In the 2016 Baseball Season, Second Is First

For the first time in the long, storied history of Major League Baseball, second will most likely be first. This does not mean that any second place team will have home field advantage in the playoffs over a division champion, even though there have been second place teams in very recent history who have actually won the World Series. In fact, the last two to win it all, Kansas City and San Francisco, both finished in second place in that season.

With just a few weeks left in the 2016 regular season, second basemen have the highest collective batting average of all other positions. At no other time in over a hundred years has the right half of the middle infielders led all other position players in batting.

Due partly to Houston’s Jose Altuve and Washington’s Daniel Murphy, second basemen are hitting a collective .277 this year. Altuve leads the American League with a.344 batting average, while Murphy has been atop the Senior Circuit with a .343 clip.

Right with Murphy is Colorado’s D.J. Lemahiu, who is the second baseman of the Rockies. Trailing Altuve in the junior league is perennial All-Star second baseman Dustin Pedroia of the Boston Red Sox, who is hitting .325.

Among the other top ten hitters in both leagues, several more are second basemen. Jean Segura of the Arizona Diamondbacks is hitting .317, and Robinson Cano of the Seattle Mariners is hitting .304.

Obviously many other players are having great offensive seasons, hitting well enough so that they lead all other positions. The only other season in which position number four has been at the top in collective batting average was 2008, when they tied with right fielders by hitting a collective .276.

Back then, Pedroia was among the league leaders with a .326 average. Ian Kinsler of the Texas Rangers and Placido Polanco of the Detroit Tigers were two of the other second basemen who were among the league leaders in hitting that year.

The next highest collective batting averages by position this season are third basemen, who currently are hitting .270. Shortstops, traditionally weaker hitters than their teammates, are batting .269. Right fielders are at .266 average, center fielders at .263, and first basemen at .256. As might be expected, catchers carry the lowest collective batting average.

Much attention has been given to the young star shortstops in baseball, phenoms such as Cleveland’s Francisco Lindor, Boston’s Xander Bogearts, and Houston’s Carlos Correa. Meanwhile, their double play partners have been the superior hitters.

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