Mookie Betts and Mike Trout currently rank at or near the top of the majors in most significant hitting categories, but both star outfielders agree that one statistic is more important than the rest.
MLB.com conducted a poll of several players to determine which stat they believe holds the most weight when they evaluate themselves in a given season. Of 35 position players who voted, 10 players considered on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) to be the best measure of how they are performing. Next was on-base percentage (six votes) followed by RBI (five votes) and then runs scored (four votes). Of the four players who voted for runs, Trout and Betts were two of them.
“That’s big from an offensive side,” Trout said.
Betts, who currently ranks first in MLB with 36 runs scored, agrees.
“You score runs to win games,” he said. “That’s how you do it.”
Again, Trout and Betts are at or near the top of almost every category. You could argue that there was some bias involved if a player who belts 40 home runs a year but has a .240 career average said homers are the most important stat, but that is not the case with Trout and Betts.
If you saw the impressive feat Betts recently accomplished at the plate, you might think the long ball is what he focuses the most on. But let that be a lesson to you youngsters — crossing the plate is a good thing no matter how you do it.
