Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Yasiel Puig's 197 OPS+ Is Historically Very High For Players 23 And Younger

Here are all the players who had 200+ PAs and an OPS+ of at least 180 at age 23 or younger since 1900. Not many make the cut and Wakefield was in a war year (his next best OPS+ is 130).


Player
OPS+
PA
Year
Age
Ted Williams
235
606
1941
22
Ted Williams
216
671
1942
23
Ty Cobb
206
590
1910
23
Yasiel Puig
197
213
2014
23
Shoeless Joe Jackson
193
641
1911
23
Ty Cobb
193
651
1909
22
Babe Ruth
192
382
1918
23
Dick Wakefield
190
332
1944
23
Arky Vaughan
190
609
1935
23
Reggie Jackson
189
678
1969
23
Willie McCovey
188
219
1959
21
Albert Pujols
187
685
2003
23
Frank Thomas
180
701
1991
23

It is still early in the season and Puig has been hot in May (OPS of 1.268, it was just .835 in April). And he was inconsistent last year. Here are his OPS figures for each month last year:

June 1.180
July .789
Aug. .920
Sept. .786

But he is in very impressive company even if we lower the threshold to an OPS+ of 170, as the table below shows.


Player
OPS+
PA
Year
Age
Ted Williams
235
606
1941
22
Ted Williams
216
671
1942
23
Ty Cobb
206
590
1910
23
Yasiel Puig
197
213
2014
23
Shoeless Joe Jackson
193
641
1911
23
Ty Cobb
193
651
1909
22
Babe Ruth
192
382
1918
23
Dick Wakefield
190
332
1944
23
Arky Vaughan
190
609
1935
23
Reggie Jackson
189
678
1969
23
Willie McCovey
188
219
1959
21
Albert Pujols
187
685
2003
23
Frank Thomas
180
701
1991
23
Mickey Mantle
180
638
1955
23
Mike Trout
178
716
2013
21
Frank Thomas
177
240
1990
22
Stan Musial
177
700
1943
22
Boog Powell
176
506
1964
22
Willie Mays
175
641
1954
23
Stan Musial
174
668
1944
23
Mel Ott
174
673
1932
23
Jimmie Foxx
173
638
1929
21
Eddie Mathews
172
600
1954
22
Ken Griffey
171
691
1993
23
Eddie Mathews
171
681
1953
21
Eddie Collins
171
660
1909
22
Eddie Mathews
170
616
1955
23