The Brewers and RISP

The Brewers managed to avoid a sweep by the Colorado Rockies on Father’s Day, thanks to an offensive explosion in the 9th inning that was sparked by Rickie Weeks‘ bases-loaded double.  Weeks barely missed a grand slam, driving the ball off the top of the wall in right-center.  As the go-ahead runs crossed the plate, I saw more than one “Holy crap!  Weeks actually came through!” comment online.

Should we really have been that surprised that Weeks was able to drive the runs home?  A lot of casual fans were probably surprised, because all they know about Weeks is that he has a low batting average for a leadoff hitter and he strikes out a lot.  Well, we’re still dealing with incredibly small samples when it comes to RISP numbers, but here are how the Brewers regulars are doing overall, with men on base, and with runners in scoring position.

All stats are entering Sunday’s game, and are after the jump.

Rickie Weeks
Overall: .254/.352/.421 (324 PA)
Men On: .302/.404/.469 (114 PA)
RISP: .346/.478/.481 (67 PA)

Corey Hart
Overall: .266/.336/.587 (244 PA)
Men On: .267/.368/.571 (125 PA)
RISP: .241/.352/.466 (71 PA)

Ryan Braun
Overall: .302/.366/.496 (298 PA)
Men On: .291/.346/.556 (130 PA)
RISP: .328/.375/.656 (72 PA)

Prince Fielder
Overall: .260/.397/.452 (307 PA)
Men On: .202/.356/.264 (160 PA)
RISP: .154/.368/.200 (87 PA)

Casey McGehee
Overall: .272/.333/.463 (285 PA)
Men On: .270/.351/.461 (134 PA)
RISP: .333/.410/.536 (83 PA)

Carlos Gomez
Overall: .239/.280/.377 (173 PA)
Men On: .253/.273/.387 (82 PA)
RISP: .250/.289/.361 (40 PA)

Alcides Escobar
Overall: .252/.302/.354 (244 PA)
Men On: .241/.298/.348 (123 PA)
RISP: .318/.375/.470 (73 PA)

George Kottaras
Overall: .206/.370/.443 (127 PA)
Men On: .189/.441/.351 (59 PA)
RISP: .250./.500/.500 (42 PA)

Again, the sample size is small, but so far this season if you need someone to drive in a runner on second or third, Weeks is probably your best bet.  Braun and McGehee are your next-best bets, although McGehee’s been in a horrible slump for the past month.

The only other surprise on the list is Escobar, who’s been pretty bad overall, but has had quite a bit of success in his 73 plate appearances with runners in scoring position.  If you’re trying to explain the difference in production, you’re probably going to bring up the wide disparity in the BABIP’s — he’s at .282 overall, but .370 with RISP.  He’s likely getting really lucky in the latter situation, while also a little unlucky in the former.  His true talent is probably somewhere in between.

With most of the players only having 70 or so plate appearances with runners in scoring position, these numbers are probably going to look drastically different by the time the season ends.  Right now, though, you can get an idea of who’s been the best in those situations so far…and next time, don’t doubt Rickie.