Justin Upton, Dexter Fowler Impress As April’s SPP Leaders

Atlanta Braves slugger Justin Upton won April handily, while an outfielder for the Colorado Rockies surprised everyone.  The young Upton clubbed more home runs than singles in the month and continued to make the rest of the baseball world question GM Kevin Towers’ decision to ostracize the kid. from the organization.  It’s no surprise that the Upton leads the world in my made up stat, but some of the other players atop the leaderboard may raise an eyebrow.  Dexter Fowler has been an offensive force in the early goings, the power surge reminiscent of Joe Mauer’s out-of-nowhere 28 home runs in 2009.

For a refresher, here’s the formula for Slugging Percentage Plus:

SPP = ((TB + SB + Walks + HBP- CS) / (PA))

The aim of SPP is to create a cross-skill set measurement for offensive production, by accounting for speed while still balancing the value of steals with the damage of caught stealings.  The dedicated reader will recall that the idea was born out of trying to quantify the greatness of Dee Gordon.  While SPP does not follow Gordon to AAA with the Dodgers organization, it has stayed relevant as a means to levelize the contributions of mashers like David Ortiz with the all around performance of a Nate McLouth or a Dexter Fowler.  For proof that the stat has some merit, check out the SPP standings from September of last year.

Your April leaderboard:

Thanks to my 300 level statistics class at Vassar, I’ve learned the wonders of the Export Data function on Fangraphs and Baseball Reference.  Thus, the quality and speed of my research should improve.  The above list represents the top 100 for all Major Leaguers who are on pace to qualify.  As I typically do, I’ll use this as a vehicle to discuss some of the surprises.

First, Dexter Fowler.  Fowler made a terrific catch last night at Dodger Stadium, which is what he is supposed to do.  But what is more exciting for Rockies fans are his eight home runs and .303 average.  Considering Fowler’s previous career high in homers was 13 last year, I imagine that the home run pace is a bit of a mirage, but this marks the second straight year that Fowler would hit over .300.

Nate McLouth is not a name that makes Braves fans very happy, but he’s found a new home in Baltimore.  The Oriole has stolen nine bags and sits 10th in our SPP standings.  So by this measure, Nate McLouth has been the 10th most valuable offensive contributor so far this season.  Let that simmer.

Andrew McCutchen and Mike Trout were SPP superstars last year, but are currently in the Pablo Sandoval range (70ish).  (Remember that this is a stat that values steals.)  Both have struggled to this point, though Trout hit a homerun yesterday.

Hopefully you like my little stat, and remember that steals do count for something.  I miss you Dee Gordon.

-Sean Morash