HITTING: Thru 88 Games

TEAM HITTING - some stats

STAT                            #                 NL RANK                MLB RANK

Runs                         406                   4 / 16                        12 / 30

Home runs                86                    7 / 16                        17 / 30

Batting avg              .257                 10 / 16                       22 / 30

On-base %              .328                 12 / 16                       18 / 30

Slugging %             .405                   6 / 16                        17 / 30

Strikeouts                 676                 16 / 16                       30 / 30

Walks                        294                  11 / 16                      17 / 30

BA vs LHP               .253                  10 / 16                       22 / 30

OBP vs LHP            .318                  12 / 16                       24 / 30

BA vs RHP              .259                    8 / 16                      18 / 30

OBP vs RHP           .330                   9 / 16                        17 / 30

NOTES

- team strikes out 20% of total plate appearances; difficult to play 'small ball' & employ situational hitting 

- team BA / OBP splits actually slightly favorably against RHP

- lead off & #2 lineup spots rank 30th in 27th in total strikeouts (179 total Ks: 24% of ABs); lead off & #2 spots rank 26th & 22nd in OBP% in MLB

- Hanley's arguably top #3 hitter in the game right now (him or Pujols)

How each lineup spot ranks on the team according to its OBP %; from high to low:

#3 .408                    #4 .325

#8 .361                    #2 .323

#6 .340                    #1 .313

#5 .330                    #7 .298

OPTIONS

   SWITCH THE BATTING ORDER

      - get less K's in front of Hanley; arguably worse 1-2 combo in MLB in front of him

      - the top OBP % spots other than Hanley on the team are the EIGHT, SIX, & FIVE spots; 1 & 2 are at the bottom

   RELY ON CALL-UPS / CURRENT TEAM

      - we always do so why not this year

   TRADE FOR A BAT ...

      - with decent avg or slugging numbers at any of the 4 corner spots; this gives team ability to PLATOON Coghlan & Bonifacio