In the previous post, I wondered if players like Curtis Granderson who don't get on base much but do pick up extra-base hits were useful as leadoff men. My gut has always been with players like Granderson and Soriano that their power was more useful lower in the lineup.

I'm going to look at how OBA and Slugging Percentage affect two stats, runs scored per game played (RperG) and runs scored per time on base (RperOB) for players batting in the leadoff slot. Note that OB for this study is hits+bb+hbp. I'm looking at players batting lead off since 2000, with at least 500 PA in the #1 slot. There were 90 such players found.

First we'll take a graphical look at these two stats as a function of OBA. (Click on the graph for a larger image.)

Getting on base greatly increases your ability to score score runs, but it has little to do with specific instances of scoring runs. Now look at the these two stats as a function of slugging percentage.

Notice that a point of slugging percentage does less than a point of OBA to increase scoring. But the more a player hits for power, the more likely they are to score once they reach base.

So given a team with poor leadoff choices, a power hitter in the slot can make up for his lack of getting on base by scoring more often once he is on. Of course, the Tigers have a very good candidate for a leadoff hitter in Placido Polanco, so I'm not sure this is the right choice for them.

Note that a good base stealer acts as a doubles hitter from the leadoff spot, so a low OBA player can make up for some of that by stealing with a high percentage. But the advantage of power is that you don't risk the out by trying to steal, the hit gets you in scoring position.