Looking at the Lineups

One of the great things about Major League Baseball are the statistics. I have always been a statistics nerd and like to look at the numbers. The numbers never lie. Here is a position by position comparison of the starters for the Philadelphia Phillies and the Cincinnati Reds.

Catcher

CIN- Ramon Hernandez .297 /7 HR/ 48 RBI/.792 OPS
PHI- Carlos Ruiz .302 /8 HR/ 53 RBI/.847 OPS

First Base

CIN- Joey Votto .324/ 37 HR/ 113 RBI/ 1.024 OPS
PHI- Ryan Howard .276/ 31 HR/ 108 RBI/ .859 OPS

Second Base

CIN- Brandon Phillips .275/ 18 HR/ 59 RBI/ .762 OPS
PHI- Chase Utley .275/ 16 HR/ 65 RBI/ .832 OPS

Shortstop

CIN- Orlando Cabrera .263/ 4 HR/ 42 RBI/ .657 OPS
PHI- Jimmy Rollins .243/ 8 HR/ 41 RBI/ .694 OPS

Third Base

CIN- Scott Rolen .285/ 20 HR/ 83 RBI/ .854 OPS
PHI- Placido Polanco .298/ 6 HR/ 52 RBI/ .726 OPS

Right Field

CIN- Jay Bruce .281/ 25 HR/ 70 RBI/ .846 OPS
PHI- Jayson Werth .296/ 27 HR/ 85 RBI/ .921 OPS

Center Field

CIN- Drew Stubbs .255/ 22 HR/ 77 RBI/ .773 OPS
PHI- Shane Victorino .259/ 18 HR/ 69 RBI/ .756 OPS

Left Field

CIN- Jonny Gomes .266/ 18 HR/ 86 RBI/ .758 OPS
PHI- Raul Ibanez .275/ 16 HR/ 83 RBI/ .793 OPS

There were a lot of things that jumped out at me in looking at the numbers. Comparing the two teams they are pretty close to each other by way of offensive production. The one that really shocked me was the comparison of Drew Stubbs and Shane Victorino. Before actually looking at the numbers I had considered this a weakness for the Reds and advantage for Philadelphia but the numbers did not support that. Stubbs has been just as productive as Shane Victorino this season.