Twins Stats Part II: Hitting With RISP

There has been much writing in baseball about what constitutes clutch hitting. Some people feel there is no such thing as clutch hitting. I'm not going to go that far, but really isn't clutch hitting how a batter fares when there are runners in scoring position? That's how I define clutch hitting. Now when someone drives in a run with their team leading by 8 runs is that clutch? Probably not as much as when he drives in a run in a one run ballgame. Others take into account what inning the "clutch' hitting took place. You can splice and dice the numbers all you want, but really you can tell who was more clutch by looking at the simple old hitting with runners in scoring position (RISP) statistic. As a team the Twins batted .277 with RISP in 2009. Only the Angels, Orioles (really?), Red Sox and Braves were better. Who was the Minnesota Twins most clutch hitter in 2009? There may be a variety of answers, but looking at how Twins players hit with RISP will go a long way in finding the answer. Here are those numbers.

1) Mauer .367
2) Young .313
3) Span .303
4) Morneau .294
5) Kubel .289
6) Punto .276
7) Harris .269
8) Cuddyer .267
9) Gomez .247
10) Cabrera .222
11) Crede .198
12) JJ Hardy .185

JJ Hardy hit only .221 in 2008 with RISP so the Twins are hoping that pattern changes. A third poor RISP season wouldn't be a charm. Delmon Young behind only Mauer? The numbers don't lie, but when were all those big base hits? As a team the Twins posted some remarkable numbers in certain situations with runners on base and in general hitting situations as well. Some that stood out:

• In innings 1-6 the Twins batted .283 trailing only the Angels in the majors.
• From the 7th inning on they batted a more modest .255 tied for 9th best in the majors.
• With the bases empty Twins batted .283 which was 3rd best behind Yankees and Dodgers.
• With 2 outs and runners in scoring positions Twins batted a middle of the road .243 tied for 11th in the majors.
• The Twins led baseball in bases loaded situations by hitting a whopping .355 which created 147 RBI. Only the Brewers and Red Sox created more RBI in bases loaded situations.

These numbers are even more amazing when you consider the non-hitting likes of Nick Punto, Delmon Young, Joe Crede and Brendan Harris saw ample playing time last year. Say what you want, but the Twins usually roll the dice and come up winners with the players they plug in. The players aren't flashy, but they contribute.