By wins and losses, the best teams in Major League Baseball so far this season are the Los Angeles Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies (84-56), and the worst —the team careening toward baseball’s modern-day loss record — is the Chicago White Sox (32-109).
But the sport produces such a trove of statistics beyond the standings that, in preparing for our weekly podcast on The Windup, we played a little game of “Best and Worst.” Could we find a category in which each team ranked first in the majors, and another in which they were 30th?
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After trolling team leaderboards on TruMedia and FanGraphs, we did. Some bests and worsts were obvious, and others obscure. For teams that ranked first or last in many statistical categories, we tended toward selecting one we found most interesting or telling. Here’s what we learned.
Stats and rankings are updated through Wednesday.
Arizona Diamondbacks
Best: Grand slams (10)
The Diamondbacks lead in runs, on-base percentage, sacrifices and pinch-hit homers. They’ve yet to be thrown out on a second-to-home attempt. They’ve tagged up 111 times (16 more than any other team) with only one out. But how can we ignore the grand salami? Arizona has as many grand slams this season as the previous four combined. Nine D-Backs have grand slams; Eugenio Suárez has two.
Worst: Extra-base hits allowed (479)
Trailing the Rockies, Marlins and White Sox in a pitching category in 2024 is frightening. Despite not having a huge home run problem, Arizona pitchers have been doubled and tripled to death. Playing in Chase Field is a factor, for sure, but leading the majors by 11 doubles and seven triples allowed is impressive. Doing that while roaring into contention is even more so. — Stephen Nesbitt
Atlanta Braves
Best: Average exit velocity
The Braves lead this category on both sides. Their hitters have an average exit velocity of 89.7 mph; their pitchers have held opponents to an 87.4 mph average. Hittin’ bombs, missin’ barrels. The Braves have managed to keep that up without Spencer Strider, Ronald Acuña Jr., Ozzie Albies and Austin Riley. Chris Sale, Max Fried, Raisel Iglesias and Aaron Bummer have been soft-contact standouts for a pitching staff that also leads the majors in strikeout rate, FIP (second in ERA) and extra-base hits allowed.
Worst: Stolen base attempts (77)
The Braves have been moderately successful at stealing but have barely tried — though they attempted twice Tuesday and three times Wednesday. Stealing infrequently is better than stealing unsuccessfully, but seeing Atlanta 177 attempts behind the Nationals is jarring. The Nats have been caught stealing almost as many times as the Braves have tried. — Nesbitt
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Baltimore Orioles
Best: Slugging percentage (.443)
The Orioles do not have anyone who’s individually in the top 10 in slugging, but they have nine players with double-digit home runs. Gunnar Henderson and Anthony Santander lead the way, but basically everyone in their regular lineup has at least a little bit of pop (Jackson Holliday has slugged better than .400 since his return to the big leagues).
Worst: Reaching on an error (23)
The Orioles offense doesn’t need a ton of help, but it’s gotten less than most. The O’s have reached base on an error less than half as many times as the Pirates, who lead the league with 51 such baserunners. Ryan O’Hearn has reached base four times via error. Adley Rutschman, none. The Orioles do put the ball in play quite a bit, but they don’t hit it on the ground all that often, so maybe that’s a factor? — Chad Jennings
Boston Red Sox
Best: Pinch-hit RBIs (30)
Since the Red Sox are tied for most doubles, let’s find an area where they stand out. Alex Cora has used pinch hitters more often than any other manager, and the Red Sox have delivered a 111 wRC+, one of only five teams to be above league-average in pinch-hit situations). They are tied for the most pinch-hit homers, have the most pinch-hit doubles, and have drawn the most pinch-hit walks.
Worst: Errors (102)
The Red Sox have the most outfield errors (24) and second-most infield errors (58). While their outfield rates well by Outs Above Average, their infield (minus-27 OAA) was judged the worst in baseball. The team’s intended shortstop (Trevor Story), second baseman (Vaughn Grissom) and first baseman (Triston Casas) spent considerable time on the injured list, and third baseman Rafael Devers isn’t known for his glove. Sixteen Red Sox have played at least three games in the infield, and only three have a positive OAA (those three have 1 apiece). Three more have a minus-7 (Devers, Ceddanne Rafaela, and Enmanuel Valdez). — Jennings
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Chicago Cubs
Best: Balls framed, as hitter (187)
The Cubs just don’t lead in a lot of areas. Did I want to resort to how umpires have called balls and strikes with the Cubs at bat? Absolutely not. That means diddly squat. But here it is anyway. The Cubbies keep getting away with watching should-be strikes turn into balls. By Balls Framed (a called ball with at least a 75 percent probability of being a called strike) and Framing Runs Above Average, they’ve got the best eyes in baseball. Don’t even try framing ’em.
Worst: Velocity (87.8 mph)
It should come as no surprise that the Cubs are the softest-tossing staff in the game. Kyle Hendricks throws 88 mph. Justin Steele, Jameson Taillon, Shota Imanaga and Javier Assad are in the low 90s. The Cubs also induce a lot of soft contact, which is a plus, though leading the league in soft hits allowed — hits under 60 mph, or grounders/pop-ups under 70 mph — is a frustrating fact. — Nesbitt
Chicago White Sox
Best: Throwing pitches (21,690)
They might be the worst team this century, but say this for the White Sox: They sure can throw some pitches. Some even go over the plate without being hit over the fence. The White Sox have thrown 21,690 pitches this season (which is what happens when you have trouble getting outs), but before you dismiss that as an inevitable sign of a bad team, take note that the Yankees have thrown the second-most pitches, and they’re pretty good. If only the White Sox did, well, anything else.
Worst: Win probability added (minus-12.49)
Throw a dart at a leaderboard, and you have a solid chance of hitting a category in which the White Sox are the worst in MLB. So, it’s just a matter of picking one, and this feels too perfect. One of the worst teams in modern baseball history appropriately has this year’s lowest win probability added. (Even if you don’t know the stat, you must admit it makes sense.) For another thing, though, this isn’t remotely close. Next worst is the Marlins at minus-5.82. — Jennings
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Cincinnati Reds
Best: Steals of third (34)
While still a few steals short of the Nationals’ overall stolen base lead, the Reds are the only team daring enough to lead the majors in stealing third, reaching safely in 34 of 40 tries. That effort has been led, of course, by Elly De La Cruz, who leads the majors with 62 steals. He is 19-of-23 stealing third. No other player in the game has attempted more than 13 steals of third this season.
Worst: Non-force outs (56)
Running wild has downsides. The Reds have more non-force outs on the bases than any other team, and are tied with the Angels for most stretch outs — being thrown out 13 times trying to stretch a hit into a double or triple. De La Cruz again leads the majors in both categories. You can’t teach speed, but you can teach decision-making on the bases. That comes next. — Nesbitt
Emmanuel Clase and the Guardians’ relievers have been a force this season, leading the league in several categories. (Nick Cammett / Diamond Images via Getty Images)
Cleveland Guardians
Best: Bullpen ERA (2.77)
The best bullpen in baseball is not a close race. The Guardians have allowed the fewest bullpen runs in the game (183). The next closest is the Braves (187), who have thrown almost 70 fewer relief innings. Emmanuel Clase is, of course, a big part of it, but so are Cade Smith, Hunter Gaddis, Tim Herrin and lately Eli Morgan.
GO DEEPERTrivia, robots and football: Stories behind 3 Guardians relievers fueling MLB's best bullpenWorst: BABIP (.271)
Having the worst batting average on balls in play suggests some bad luck, but it’s not just that. Not only do the Guardians have the league’s lowest hard-hit percentage, they also have the shortest average home run distance, the lowest average exit velocity, the second-lowest barrel rate and the third-fewest balls hit at least 95 mph. The Guardians have a middle-of-the-pack .397 slugging percentage, but according to Statcast their expected slugging is .373 (third worst in MLB). The Guardians are above-average in run scoring, but they don’t hit the ball that way. — Jennings
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Colorado Rockies
Best: Double-play grounders turned (121)
This here is a backhanded compliment, because the Rockies have also permitted more base runners than any other team. So, this is mostly a measure of traffic in Denver. But best is best, and the Rockies have the double-play crown. No non-first baseman has had as many fielding opportunities or participated in as many double plays this season as Rockies shortstop Ezequiel Tovar, who has 13 Outs Above Average.
Worst: Swinging strike rate
Baseball has evolved into a game obsessed with missing bats. The Rockies are struggling with that on both sides. Their hitters have the most swings-and-misses (15 percent). Their pitchers have procured the fewest (10.2 percent). Pile that upon the pitching staff’s other last-place categories, such as ERA, FIP, WHIP, OPS, strikeout rate, strikeout-to-walk ratio and chase rate. — Nesbitt
Detroit Tigers
Best: Triples (40)
The individual triples leaderboard is loaded with the speedy guys you’d expect: Jarren Duran, Corbin Carroll, Bobby Witt Jr., Elly De La Cruz — plus Mike Yastrzemski, for some reason. The Tigers don’t have any of them. They don’t have anyone ranked top 10 in triples, but they have six — Riley Greene, Parker Meadows, Wenceel Perez, Matt Vierling, Kerry Carpenter and Zach McKinstry — in the top 40.
Worst: Sacrifice bunts (3)
Tied in the ninth inning on May 26, Perez laid down a sacrifice, and the Tigers went on to win on a Vierling walk-off homer. Tied in the 10th on July 13, Perez laid down another sacrifice, and the Tigers won on another walk-off homer. The next day, another tied game in the ninth, Ryan Vilade got down a sac bunt, reached on an error, and the Tigers won on yet another error. They haven’t sacrificed since. The Diamondbacks have 28 sac bunts this year. The Tigers have three! — Jennings
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Houston Astros
Best: Near no-hitters (7)
No team flirts with history quite like the Astros, who have carried a no-hitter through the seventh inning seven times this season. No other team has done it more than twice, and 18 teams haven’t done it at all. The Astros got two of those near no-nos into the ninth inning — also the most in baseball — and they completed one (Ronel Blanco on April 1). The Cubs, Giants and Padres have also had no-hitters this year.
GO DEEPERAstros' Blanco throws 2024's first no-hitter vs. Blue JaysWorst: Pitch clock violations (24)
This was a true team effort. Framber Valdez leads with five (third-most in the majors) and 12 others have contributed at least one. Yusei Kikuchi didn’t have one with the Blue Jays, got traded to the Astros, and chipped in one. Oddly, the next six teams in pitch clock violations are all in the National League. The next-highest American League team is the other Texas team, the Rangers, with 17. — Jennings
Kansas City Royals
Best: Outs Above Average (34)
The Royals are good at many things, but they’re No. 1 in relatively few categories. Their defense is an exception. The Royals have the highest overall OAA, and they more specifically have the highest infield OAA — mostly because of Bobby Witt Jr., but their other regulars are also doing well. Kyle Isbel and Garrett Hampson are two of the game’s better defensive outfielders.
Worst: Extra-inning wins (2)
It could be worse. The Royals just haven’t played many extra-inning games. In fact, they’ve played the fewest in baseball, and they’re 2-3 when they do. The Nationals are 5-10! The Braves are 11-5! The Royals have played just one extra-inning game since June 9, when they were walked off in Detroit. They’ve won almost as many shortened games (1) as they have extra-inning games. — Jennings
Los Angeles Angels
Best: Avoiding back picks at third (6)
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Third-base pickoffs are relatively rare. Pitchers have attempted only four this season. Catchers are more likely to back-pick to third — especially against the Angels, apparently. Six times a catcher has tried to catch an Angel sleeping at third. All six times, the Angels got back. One of them resulted in a throwing error and a run. Five other teams have endured at least three attempted picks at third; each has been out at least once. But not the Angels. Third-base coach Eric Young Jr. must yell “Back!” better than anyone.
Worst: Intentional walks (4)
Tied with two outs in the ninth on April 17, the Rays made the reasonable decision to load the bases by walking Mike Trout. Taylor Ward promptly won the game with an RBI single. Less than two weeks later, Trout was on the IL and there wasn’t much reason to intentionally walk another Angels hitter. The team has drawn only three other intentional walks. Even the White Sox have six. — Jennings
Los Angeles Dodgers
Best: Go-ahead homers (71)
The other day, Mookie Betts smashed a three-run homer in extras to extend the Dodgers’ lead in Shohei Ohtani’s return to Angel Stadium. That was cool. A week prior, Betts broke a tie with a two-run shot in the eighth against the Rays. That, I reckon, was cooler because go-ahead homers are great! No team has won a ballgame without first securing the lead. Ohtani has 18 go-ahead homers (second to Aaron Judge’s 21), Teoscar Hernández 11, Freddie Freeman eight, and Will Smith and Betts seven.
Worst: Walk-off homers allowed (4)
Live by the long ball, die by the long ball. The Dodgers have allowed the most solo homers, game-tying homers and walk-off homers this season. So, yes, it’s all right to be an angry Dodgers fan some days. The walk-offs can’t be blamed on one pitcher, either, as the damage was done against Nabil Crismatt, Yohan Ramírez, Evan Phillips and Joe Kelly. — Nesbitt
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Miami Marlins
Best: Caught stealing, by catcher (39)
That Nick Fortes and Ali Sánchez have cut down the most base stealers of any catching tandem this season should not preclude you from testing them. The Marlins have allowed the fifth-most steals, so their caught-stealing percentage is in the bottom 10. They are also 0-for-2 catching guys stealing home.
Worst: Walk rate, as hitter (6.5 percent)
In most offensive categories, the worst team in baseball is either the White Sox or the Mariners. So, when any offensive category has another team coming in last, it’s at least a little bit notable. The Fish don’t walk. They’re also last in chase rate, as hitters, and barrel rate and quality starts, as pitchers. But we’re talkin’ walks. We knew Luis Arraez never walked, but he left and this stat stayed where it was. — Nesbitt
Sal Frelick is just one reason why the Brewers are leading the league in soft hits this season. (Patrick McDermott / Getty Images)
Milwaukee Brewers
Best: Soft hits (77)
There are few things more infuriating as a fan than watching an opponent hit bloopers, bleeders and infield singles. The Brewers are kings of that sort of small ball. They lead in soft hits — generally a hit struck under 60 mph — by 15. It’s not the most commonly referenced category, but it makes intuitive sense: Aaron Judge has 51 homers and four soft hits. The Brewers’ Sal Frelick, meanwhile, has two homers and 16 soft hits.
Worst: Called strike rate, as hitter (33.5 percent)
This is not necessarily a bad thing. The Brewers are a patient bunch, tied for the most pitches per plate appearance (4.02) in the majors. Returning to the funky framing usage of our Cubs blurb, the Brewers hitters have had the most should-be balls called strikes — and the second-most should-be strikes called balls. It’s all a product of seeing a lot of pitches. You might prefer a more aggressive approach. But selectivity usually works. — Nesbitt
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Minnesota Twins
Best: Average horizontal break (4.3 inches)
The Twins are a pretty good team that doesn’t seem to lead the league in anything that is entertaining or might explain why they’re pretty good. Their pitching staff does have a clear strength — strike throwing — that would have them at the top of the leaderboard if not for the Mariners doing it just a little better. The Twins are second to the Mariners in WHIP, walk rate and the percent of pitches swung at. But, hey, nobody can touch their horizontal break. So, that’s something.
Worst: Turning double plays (63)
The Twins have a sound defensive infield (20 OAA, fourth-best in the majors), but they haven’t had a ton of opportunity to show it. Their pitching staff has the third-lowest ground ball rate in the majors, which translates to an infield that’s had (by far) the fewest defensive chances. — Jennings
New York Mets
Best: Walk-off homers (5)
Tied for the lead in walk-off homers (with the Padres) and extra-inning homers (with the Red Sox), the Mets have had big swings in big moments. Two thunderous walk-offs last month were hard to miss, as the O’s Seranthony Dominguez served up ninth-inning smashes to Francisco Alvarez and Jesse Winker. The taters were enjoyed. Mark Vientos walked off in April, Brandon Nimmo in May and J.D. Martínez in June.
Worst: Hit batters (84)
Turns out, major-league hitters don’t love to be struck by a pitched baseball flying between 85 and 105 mph. MLB’s Competition Committee is apparently receptive to rules regarding balls thrown up and in. Mets pitchers have piled up more HBPs than any other staff in the sport. Luis Severino and José Quintana have 11, Sean Manaea eight, David Peterson and Adam Ottavino six, and Danny Young five. Ouch! — Nesbitt
New York Yankees
Best: Position player WAR (30.2)
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By FanGraphs, this isn’t especially close. The Yankees lead by nearly 2 WAR over the Diamondbacks (28.5) and nearly 4 WAR over the next AL team (the Orioles, 26.4). Much of the separation comes from Aaron Judge (9.5 WAR) and Juan Soto (7.7 WAR) ranking top three in the sport. It’s worth noting that Baseball-Reference calculates it differently and has the Dodgers with the highest position player WAR (30.7) while the Yankees are fourth (26.8).
Worst: Hitting into double plays (121)
Teams have to put runners on base to hit into double plays, so some of this comes with the territory of having the game’s second-highest OBP. That said, the Orioles also have a good offense but have hit into nearly half as many double plays (64). Aaron Judge is the biggest culprit, with 20 — further evidence that GIDP is often an acceptable trade-off — but DJ LeMahieu is a lesser hitter with 13 GIDPs. — Jennings
Oakland Athletics
Best: Game-tying home runs (25)
The A’s don’t have a bad offense. Their 102 wRC+ is above-average and they’ve hit the fifth-most home runs in baseball. Some of those homers, it turns out, were meaningful. Seth Brown and Zach Gelof had four game-tying home runs apiece. Darell Hernaiz has hit one big-league homer in his career, and it was a game-tying line drive on Aug. 9.
Worst: Outs above average (minus-43)
Baseball Savant has data going back to 2016, and the A’s will probably end up with one of the four lowest OAA scores ever recorded. If they get to minus-45, they’ll be worse than all but the 2022 Nationals (minus-50), 2023 Red Sox (minus-50) and 2017 Mets (minus-58). The White Sox (minus-35) are the only other team worse than minus-26 this season. The team has no especially egregious offenders — Miguel Andújar’s minus-7 is the worst on the team — but they’ve used 15 different fielders who are in the negatives. — Jennings
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Philadelphia Phillies
Best: Stretch outs (15)
Don’t sleep on this Phillies outfield. They don’t employ any league leaders in outfield assists — Ian Happ, Jarren Duran, Miguel Andújar, Juan Soto — but they’ll stop you in your tracks if you try to stretch that single into a double, or that double into a triple. It’s been a collective effort led by Nick Castellanos, Brandon Marsh and Johan Rojas, who have all cut down three stretchers apiece.
Honorable mention: The Phillies have the league’s best record (59-33) in night games.
Worst: Caught stealing home (4)
Leading the majors in times picked off of second base was just not enough for the Phillies. They haven’t quite caught the Brewers for most attempted steals of home, but they have been caught stealing there most often. These aren’t straight steals of home or even delayed steals catching a catcher napping. They’re first-and-third situations full of intentional rundowns. The Phillies have succeeded once in five tries. — Nesbitt
Pittsburgh Pirates
Best: Stolen base success rate (87 percent)
For all of their offensive struggles, the Pirates have swiped bags extremely efficiently. They’re nowhere close to the league leaders in steals, trailing the Nats by 95 bags, but they’ve been caught only 14 times in 110 attempts. That puts them two and a half percentage points clear of the next-best team by stolen base success rate. Oneil Cruz is 21-for-22 on steals, Michael A Taylor 12-for-13 and Ke’Bryan Hayes 11-for-13.
Worst: Foul ball rate (35.9 percent)
Maybe there’s nothing to this, but it’s odd that Pirates hitters are in the middle of the pack in pitches per plate appearance but well off the back in foul balls. Teams don’t typically set out to hit more foul balls in a season, but it is indicative of whether a lineup can fight off tough pitches and extend at-bats to get a pitch they can clobber. Not all contact is created equal. A foul ball is a far better outcome than a weakly struck ground ball. — Nesbitt
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San Diego Padres
Best: Win percentage when scoring the first run (.817)
Sure, the Padres’ lineup leads in strikeout rate, contact rate, foul rate, swinging strike rate — every part of the Luis Arraez package — but let’s talk about the first lead. It can come on a homer, a squeeze play, a simple knock with a runner in scoring position. When the Padres have scored that first run, they’re 58-13 this season. Almost automatic. Just get ahead and let the bullpen lock things down.
Worst: Passed balls (15)
It hasn’t been the tidiest season behind the dish for the Padres, who lead in passed balls and are fourth in wild pitches. Kyle Higashioka’s nine passed balls are most in the majors, and Luis Campusano’s six passed balls rank fifth. The Padres recently added former Rockies catcher Elias Díaz, who isn’t delivering much with the stick these days but hasn’t allowed a passed ball all season. — Nesbitt
San Francisco Giants
Best: Most double plays with the third baseman recording the first putout (4)
Here’s an incredibly specific stat to mark the occasion of Matt Chapman signing an extension with the Giants. While Chapman has started more double plays than any other third baseman this season (29), a couple teams have done so more than the Giants, so we slide down to double plays in which he recorded the first out. Like this 5-3 rocket. Or when he almost turned a 5-4-3 triple play.
Worst: Stolen bases
The Giants have both stolen the fewest bases (57) and been stolen on (138) more than any other team. Tyler Fitzgerald has stolen 16 bags in half a season, and Chapman has chipped in a career-high 13. No one else has more than five! On the defensive side, Patrick Bailey has thrown out 29 percent of would-be stealers, but his bevy of backups have managed a caught-stealing rate of just under 12 percent. — Nesbitt
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Seattle Mariners
Best: Walks per nine (2.3)
By many standards, this is the best pitching staff in baseball. The Mariners have the lowest ERA and lowest WHIP in the majors, but their real superpower is the ability to avoid walks, especially out of the rotation. The Mariners have the fewest walks per nine in MLB, but their starters’ walk rate is heads and shoulders above everyone else. The Mariners’ rotation has walked 4.9 percent of batters faced. Next-best is the Twins at 5.9 percent. It’s the lowest rotation walk rate since the ’05 Twins of Johan Santana, Brad Radke and Carlos Silva.
Worst: Hits (992)
How does the best pitching staff in baseball miss the playoffs? By having one of the five worst offenses in the game. What’s so bad about the Mariners’ offense? Well, they don’t get hits, for one. They also have the worst batting average, fewest singles and fewest doubles in the majors. It’s surely no coincidence that they also have the most strikeouts. — Jennings
St. Louis Cardinals
Best: Tagging up success rate (100 percent)
When’s the last time you read about teams that are good at tagging up? It’s been a bit! The Cardinals, Braves and Nationals all have yet to be thrown out this season when tagging up on a ball to the outfield. The Cardinals take the W because they’ve done it most, tagging up 92 times — third-most in the majors. MLB’s tag-up leaders are Shohei Ohtani and Jarren Duran (19). The Cards are led by Masyn Winn (14).
Worst: Back-to-back homers (0)
The Diamondbacks, Yankees, Braves and Dodgers have hit back-to-back homers at least 10 times this season. The D-Backs did it twice in the same inning! The Cards haven’t done it once. So every time you’ve seen Paul Goldschmidt go deep and think, C’mon Nolan, your turn next, you’ve been wrong.
Honorable mention: You asked for more tagging-up talk, right? The Cards outfield has been tagged up on 84 times, most in the majors by a decent margin, and they’ve thrown out only two of those runners. — Nesbitt
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Tampa Bay Rays
Best: One-run games (26-16)
Hard to say why, but this feels like a stat for the Rays. They lead the league in one-run-game winning percentage. They’re also tied for the most one-run wins, period. They’re a perpetually scrappy underdog organization, and even in a down year, they’re still in there fighting for these close wins. They’ve been far worse in blowouts of 5-plus runs (14-20).
Worst: Go-ahead home runs (68)
The secret to the Rays’ pitching success was never an ability to keep the ball on the ground. The fact they have the lowest ground ball rate is perhaps notable, but not all that unusual and perhaps not explanatory. It’s not necessarily the reason their pitching has underperformed. They now have one of the highest home-run rates in the majors (they were fifth-best last year) and that’s led to a lot of game-changing homers including the most go-ahead home runs, the second-most game-tying home runs, and the second-most walk-off home runs. — Jennings
Texas Rangers
Best: Fielding errors (27)
The teams with the fewest errors last season were the Rangers and Diamondbacks, who ultimately met in the World Series. And while the Rangers have taken a step back in many facets this season, their defense has remained reliable. They have the fewest fielding errors in the game, and the fewest total errors and highest fielding percentage in the American League.
Worst: Average pitcher’s age (31.7)
There’s not a player in Major League Baseball who’s older than me, so declaring a pitching staff that (as measured by Baseball-Reference) averages roughly 32 years old as “worst” is borderline offensive, even to myself. But it clearly hasn’t worked out for the Rangers. Kirby Yates (37) and David Robertson (39) have been terrific, but Max Scherzer (39) has made just eight starts and Jacob deGrom (36) has yet to pitch. That said, rookie Jack Leiter (24) hasn’t been much help. — Jennings
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Toronto Blue Jays
Best: Outfield defense (28 OAA)
According to outs above average, this wasn’t a close contest. The Brewers and Rays each have 17 OAA in the outfield, combining their entire roster to basically do what Blue Jays outfielder Dalton Varsho did almost on his own (15 OAA). Much of the Blue Jays’ score is driven by Varsho and Kevin Kiermaier (10 OAA), but it really helped that all of their outfielders were pretty decent. Joey Loperfido’s minus-1 OAA is the worst among their outfielders.
Worst: Home runs allowed (191)
There’s only so much space in which an outfielder can play elite defense, and when the ball goes over the fence, the fielder tends to run out of room. There are many reasons the Blue Jays have underperformed expectations this season — their offense is middle-of-the-pack, Bo Bichette got hurt — but a pitching staff that has been hit hard is a big one. The Blue Jays have the second-worst hard-hit percentage and the highest home run-to-fly ball ratio. — Jennings
Washington Nationals
Best: Outfield double plays (10)
The Nats’ outfield had an absurd April, turning six double plays — hosing two guys at the plate on fly balls and throwing behind four stragglers at first base. Things have cooled since then, but the Nats still lead the rest of the majors by two in this category. Thomas started three double plays before being traded to the Guardians, and Jesse Winker and Eddie Rosario each had one while they were in Washington, D.C. But with Jacob Young in center field (20 Outs Above Average) we’re bound to see some more of these.
Worst: Extra-inning losses (10)
It’s helpful to add that the Nationals are also tied for the most extra-inning homers allowed, too. Those stats are kind of tied together. The Mets’ José Iglesias, J.D. Martínez and Pete Alonso all hit extra-inning homers off the Nats in the same series back in July. Anyway, part of a rebuild is learning to win, and as the Nationals roster rounds into form, they’ll make it a point of putting away close games. — Nesbitt
(Top photo of Jesse Winker celebrating a walk-off home run: Christopher Pasatieri / Getty Images)