Garret Anderson played the outfield for the Braves in 2009 and is currently a free agent. Anderson finished his 16th season in the majors, a career in which he stayed remarkably healthy and produced consistent batting averages and on-base percentages. The following graphs shows Anderson’s slash averages by season (click for a larger image):
Garret Anderson Averages by Season
Garret shows a very interesting aging pattern. First of all, he peaked late, with his best season coming in 2003 at age 31. That wasn’t a fluke, however, as he clearly built to that peak.
Second, the peak is most evident in his slugging percentage. His OBP and BA curves are rather flat, especially in his three-year moving averages. When we look at his career, we’re seeing a player with very consistent low walk and strikeout numbers, a hitter who constantly puts the ball in play. That’s why, I believe, we don’t see many peaks and valleys in his probability averages. We see it in his distance averages, his power, which for him was more dependent on age.
The drawback to his high ball in play strategy was that he didn’t walk much, and his OBP wasn’t much higher than his batting average. His offense allowed him to collect over 2500 so far in his career. He made a lot of outs doing so, however, which knocks down his career value. Given his poor 2009 season, he may not get a chance to collect many more hits or make many more outs.
Posted by David Pinto at 9:29 pm | Players, Players A to Z | Permalink | No Comments
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