Astros: Examining the RBI Percentages for Lineup

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It should come as no surprise that generally speaking the players with the most RBI are the ones with the most opportunities to knock in runs. So, it was with the 2021 Houston Astros, as Yordan Alvarez led the team in RBI and opportunities, followed by Carlos Correa and Kyle Tucker.

That said, there were some that were better than others in RBI situations and a couple of surprises. This data was obtained from the 2021 Bill James handbook by Sports Info Solutions, a great read.

The RBI% is derived from a formula for each situation a batter faces when at the plate. I highly recommend the book, if you’re into baseball data.

Jose Altuve – .399

It should come as no shock to any Astros fan that Jose Altuve tops the Astros in RBI%. Batting leadoff, Altuve had less chances for RBI than any Astro with the exception of Michael Brantley, but still came through with 82 RBI on the season and knocked in nearly 40% of the runners available.

Yuli Gurriel – .374

The American League batting champ had a good season with runners on, too, knocking in 81, despite hitting only 15 home runs. This metric favors those that hit bombs, even with no one on, over singles hitters and that’s shown by the fact that Yuli hit .299 with runners in scoring position, yet was 4th overall on the team in this metric.

Carlos Correa – .369

Correa had the same number of RBI as Kyle Tucker, but he had four more opportunities which drops him a bit to 36.9%. Correa was in the five and six holes most of the season, but tallied the second most RBI opportunities on the team in 2021.

Alex Bregman – .362

We’ve detailed Alex Bregman’s mostly lost season in a variety of ways and this is another. The 55 RBI can be explained by the relatively low number of opportunities given Bregman’s injury. The fact remains that If given the same number of RBI opportunities Jose Altuve had, Bregman would have had only 75 RBI with this ratio.

Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /

Chas McCormick – .397

I’m guessing you’re as surprised as I am. I’m a bigger McCormick fan than most, but it’s hard to argue with these numbers. The right-hander had 126 opportunities and compiled 50 RBI. Little known fact: McCormick hit .310 with runners in scoring position.

Jake Meyers did not have enough at-bats to qualify for this list.

Kyle Tucker – .376

Another accolade for Tucker’s incredible 2021 season. Tucker spent the season batting sixth and seventh in the lineup and it didn’t bother him a bit as he finished with 92 RBI. Tucker recorded 15 home runs and 50 RBI in 249 at-bats from the sixth spot alone.

Michael Brantley – .289

Anyone else surprised? There’s no doubt that this metric favors the power hitters for obvious reasons and we know Brantley was way down in that department in 2021. Brantley batted second most of the season which means he also had fewer chances than most, so perhaps the results would have improved with more chances.

Yordan Alvarez – .372

Spending most of the year in the cleanup spot provided Alvarez with the most RBI opportunities on the season and the Cuban-slugger did not fail, coming in with the fourth highest RBI% among every day players.

Aledmys Diaz – .359

We’ve mentioned that Diaz has been just about average offensively over the last couple of years, measured by multiple advanced metrics, and this is another that shows he’s just good enough to maintain that status.

Martin Maldonado – .230

Most Astros fans understand why Maldonado is the starting catcher and it’s not for his bat. Maldonado, is far and away the worst of the regulars and this is another metric he struggled in, knocking in only 23% of potential RBI.

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