As anyone familiar with sabermetrics knows, one can evaluate batting events by means of linear weights. What this means is that a single is worth about two-fifths of a run while a home run, because it can drive in the men on base, is worth over three times a single. Research has revealed that types of batted balls can assign similar values. Line drives are worth a lot, while infield flies are almost as good as strike outs. There is a problem in deciding what category to place a batted ball sometimes, especially the difference between a fly ball and a liner, as symbolised by the neologism 'fliner'. So one needs to treat these numbers with a degree of circumspection.
What this chart shows is the difference between a batted-ball linear weight and Fangraphs' wRC. wRC gives a supposed aggregate number of runs that should have been scored based on hitting events. Some people have flares falling in, while others hit the ball hard, but see it caught. The batted ball number also includes Ultimate Base Running, to make it more compatible with wRC. Note that the chart excludes pitchers' hitting. The first column is wRC, the second the batted ball expected runs.
wRC BBXR J. D. Martinez 43 18 +25 Victor Martinez 64 58 + 6 Alex Avila 32 26 + 6 Miguel Cabrera 63 58 + 5 Rajai Davis 36 36 0 Eugenio Salazar 15 15 0 Bryan Holaday 8 9 - 1 Tyler Collins 0 1 - 1 Alex Gonzalez 1 4 - 3 Danny Worth 1 5 - 4 Torii Hunter 37 42 - 5 Ian Kinsler 57 64 - 7 Don Kelly 10 17 - 7 Andrew Romine 9 16 - 7 Nick Castellanos 35 45 -10 Austin Jackson 37 50 -13JD-Mart has been massively fortunate on the outcomes of his batted balls, making up for the bad luck of Castellanos and A-Jax. The optimist will say all this will even out in the end. The pessimist, however, would say that the more extreme result is more likely to regress to the mean, possibly creating a run-production problem during the second half of the season. They could be the keys to the hitting during the second-half.
