Stats & Info: Jay Gibbons
April showers have brought May flowers for Jay Bruce.
BruceThe Cincinnati Reds slugger Sunday hit his National League-leading 15th home run of the season and his 11th homer in May, which ties Jose Bautista of the Toronto Blue Jays for the most during the month this season.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the 11 home runs in May are the most by a Reds player in a single calendar month since Adam Dunn hit 12 in July 2008.
Bruce ended the month of April struggling with four home runs, 11 RBI and a .237 batting average, which ranked 135th in MLB among players with at least 75 plate appearances.
This month has seen a completely different story. He’s hitting .330 with 11 HR and 29 RBI. In his previous two years in May, Bruce had just a .239 batting average with 12 homers and 30 RBI over 57 games.
So what’s been the difference? According to Inside Edge, Bruce is getting aggressive and taking advantage of fastballs. In the month of April, Bruce had a slugging percentage of .364 on at-bats that ended on the first pitch. That is up to .778 this month.
On at-bats that ended on the fastball, Bruce hit .254 during the month of April. That was below the MLB average of .285 in the situation. This month, he’s increased that to .344 and his slugging percentage is at .889.
But Bruce wasn’t the only “Jay” that had a strong Sunday.
• The Toronto Blue Jays scored 13 runs, including a six-run first inning as they clubbed the White Sox 13-4.
• Ricky Romero got the win for the Blue Jays as he allowed two runs over seven innings. According to Baseball Reference, his nickname is “RR Cool Jay”, like the rapper and entertainer “LL Cool J.”
• J.A. Happ (pronounced “Jay") did not allow a hit until the fifth inning for the Houston Astros. He also hit his first career home run.
• Jayson Werth of the Washington Nationals had three hits, but he was left stranded in scoring position in the eighth inning as the potential go-ahead run.
• J.J. Hardy of the Baltimore Orioles had a pair of hits, including a double.
• Jay Gibbons of the Los Angeles Dodgers had three hits. He entered Sunday with a .190 batting average and eight total hits for the season.
• Jon Jay of the St. Louis Cardinals and John Jaso of the Tampa Bay Rays each hit their eighth career home run. Alphabetically, those two are next to each other on the active player list. It was the first time they've gone deep on the same day.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the 11 home runs in May are the most by a Reds player in a single calendar month since Adam Dunn hit 12 in July 2008.
Bruce ended the month of April struggling with four home runs, 11 RBI and a .237 batting average, which ranked 135th in MLB among players with at least 75 plate appearances.
This month has seen a completely different story. He’s hitting .330 with 11 HR and 29 RBI. In his previous two years in May, Bruce had just a .239 batting average with 12 homers and 30 RBI over 57 games.
So what’s been the difference? According to Inside Edge, Bruce is getting aggressive and taking advantage of fastballs. In the month of April, Bruce had a slugging percentage of .364 on at-bats that ended on the first pitch. That is up to .778 this month.
On at-bats that ended on the fastball, Bruce hit .254 during the month of April. That was below the MLB average of .285 in the situation. This month, he’s increased that to .344 and his slugging percentage is at .889.
But Bruce wasn’t the only “Jay” that had a strong Sunday.
• The Toronto Blue Jays scored 13 runs, including a six-run first inning as they clubbed the White Sox 13-4.
• Ricky Romero got the win for the Blue Jays as he allowed two runs over seven innings. According to Baseball Reference, his nickname is “RR Cool Jay”, like the rapper and entertainer “LL Cool J.”
• J.A. Happ (pronounced “Jay") did not allow a hit until the fifth inning for the Houston Astros. He also hit his first career home run.
• Jayson Werth of the Washington Nationals had three hits, but he was left stranded in scoring position in the eighth inning as the potential go-ahead run.
• J.J. Hardy of the Baltimore Orioles had a pair of hits, including a double.
• Jay Gibbons of the Los Angeles Dodgers had three hits. He entered Sunday with a .190 batting average and eight total hits for the season.
• Jon Jay of the St. Louis Cardinals and John Jaso of the Tampa Bay Rays each hit their eighth career home run. Alphabetically, those two are next to each other on the active player list. It was the first time they've gone deep on the same day.
Arizona Diamondbacks
They struck out a major-league record 1,529 times in 2010. However, two players no longer with the team -- Mark Reynolds and Adam LaRoche -- accounted for 25 percent of those strikeouts (383 of 1,529).
Gerardo Parra was second among all leftfielders in 2010 with a +/- rating of +19. (Parra turned 19 more batted balls into outs than the average left fielder would have.) The only left fielder with a better +/- than Parra last season was Carl Crawford.
Colorado Rockies
The Rockies hit .298 at home in 2010, but just .226 on the road. The 72-point differential in their home-road batting average was the worst in baseball.
Carlos Gonzalez was one of 15 players who hit 30 home runs and had 100 RBI last season. Of those 15 players, Gonzalez drew the fewest walks (40).
Los Angeles Dodgers
Once again, the Dodgers will have a big question mark in left field. (Currently, Jay Gibbons and Marcus Thames are the leading candidates for the starting position.) In 2010, the Dodgers' leftfielders combined to hit .261, with a .322 on-base percentage and .392 slugging percentage. Those numbers were the lowest for Los Angeles' leftfielders in all three categories since 2005.
Despite playing 162 games for the first time in his career, Matt Kemp saw his batting average, OBP and slugging percentage all drop at least 40 points from 2009 to 2010. He also struck out 31 more times, from 139 to a career-high 170.
San Diego Padres
There's no replacing Adrian Gonzalez's offensive production, one reason why their offseason moves might have revolved around improving defensively. New second baseman Orlando Hudson was a major-league best +23 among second basemen last season. New shortstop Jason Bartlett ranked ninth at his position, +6.
The core of their bullpen, the best in the majors last season, returns in 2011. The Padres’ relief corps ranked first or second in ERA, opponents’ batting average, strikeouts per 9 IP and strikeout-to-walk ratio, and fourth in home runs per 9 IP. Their strikeout-to-walk ratio was 18 percent higher than the next-best team.
San Francisco Giants
Barring injury, Tim Lincecum likely will become the eighth pitcher in the modern era (since 1900) with 1,000 strikeouts in his first five seasons. The seven pitchers who reached this milestone: Tom Seaver (1,155), Bert Blyleven (1,094), Dwight Gooden (1,067), Kerry Wood (1,065), Grover Cleveland Alexander (1,036), Hideo Nomo (1,031) and Mark Langston (1,018). In four seasons, Lincecum has 907 career strikeouts.
The Giants finished the season on a tear thanks to their pitchers, who put together one of the best calendar months in the live ball era (since 1920). The Giants posted a 1.78 ERA in September, the fifth-lowest in a month since 1920, and their .182 opponents’ batting average was the second-best for a single month in that span.
-- Mark Simon and John Fisher contributed to this report
They struck out a major-league record 1,529 times in 2010. However, two players no longer with the team -- Mark Reynolds and Adam LaRoche -- accounted for 25 percent of those strikeouts (383 of 1,529).
Gerardo Parra was second among all leftfielders in 2010 with a +/- rating of +19. (Parra turned 19 more batted balls into outs than the average left fielder would have.) The only left fielder with a better +/- than Parra last season was Carl Crawford.
Colorado Rockies
The Rockies hit .298 at home in 2010, but just .226 on the road. The 72-point differential in their home-road batting average was the worst in baseball.
Carlos Gonzalez was one of 15 players who hit 30 home runs and had 100 RBI last season. Of those 15 players, Gonzalez drew the fewest walks (40).
Los Angeles Dodgers
Once again, the Dodgers will have a big question mark in left field. (Currently, Jay Gibbons and Marcus Thames are the leading candidates for the starting position.) In 2010, the Dodgers' leftfielders combined to hit .261, with a .322 on-base percentage and .392 slugging percentage. Those numbers were the lowest for Los Angeles' leftfielders in all three categories since 2005.
Despite playing 162 games for the first time in his career, Matt Kemp saw his batting average, OBP and slugging percentage all drop at least 40 points from 2009 to 2010. He also struck out 31 more times, from 139 to a career-high 170.
San Diego Padres
There's no replacing Adrian Gonzalez's offensive production, one reason why their offseason moves might have revolved around improving defensively. New second baseman Orlando Hudson was a major-league best +23 among second basemen last season. New shortstop Jason Bartlett ranked ninth at his position, +6.
The core of their bullpen, the best in the majors last season, returns in 2011. The Padres’ relief corps ranked first or second in ERA, opponents’ batting average, strikeouts per 9 IP and strikeout-to-walk ratio, and fourth in home runs per 9 IP. Their strikeout-to-walk ratio was 18 percent higher than the next-best team.
San Francisco Giants
Barring injury, Tim Lincecum likely will become the eighth pitcher in the modern era (since 1900) with 1,000 strikeouts in his first five seasons. The seven pitchers who reached this milestone: Tom Seaver (1,155), Bert Blyleven (1,094), Dwight Gooden (1,067), Kerry Wood (1,065), Grover Cleveland Alexander (1,036), Hideo Nomo (1,031) and Mark Langston (1,018). In four seasons, Lincecum has 907 career strikeouts.
The Giants finished the season on a tear thanks to their pitchers, who put together one of the best calendar months in the live ball era (since 1920). The Giants posted a 1.78 ERA in September, the fifth-lowest in a month since 1920, and their .182 opponents’ batting average was the second-best for a single month in that span.
-- Mark Simon and John Fisher contributed to this report
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