Daric Barton Dares to Be Different
The Oakland Athletics languish at 65 wins and 68 losses, due mostly to a lackluster offense. The A’s can pitch, ranking third in the American League in starter xFIP and sixth in reliever xFIP. Leather is no problem either, with the green and gold saving an AL-leading 43 runs more than an average defense club. But those bats? Oakland has -32 Park-Adjusted Batting Runs, 12th in the AL.
Don’t blame Daric Barton, though. The 25-year-old first baseman has arguably emerged as the team’s best position player, and he has done it with strike-zone discipline and quality D instead of the brute force that’s typically associated with the position that he plays.
From 2007-2009, the former Cardinals prospect and Mark Mulder trade chip was basically the definition of a league-average hitter. Barton had a .328 wOBA in 799 combined plate appearances, with a 99 wRC+. He showed little pop (.145 Isolated Power), but he worked a walk in 12.6 percent of his PA. Defensively, the converted catcher helped his case by saving 5.4 runs per 150 defensive games. The A’s still held Barton in high regard entering 2010, but his mild hitting, injury issues (a neck strain in 2008 and a pulled right hamstring in 2009) and the emergence of prospect Chris Carter cast doubt upon his long-term potential. After all, how good could a singles hitter playing at the low end the defensive spectrum be?
Suffice it to say, Barton has staked his claim to first base in 2010. No, he still doesn’t fit the position’s archetype, and it’s possible that he never will — his .135 ISO ranks ahead of only James Loney among qualified first baseman. But the lefty batter is taking more base on balls than anyone else. Barton has walked 15.8% of the time, tops in the majors.
Not surprisingly, he’s not biting when a pitcher tempts him with a junk pitches thrown off the plate. Barton has swung at 16 percent of pitches thrown outside of the strike zone, the lowest mark in the big leagues. For comparison, the MLB average this season is 29.2 percent. According to Baseball-Reference, Barton has gotten ahead in the count in 46 percent of his PA. The AL average is 35.6 percent.
Overall, Barton’s got a .367 wOBA and a 133 wRC+. Maybe he has gotten a few fortunate bounces — his BABIP is .326, while his rest-of-season ZiPS projection calls for a .308 BABIP. But even with a lower BABIP, Barton is pegged as a .357 wOBA hitter.
In addition to owning the zone, Barton has been a pickin’ machine at first base. He’s got a +13.7 UZR/150 this season. He’s probably not that good, but there are sound reasons to think he’s a defensive asset. Barton’s career UZR/150 in 2,800+ innings is +8.4. CHONE’s Total Zone, pro-rated to 150 defensive games, has Barton at +7.7 runs. CHONE’s talent level projections (updated in late August) rate him as a +5 run defender going forward.
With immaculate plate discipline and a slick glove, Barton has been worth 4.2 Wins Above Replacement. That’s in the top 30 among big league position players. While a slight dip in offense and regression in his D would make him more of a three-win player, Barton has established himself as a building block for the A’s. He’s not a slugger, but Barton’s patience and defensive prowess obviate the need for him to fit the cookie-cutter first base profile.
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Moneyball, baby.
If and when A Gonz leaves SD, Barton would fit their profile extremely well…
why is it if and when?
He’s a SD native, and he has publicly stated that he loves playing for Bud Black and the Padres. He might take a hometown discount to stay…
See if there is anything to this line of logic:
wOBA is our best singular tool to measure predicted offensive contribution, but it is based on the MLB average of what each PA outcome is worth.
Now, and this is a guess, but 1B is likely the highest average iso of any position. Therefore if you “trade” iso for walks, at first base, there is a small hidden negative game theory impact to that decision, as you have to “make up ” that iso somewhere else, where it will be more difficult or costly. If you choose not to make up that iso, then your walks aren’t as valuable, as you haven’t reached your marginal level of iso, ie each walk is worth less than the last.
Sorry this is stream of conscience on my phone, if it doesn’t make sense and people don’t think its retarded ill revisit it
This ain’t no NL team, that’s what your DH if for… That and if you could get a defensively neutral RF / LF instead of employing 6 different average to above average defensive CF’s you could get more production from your lineup. Lets also not forget that this is Oakland, a pitchers park for sure… Do you really want to pay an Adrian Gonzalez type a ton of money to play 1B and have his power almost useless in 81 games a year? I mean even Gonzalez for all of his power only has 60 of his 164 HR’s at PetCo. It seems like it would be a waste to spend too much money on a guy that would most likely be best served as a DH with the defense first plan employed by the A’s.
I wonder whether his selective approach will allow him to take bigger cuts at pitches he’s looking for as he matures and hit some dingers. If he added power to his arsenal at the expense of some singles it probably wouldn’t hurt his OBP much. His ballpark as well as surrounding hitters in the lineup don’t allow for as much power hitting. It will be interesting to see whether he can add slugging to his game from here, because that’s the next step.
Power will come.
Power starved a’s fans need to relax.
JT Snow, the sequel anybody?
More like Nick Johnson IMO.
I was thinking more like Mark Grace personally.
“The Oakland Athletics languish at 65 wins and 68 losses, due mostly to a lackluster offense. The A’s can pitch, ranking third in the American League in starter xFIP and sixth in reliever xFIP. Leather is no problem either, with the green and gold saving an AL-leading 43 runs more than an average defense club.”
“Barton has been a pickin’ machine at first base. He’s got a +13.7 UZR/150 this season. ”
I’m not trying to be pedantic, but: Aren’t we double-counting a bit here?
Good stuff, I pretty much touched on this last week over at Beyond the Box Score when Barton’s slugging percentage was sitting below .400 but his WAR was still equally as strong.
He’s up to 8 HR/47 RBI/.281 BA now, compared to 5 HR/42 RBI/.279 BA when I covered him, but even so I thought it was pretty remarkable how a first baseman who depends on a high walk rate and strong defensive numbers could end up being so valuable in general.
Take a very close look at Barton’s height, weight, minor league track record, emergence as a competent defensive first baseman, and age 24-25 major league hitting performance … and compare all of that to one Kevin Yoiukilis.
That’s the level of performance I see Barton ultimately attaining, especially if he gets out of Oakland and lands in a better hitter’s park.
Barton just turned 25
Youkilis age 29-31 yr old seasons 08-10 are ridiculously good.
I dont see barton hitting 27, 29 hr like youkilis was on pace during those years. Youkilis 06-07 seasons are very comparable if Barton can get in the 15+ hr range
Surprisingly barton hits well in oakland home games and throughout his career has a reverse split hits well vs lefties.
The reverse platoon split is pretty shocking: Over 1148 career AB, Barton is hitting .858 vs. LHP and .739 vs. RHP. I don’t recall ever seeing such a severe reverse platoon split for a hitter over this large a sample. I think the topic merits more discussion.
Also interesting: he had pretty normal platoon splits over 1464 minor league AB. .883 vs. RHP; .792 vs. LHP.
Oakland’s poor choice of corner OFers are what is killing this teams offense, not Barton or Cust. They really need to sign Werth or Crawford & keep Cust at DH for a full year and then a lot of problems are solved.
Barton is an interesting hitter, they always said he might be the new Mark Grace, but that was before Youkilis became a star. Considering his age and pitch selection, Barton could start making strides in developing his swing for more power and could be hitting 20-30 HR around the time he turns 30.
I can’t stand cust! I dont mean to dis u, but cust is battin .230 w/ runners in scoring position and strikes out waaaay to much. yet geren still continues to bat him cleanup
Isn’t that more of an indictment of the manager than Cust?
So, he is essentially Nick Johnson with durability?
“…injury issues (a neck strain in 2008 and a pulled right hamstring in 2009″
Hasn’t really proved he’s durable yet. He’s basically Nick Johnson’s clone at this point.
Does he still bunt with no outs and runners on first and second from the three hole?
Absolutely he does.
Also
“In addition to owning the zone, Barton has been a pickin’ machine at first base. He’s got a +13.7 UZR/150 this season.”
Since when did UZR start accounting for picks/scoops? Last time I checked it didn’t. Barton is 5’10 on a good day w T-Rex arms and legs. He jumps and stretches theatrically for normal infield throws and drops foul pop-ups. Let’s not j*rk this guy off too much.
Greg, “pickin’ machine” was a reference from Moneyball, and if you knew the background behind it you’d agree that DG did a nice job applying it to Barton in this article. It wasn’t meant to be taken literally.
Your assertion that ‘Absolutely he does.’ (still bunt with runners on 1st & 2nd and nobody out) is not supported by any facts. The facts: when he was asked about him bunting Rajai Davis over mid-season (Davis hasn’t been the leadoff since Crisp returned from the DL) and he admitted he was doing this on his own, he had 12 sac’s. He still has 12 sac’s.
And in virtually every lineup he’s batting 2nd, NOT out of the 3 hole.
As to missing foul popups, I’ve seen him do that, yes, but usually at the Coliseum, where the runs are long, the relief mound can interfere, etc, etc.
Admittedly, a 6’6″ guy might have a foot of reach over him, but as long as those theatrical splits and jumps get the job done, I’ll take them over an immobile masher.
Good for Beane on the Mulder deal, I do wonder how much longer they’re happy to sit around .500 as the execution with the higher payroll has left a bit to be desired. It does seem that they miss DePodesta and Fuson in Oakland, although everyone goes through bad periods of the draft, often through no fault of their own.
Fuson is back with the A’s.
And what higher payroll?
For the past two years, I have been one of Barton’s severest critics. He came to Oakland with great fanfare but early on he was a certain pop up or DP disguised as a prospect. However, this year he has turned all that around. Not a big basher, but steady with a great OBP. If Beane can keep him and add a stellar bat or two, this team will do some damage.
Seeing he was a catcher and must have some throwing ability, and it seems above-average range for a 1B, he might be an average defensive 3B. That might be a better Youk comp, giving the team flexibility to get a 1B if they get the opportunity. e.g. if Carter bats well they can offer either Barton, Kouzmanoff, or an OF in a deal.
MLBFan: I think you’re missing my point. Barton is doing now, what Youk was doing when he was Barton’s age. They have similar bodies, similar skillsets, and similar track records. I fully expect that when Barton is Youk’s age, he too will have learned to use his ability to wait for his pitch, to drive it with increasing power. He has a nice line drive swing with a tiny uppercut and just the right amount of backspin — he’s gonna develop power just like Youk did.
I have a strong feelin barton will show quite a bit of power this september if not, I truly believe barton will be moved to 3B or LF in order to get a free agent 1B.
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