FanPost

The Ballad of Ryan Raburn, or Why Consistent AB's Matter

Nice post here, thought I'd promote it! -- Kurt


First off, let me preface this post by stating the obvious: I am not a fan of Ryan Raburn. I thought last year was a fluke. I was as big of a fan as anyone here at BYB of the Johnny Damon signing, because it meant Raburn wasn't our everyday left fielder. I'm one of the first to rag on him when he screws up, and one of the last to give him credit for making a great play.

That being said, he's starting to prove me (and the rest of you haters) wrong. (All stats are from Baseball Reference.)

From the beginning of the season to July 9th, Raburn had appeared in 43 games. Many of those appearances were short-lived, late inning PH opportunities. He had a .208/.287/.350 line in 137 plate appearances, with just two HR and 16 RBI. He also struck out 33 times in that span.

From the All-Star Break to today (Raburn didn't play from 7/9 to 7/17), Raburn has played in 24 of a possible 28 games. Only three of those apperances resulted in less than 3 PA. He has a .247/.318/.364 line since the ASB in 85 plate appearances. His power hasn't picked up a ton, but both of his home runs during this period have come in the last week.

Here's where it starts to get interesting. While a small sample size, his August stats are as follows: .278/.350/.472 slash line, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 8 K, 4 BB in 40 plate appearances. Handy table alert.

Games

Plate Appearances

Average

OBP

Slugging

HR

RBI

K

BB

Pre-ASB

43

137

.208

.287

.350

2

16

33

9

Post-ASB

24

85

.247

.318

.364

2

14

19

7

August

11

40

.278

.350

.472

2

7

8

4

Season

67

222

.223

.299

.355

4

30

52

16

Now, part of this could be because Jim Leyland has been putting him higher in the order. He would see better pitches from guys who want nothing to do with that Miguel Cabrera fella. However, I think a large part of this is because Raburn is starting to get consistent plate appearances and he has found a groove. The next few weeks should tell us what is really happening, since Leyland has started to place him lower in the lineup when Carlos Guillen came back from injury.

If only they could do something about that glove...

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of the <em>Bless You Boys</em> writing staff.