Someone asked me on Twitter today what the overall problem with the Pirates offense has been so far in 2012. The answer is pretty simple. Outside of Pedro Alvarez and Garrett Jones, just about everyone in the starting lineup has been underperforming. Here is a list of the Pirates’ position players, along with their respective 2012 Weighted On-Base Averages (wOBA) and preseason ZiPS projections.
Name | PA | 2012 wOBA | ZiPS wOBA | Difference |
Alex Presley | 108 | .259 | .328 | -.069 |
Neil Walker | 104 | .314 | .328 | -.014 |
Andrew McCutchen | 104 | .330 | .359 | -.029 |
Jose Tabata | 100 | .268 | .331 | -.063 |
Clint Barmes | 91 | .223 | .296 | -.073 |
Pedro Alvarez | 86 | .375 | .333 | .042 |
Garrett Jones | 69 | .344 | .325 | .019 |
Casey McGehee | 68 | .312 | .307 | .005 |
Rod Barajas | 65 | .163 | .313 | -.150 |
Nate McLouth | 42 | .252 | .327 | -.075 |
Michael McKenry | 36 | .287 | .285 | .002 |
Yamaico Navarro | 30 | .279 | .296 | -.017 |
Josh Harrison | 29 | .231 | .301 | -.070 |
Six of the nine everyday players (including both Jones and Casey McGehee as everyday players) have hit worse than projected. Four of those players are producing at a clip at least 50 points short of their projection, with Rod Barajas pulling up the rear with a wOBA 150 points lower than was projected. Those are the ingredients of a pretty feeble team offense.
The good news is that these struggles are unlikely to last all season. It generally takes about a season’s worth of plate appearances for wOBA to stabilize, so we are still right in the thick of random variation. It is very likely that most of these players will move closer to their original projections over the remainder of the season, which means better times could be coming for the team’s offense.
Of course, that is not a guarantee. Many of these players are decent candidates to miss their projections dramatically. Barajas and Clint Barmes are both around the age where a sudden and steep drop-off in performance would not be unheard of. Alex Presley entered the season with only 256 career plate appearances in the big leagues, which makes him very difficult to project. Neil Walker and Jose Tabata have relatively limited track records as well.
All in all, the Pirates offense is likely to improve to some degree. The unknown is exactly how much it will improve.
Note: These stats were current entering tonight’s game. In fact, as I was writing that second paragraph, Barajas hit his walk-off home run.