Quintin Berry Excelled at Advancing Runners in 2012

Continuing with the theme of recent posts, I have aggregated base runner advancement for teams in 2012.  The results for the American and National Leagues are shown in Tables 1 and 2 respectively.  The columns in each table are as follows:

• OPP - Runners on base in batters plate appearances excluding neutral results (i.e. no base runner advancement and no outs on play).

• ADV - Base runners advanced.

• ADV% - Percentage of base runners advanced.

• ADVAA - Base runners Advanced Above Average.

The Tigers had 3,793 base runners in their plate appearances in 2012. Excluding 177 base runners with neutral results yields 3,616 opportunities to advance runners.  They advanced 1,414 base runners for a .405 advancement rate.  They were also 11 advances better than the average team which was sixth best in the AL.  The Rangers led the league with +92 while the Athletics were at the bottom with -82.    


Table 1: American League Base Advancement by Team

Team	OPP	ADV	ADV%	ADVAA
Texas	3601	1539	.427	92
Los Angeles	3492	1474	.422	71
Minnesota	3728	1540	.413	42
Cleveland	3732	1515	.406	16
Kansas City	3415	1384	.405	12
Detroit	3616	1464	.405	11
New York	3734	1507	.404	7
Boston	3450	1379	.400	-7
Chicago	3322	1323	.398	-12
Tampa Bay	3393	1335	.393	-28
Toronto	3231	1267	.392	-31
Baltimore	3261	1265	.388	-45
Seattle	3258	1262	.387	-47
Oakland	3338	1259	.377	-82

Table 2:  National League Base Advancement by Team

Team	OPP	ADV	ADV%	ADVAA
San Francisco	3834	1603	.418	72
Colorado	3496	1464	.419	68
St. Louis	3843	1597	.416	62
Atlanta	3586	1471	.410	39
Los Angeles	3508	1436	.409	35
Washington	3533	1420	.402	9
Arizona	3585	1436	.401	4
Milwaukee	3518	1407	.400	2
Philadelphia	3467	1384	.399	-1
Pittsburgh	3233	1279	.396	-12
New York	3476	1374	.395	-14
San Diego	3539	1398	.395	-16
Chicago	3208	1232	.384	-49
Cincinnati	3409	1310	.384	-52
Florida	3311	1258	.380	-65
Houston	3238	1213	.375	-80

 


Table 3 shows the Tigers ADV% leaders for players with 100 or more opportunities.  The surprising leader is journeyman outfielder Quintin Berry at .500.  In other words, he advanced half the runners on base in his plate appearances (minus neutrals).  This is explained by a .345 batting average with men on base as opposed to .202 with the bases empty.  While it's possible he has a small base runner advancing skill, this is likely a small sample fluke and we should not expect him to approach a .500 ADV% again.  His high success rate did help the Tigers in 2012 however.

The next two hitters - MVP third baseman Miguel Cabrera (.477) and first baseman Prince Fielder (.469) - are no shock.  The fourth player is another unexpected name - Ramon Santiago at .451.   Santiago is more difficult to explain than Berry as he batted just .206 with runners on base and hit into 7 double plays.   He did have three hits with the bases loaded though which is nine (or 12%) of his total advances.  He also had five sacrifice bunts.  Those factors don't explain all of his advancement success, but removing those advances would drop him below average.  That is the danger of small sample sizes. 

Less surprising are the names at the bottom the list.  Ryan Raburn was last at .328 just behind Delmon Young (.338) and Gerald Laird (.348).  Of course, none of those players will be back next year. 

Table 3: Advancement Percentage for Tigers, 2012

Player	OPP	ADV	ADV%
Quintin Berry	164	82	.500
Miguel Cabrera	417	199	.477
Prince Fielder	416	195	.469
Ramon Santiago	164	74	.451
Andy Dirks	198	82	.414
Omar Infante	133	55	.414
Brennan Boesch	319	129	.404
Austin Jackson	307	123	.401
Alex Avila	253	98	.387
Jhonny Peralta	352	127	.361
Gerald Laird	112	39	.348
Delmon Young	408	138	.338
Ryan Raburn	137	45	.328

Table 4 reveals that Cabrera was +31 runners advanced above average followed by Prince Fielder (+28). Even after accounting for playing time, Berry (+16) and Santiago (+8) still rank high on this list.  

Table 4: Advancement Above Average for Tigers, 2012

Player	OPP	ADV	ADVAA
Miguel Cabrera	417	199	31
Prince Fielder	416	195	28
Quintin Berry	164	82	16
Ramon Santiago	164	74	8
Andy Dirks	198	82	2
Omar Infante	133	55	2
Brennan Boesch	319	129	1
Austin Jackson	307	123	-0
Alex Avila	253	98	-4
Gerald Laird	112	39	-6
Ryan Raburn	137	45	-10
Jhonny Peralta	352	127	-14
Delmon Young	408	138	-26

The information used here was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by Retrosheet.  Interested parties may contact Retrosheet at Retrosheet.org.