No, The Other Guy

Sid:

Ryan said Morneau's power compares with that of Kent Hrbek, a great home run hitter and a great-fielding first baseman for the Twins on the 1987 and the 1991 World Series champions.

Hrbek, Career: .199 ISO
Hrbek, through age 25 season: .294 average, .480 slg. .186 ISO
Hrbek, age 25 season: .278/.351/.444, .166 ISO

Morneau, Career: .271 average, .505 slg., .234 ISO
Morneau, age 25 season (this year): .324/.378/.605 slg, .282 ISO.

It's not like I'd be disappointed if Morneau had power like Hrbek's, I suppose. No, wait, I will be disappointed. When it comes to Morneau's power, I don't think Hrbek.

I think KILLER.

Killebrew, Career: .253 ISO
Killebrew, through age 25 Season: .262 average, .528 slg, .266 ISO
Killebrew, age 25 season: .288/.405/.606, .318 ISO (Good God! Big Smile

Okay, he's not the Killer, but boy he's a lot closer to Killer powerwise, and I like it. How about we call him Li'l Harmon?

6 comments to No, The Other Guy

  • Are these adjusted figures? To play devil's advocate (or Sid's advocate, or TR's advocate, as the case may be), the league SLG% in Morneau's first 3 seasons has been between .427 - .438 (don't know what it is this year, but I imagine it's similar).

    By comparison, the league SLG% in Hrbek's career, outside of 1987 and his final season in 1994, was never above .416, and several times was even below .400. Morneau is still better, I imagine, but some kind of adjusted figure like SLG+ would probably have them a little closer.

    Of course, this adjustment might also elevate Killebrew's power to another dimension, since the league SLG% over his entire career> was just .392.

  • Add: The Hardball Times has the AL SLG% at .437 so far this year.

  • SBG

    Are these adjusted figures? Hell no! That would ruin everything!

  • Using Clay Davenport's translated numbers, which adjust for park and era, we have:

    .294 -- Killer's career ISO
    .239 -- Hrbek's career ISO
    .303 -- Morneau's 2006 ISO

    Killer is way ahead of Hrbek in terms of hitting for power, and Morneau, at least this season, is a lot more Killebrew than Hrbek.

    Morneau certainly doesn't walk as much as Killebrew, though, but these days it's not looking that unlikely that he could be a .300 hitter for a few years.

  • So they all get scaled upward in the translation? That seems odd, especially since Minnesota parks have consistently received hitter-friendly park factors, and they represent three different eras... could this figure be considered the ISO equivalent of OPS+?

    I apologize for being a statistical novice!