Best Production from the Leadoff Spot
- Houston Astros (141 wRC+)—George Springer (82% of leadoff PA)
Springer got the bulk of the plate appearances in the leadoff spot for the Astros despite stealing just five bases in 12 attempts. Over the last two seasons, he’s stolen successfully only 14 times in 31 attempts. He should probably just stop stealing altogether. As a team, the Astros had nine steals out of their leadoff hitters, which ranked 27th in baseball. In most any era from the past, Springer would be a middle-of-the-order hitter.
- Colorado Rockies (141 wRC+)—Charlie Blackmon (95% of leadoff PA)
Charlie Blackmon has morphed into an offensive beast over the last few years. In his first two full seasons in 2014 and 2015, he combined for 36 homers and 71 steals while being right around league average as a hitter. Over the last two years, he’s hit 66 homers and stole 31 bases, while being much better than league average. Last year, he hit 37 homers and had 104 RBI, which is the most runs driven in ever by a leadoff hitter.
- Minnesota Twins (128 wRC+)—Brian Dozier (92% of leadoff PA)
Dozier has averaged almost 27 home runs per 150 games played in his career, which is tremendous power for a second baseman. Despite his home run pop, he’s batted first or second in the lineup 80 percent of the time. By contrast, Jeff Kent averaged almost 25 home runs per 150 games played and hit cleanup 61 percent of the time.
- New York Mets (125 wRC+)—Michael Conforto (42% of leadoff PA)
One of the few things that went right for the Mets in their 70-92 season was Michael Conforto, at least until he was injured and missed the last five weeks of the season. Conforto was the team’s best hitter. He led the team in on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and wRC+. In a traditional lineup, he would probably bat third, but 61 percent of his plate appearances came in the leadoff spot. With Conforto likely being out until early May this year, it looks like Brandon Nimmo will be the leadoff man to start the season.
- St. Louis Cardinals (118 wRC+)—Matt Carpenter (51% of leadoff PA)
The leadoff hitters for the Cardinals combined to steal just eight bases, which was 28th in baseball. Matt Carpenter only had one of those steals, but he had a .418 OBP out of the leadoff spot that more than made up for it. Dexter Fowler had the second-most plate appearances out of the leadoff spot for the Cardinals, but his .308 OBP and 85 wRC+ was not very useful.
The five teams with the most production out of the leadoff spot averaged just 12 steals, but had a .373 OBP and scored an average of 128 runs. The five teams with the least production out of the leadoff spot averaged 31 steals, had a .298 OBP and scored an average of just 98 runs.