Red Sox RBI Men

Who's the top RBI man on the Red Sox?

Mike Lowell has driven in 23 runs, followed by Jason Bay (20) and Kevin Youkilis with (15). However, counting stats fail to account for opportunities, so let's look at which players are making the most of their RBI chances (the last column).

Stats Thru May 1

       PA/ROB ROB OBI  R1BI%  R2BI%  R3BI%   OBI%

Lowell   56    88  19  15.9%  25.0%  31.3%  21.6%
Bay      55    82  15   8.6%  17.9%  36.8%  18.3%
Ortiz    47    67  12   2.8%  26.3%  50.0%  17.9%
Green    22    39   6   5.3%  25.0%  25.0%  15.4%
Youkilis 48    67  10   6.7%  17.4%  28.6%  14.9%
Ellsbury 38    56   8   0.0%  11.8%  60.0%  14.3%
Varitek  32    50   6   4.2%  16.7%  25.0%  12.0%
Drew     45    70   8   6.7%  13.8%  18.2%  11.4%
Pedroia  42    55   6   0.0%  15.8%  50.0%  10.9%

This shows the number of plate appearances each batter had with runners on base, the total number of runners on base for those PAs, the number of RBIs from those runners, the percentage of runners on each base that were driven home and the overall percentage.

It turns out Lowell tops this list also. Ortiz is 3rd best on the team in converting RBI chances; his low % of runners driven in from first base (2.8%) is clear evidence of his lack of extra-base hitting. Nick Green is a surprising 4th best on the team, while Dustin Pedroia is driving in barely 10% of the runners on base when he bats.

By contrast, the leaders in RBI% in MLB are Brad Hawpe (31.1%) and Joey Votto (30.5%). The AL leader is Ian Kinsler (29.2%). Among MLB batters with at least 50 PAs, Lowell ranks 13th in the AL and 28th in MLB.

[Thanks to Baseball Prospectus for the stats.]