberto Callaspo | 2010-04-18 | KCR | MIN | W 10-5 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0.296 | 6 | 2B |
| 2 | Brandon Phillips | 2009-05-05 | CIN | FLA | W 7-0 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0.155 | 4 | 2B |
| 3 | Chase Utley | 2008-05-26 | PHI | COL | W 20-5 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0.224 | 3 | 2B |
| 4 | Augie Ojeda | 2008-05-03 | ARI | NYM | W 10-4 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0.207 | 7 | 2B |
| 5 | Felipe Lopez | 2008-04-24 | WSN | NYM | W 10-5 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0.486 | 1 | 2B |
| 6 | Brandon Phillips | 2007-07-13 | CIN | NYM | W 8-4 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0.226 | 4 | 2B |
| 7 | Felipe Lopez | 2007-05-22 | WSN | CIN | W 8-4 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0.466 | 1 | 2B |
| 8 | Dan Uggla | 2007-04-22 | FLA | WSN | W 12-6 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0.019 | 2 | 2B |
Phillps and Lopez have each done it twice over that span.
August 23rd, 2010 at 8:54 am
Johnson has really fallen down the WAR list. Here are the top ten second basemen this season:
Generated 8/23/2010.
August 23rd, 2010 at 9:26 am
The thing with Cano that always amazes me is his minor league stats.
Generated 8/23/2010.
.
How does a guy who was a .280 hitter in the minors (with so-so power) go on to hit like he has in the majors?
August 23rd, 2010 at 10:55 am
Kevin Long the hitting instructor.
August 23rd, 2010 at 11:22 am
Kevin Long does work hard. But, if he was that good, then Curtis Granderson would be leading the league in hitting too, no? 😉
August 23rd, 2010 at 11:25 am
Flying to Central America for `B-12`shots.
August 23rd, 2010 at 11:37 am
oh, a granderson stab- I LOVE it. Detroit pulled off one of the most one-sided trades in years!
August 23rd, 2010 at 12:01 pm
KenH - Sadly, nothing would shock me these days.
August 23rd, 2010 at 1:55 pm
I think its pretty uncalled for to allude to illegal substances for Cano. Cano was only 22 when called up from the minors, so for his minor league stats, you're talking about a pretty young guy who hadn't finished developing. Some guys are amazing in the minors at age 18-21 but a lot aren't. And its not like Cano was stinking up the minors either.
Joe Mauer had 9 HR in 1228 minor league AB's. He had 28 HR's last season. Miguel Cabrera had 28 HR in 1597 minor league AB's. Not everyone is a superstar right from the get-go.
August 23rd, 2010 at 2:17 pm
More on Cano - if he keeps his pace up and hits his projected stats, I believe he would enter the Top 10 for Total Bases for a 2B in a single season (with 355).
Also, if he maintains his WAR lead amongst all position players in the American League, he would be the first 2B to be atop that category since 1974 (when Bobby Grich finished in a 1st place tie with Reggie Jackson).
August 23rd, 2010 at 2:38 pm
Point of emphasis on #9. It would be the first time an AL second baseman led the league in WAR since '74. Morgan ('75 & 76), Sandberg ('84) and Biggio ('96) have all lead the NL in WAR since then.
August 23rd, 2010 at 7:03 pm
Dave - Mauer was a career .332 hitter in the minors with an OBA over .400. So, nothing he does in the majors surprises me.