Monday, June 13, 2011
Pop quiz: Ichiro’s batting average
Posted by Greg SimonsIchiro Suzuki's career Major League Baseball batting average heading into the 2011 season was .331. His best single-season mark was .372 in 2004, and his worst was .303 just a year later.
Ichiro has been baseball's best hitter for average since Tony Gwynn. However, so far in 2011, Ichiro is batting .258. Through May 18, he was at .303, but an awful three-week, 13-for-87 slump lopped 51 points off his average. (A couple of two-hit games this weekend pumped him back up six points.)
Is this a sign of the end for the 37-year-old slap hitter, or is it just a bump in the road for the 200-hits-per-year machine? Will Ichiro finally finish with a sub-.300 average, or will he poke enough balls through the "five-and-a-half" hole between short and third to lift himself back up to his usual perch?
With the sabermetric disclaimer than batting average is far from the best tool to use when evaluating a hitter, it's time to ask you, the readers:
*And remember, this could be the final Pop Quiz if the number of voters doesn't pick up. Make you voice heard if you want these quizzes to stick around.
Greg Simons finally, sadly has conceded that he won't have an MLB playing career. However, in his dreams, he's still the second coming of Ozzie Smith. Please don't wake him up, though you can e-mail him at gregbsimons AT yahoo DOT com.
Ichiro is not even the best hitter for average of his era - he trails Albert Pujols whose career overlaps his almost perfectly.