2019 Season

Baseball Player Won-Loss Records
Home List of Articles

2019 Season

The 2019 Season as seen through the Prism of Player Won-Lost Records

This article takes a look at the 2019 season as measured by Player won-lost records.

The Best of 2019

I calculate Player won-lost records two ways: pWins, which tie to team wins and eWins, which control for context and the ability of one's teammates. For players with more pWins than eWins, their Player wins contributed to more team wins than one might expect; for players with more eWins than pWins, just the opposite is true: their Player wins translated into fewer team wins than expected. Or more briefly: a player with more pWins than eWins was better in context, a player with more eWins than pWins was worse in context.

The top 10 players in pWins above Positional Average and Replacement Level were as follows.


		pWins over Positional Average Top 10 Players						pWins over Replacement Level Top 10 Players
	Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL
1	Ronald Acuna	24.0	15.9	7.6	9.8	1	Ronald Acuna	24.0	15.9	7.6	9.8
2	Alex Bregman	23.1	15.5	7.2	9.3	2	Cody Bellinger	24.6	16.5	7.1	9.3
3	Cody Bellinger	24.6	16.5	7.1	9.3	3	Alex Bregman	23.1	15.5	7.2	9.3
4	George Springer	19.4	12.2	7.0	8.8	4	George Springer	19.4	12.2	7.0	8.8
5	Justin Verlander	15.4	8.7	6.9	8.7	5	Justin Verlander	15.4	8.7	6.9	8.7
6	Mike Trout	19.9	13.6	6.5	8.4	6	Christian Yelich	21.3	14.0	6.5	8.4
7	Christian Yelich	21.3	14.0	6.5	8.4	7	Mike Trout	19.9	13.6	6.5	8.4
8	DJ LeMahieu	21.4	15.0	6.4	8.3	8	DJ LeMahieu	21.4	15.0	6.4	8.3
9	Gerrit Cole	14.2	8.1	6.3	8.0	9	Gerrit Cole	14.2	8.1	6.3	8.0
10	Matt Olson	16.9	10.7	5.9	7.4	10	Matt Chapman	21.3	15.0	5.7	7.7

The top 10 players in eWins above Positional Average and Replacement Level were as follows.


		eWins over Positional Average Top 10 Players						eWins over Replacement Level Top 10 Players
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL		Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA	eWORL
1	Mike Trout	20.5	13.0	7.8	9.6	1	Mike Trout	20.5	13.0	7.8	9.6
2	Christian Yelich	20.9	14.3	5.7	7.6	2	Cody Bellinger	23.8	17.3	5.6	7.8
3	Jacob deGrom	15.2	10.5	5.6	7.4	3	Christian Yelich	20.9	14.3	5.7	7.6
4	Cody Bellinger	23.8	17.3	5.6	7.8	4	Alex Bregman	22.2	16.4	5.4	7.5
5	Zack Greinke	15.3	10.6	5.5	7.3	5	Jacob deGrom	15.2	10.5	5.6	7.4
6	Alex Bregman	22.2	16.4	5.4	7.5	6	Zack Greinke	15.3	10.6	5.5	7.3
7	Gerrit Cole	13.6	8.7	5.1	6.8	7	Ronald Acuna	22.6	17.3	4.8	6.9
8	Justin Verlander	14.5	9.7	4.9	6.7	8	Gerrit Cole	13.6	8.7	5.1	6.8
9	George Springer	18.2	13.4	4.8	6.5	9	Justin Verlander	14.5	9.7	4.9	6.7
10	Ronald Acuna	22.6	17.3	4.8	6.9	10	George Springer	18.2	13.4	4.8	6.5

I take a look at some of the most interesting players of 2019 at the end of this article.

2019 Postseason

The 2019 season saw the World Series return to Washington, D.C. for the first time in 86 years. It also saw an historic first: the home team lost all seven games of the World Series.

The best players of the 2019 postseason, as measured by Player won-lost records, are shown next.

Player	Team	pWins	pLosses	pWORL
	2019 Postseason: Total

Stephen Strasburg	WAS	2.8	1.2	1.9
Gerrit Cole	HOU	2.9	1.4	1.9
Max Scherzer	WAS	2.5	1.3	1.6
Anthony Rendon	WAS	2.9	1.5	1.5
Jose Altuve	HOU	3.0	2.0	1.3
Howie Kendrick	WAS	2.4	1.6	1.0
Adam C. Eaton	WAS	2.5	1.7	0.9
Juan Soto	WAS	3.0	2.3	0.9
Daniel Hudson	TOR	1.3	0.6	0.9
Gleyber Torres	NYA	1.8	1.0	0.9

Top postseason players by round were as follows.

Player	Team	pWins	pLosses	Net Wins
	2019 World Series

Stephen Strasburg	WAS	1.2	0.5	0.7
Anthony Rendon	WAS	1.2	0.9	0.4
Howie Kendrick	WAS	0.9	0.5	0.4
Juan Soto	WAS	1.3	0.9	0.4
Adam C. Eaton	WAS	1.0	0.7	0.3

Player	Team	pWins	pLosses	Net Wins
	2019 Postseason: League Championship Series

Jose Altuve	HOU	1.3	0.4	0.9
Max Scherzer	WAS	0.8	0.2	0.6
Gerrit Cole	HOU	0.7	0.2	0.6
Stephen Strasburg	WAS	0.8	0.3	0.5
Howie Kendrick	WAS	0.8	0.3	0.5

Player	Team	pWins	pLosses	Net Wins
	2019 Postseason: Division Series

Gerrit Cole	HOU	1.4	0.5	0.9
Alex Bregman	HOU	1.1	0.4	0.7
Max Muncy	LAN	1.0	0.4	0.6
Jose Altuve	HOU	1.2	0.6	0.6
Anthony Rendon	WAS	0.9	0.4	0.6

Player	Team	pWins	pLosses	Net Wins
	2019 Postseason: Wild Card Round

Juan Soto	WAS	0.5	0.2	0.3
Yandy Diaz	TBA	0.3	0.0	0.3
Charlie A. Morton	TBA	0.6	0.4	0.2

Best of 2019 by Factor and Position

Next, let's look at the top players in various aspects of the game.

Best by Factor: Batting, Baserunning, Pitching, Fielding

There are four basic factors for which players earn Player won-lost records: Batting, Baserunning, Pitching, and Fielding. The top players in 2019 in wins over positional average (WOPA) by factor were as follows.


Batting
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLoss	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA
1	Mike Trout	14.6	8.9	5.7	1	Alex Bregman	17.0	10.5	6.5
2	Cody Bellinger	17.1	11.3	5.4	2	Cody Bellinger	17.6	10.8	6.4
3	Alex Bregman	16.3	11.1	5.1	3	Christian Yelich	14.9	8.5	6.1
4	Christian Yelich	14.4	9.0	5.1	4	Mike Trout	14.7	8.8	5.8
5	Pete Alonso	14.9	10.6	3.8	5	Matt Olson	13.5	8.2	5.3
6	Anthony Rendon	15.1	10.9	3.7	6	Nelson R. Cruz	12.8	7.6	5.2
7	Eugenio Suarez	16.5	12.3	3.6	7	DJ LeMahieu	16.3	11.1	5.2
8	Nelson R. Cruz	12.0	8.4	3.6	8	Ronald Acuna	15.8	10.4	5.0
9	Xander Bogaerts	14.9	11.4	3.5	9	Freddie Freeman	15.7	10.3	4.9
10	George Springer	13.3	9.8	3.5	10	George Springer	14.0	9.1	4.9

Positional Average excludes pitcher offense


Baserunning
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLoss	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA
1	Jonathan Villar	2.1	1.2	0.9	1	Ronald Acuna	1.8	0.9	0.8
2	Ronald Acuna	1.7	1.0	0.6	2	Nick Ahmed	1.3	0.5	0.7
3	Elvis Andrus	1.6	1.0	0.6	3	Paul Goldschmidt	1.5	0.7	0.7
4	Kolten Wong	1.4	0.8	0.6	4	Jose 'Lapara' Ramirez	1.2	0.5	0.7
5	Tim Locastro	0.9	0.3	0.5	5	Tim Locastro	0.9	0.3	0.6
6	Mallex Smith	1.6	1.1	0.5	6	Mookie Betts	1.3	0.7	0.6
7	Jean Segura	1.3	0.7	0.5	7	Trea Turner	1.5	0.9	0.6
8	Manuel Margot	1.1	0.6	0.5	8	Tommy Edman	0.9	0.3	0.6
9	Tommy Edman	0.9	0.4	0.5	9	Elvis Andrus	1.5	1.0	0.6
10	Nick Ahmed	1.1	0.7	0.4	10	Niko Goodrum	1.1	0.6	0.6

Positional Average excludes pitcher offense


Pitching
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLoss	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLoss	Net pWins
1	Gerrit Cole	13.1	9.0	4.1	1	Justin Verlander	15.3	8.6	6.7
2	Jacob deGrom	13.4	9.5	4.0	2	Gerrit Cole	14.1	7.9	6.2
3	Justin Verlander	13.9	10.0	3.9	3	Kirby Yates	8.5	3.3	5.3
4	Kirby Yates	7.7	4.1	3.6	4	Stephen Strasburg	13.9	9.3	4.7
5	Max Scherzer	10.8	7.4	3.5	5	Will M. Smith	7.0	2.4	4.6
6	Charlie A. Morton	12.4	9.0	3.4	6	Hyun-jin Ryu	12.4	7.9	4.5
7	Zack Greinke	13.2	9.8	3.4	7	Charlie A. Morton	12.9	8.5	4.5
8	Jack Flaherty	13.6	10.3	3.3	8	Max Scherzer	11.3	6.9	4.4
9	Stephen Strasburg	13.2	10.0	3.2	9	Shane Bieber	14.6	10.3	4.3
10	Mike Clevinger	9.2	6.2	3.0	10	Taylor Rogers	7.8	3.8	4.0

Fielding by Position


Fielding, P
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Chris Bassitt	0.4	0.0	0.4	1	Dallas Keuchel	0.6	0.2	0.4
2	Zack Greinke	0.5	0.1	0.3	2	Chris Bassitt	0.4	0.1	0.4
3	Alex Claudio	0.3	0.0	0.2	3	Zack Greinke	0.5	0.1	0.3
4	Miles Mikolas	0.3	0.1	0.2	4	Miles Mikolas	0.3	0.1	0.3
5	Vincent Velasquez	0.4	0.2	0.2	5	Alex Claudio	0.3	0.0	0.2


Fielding, C
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Roberto Perez	1.3	0.8	0.5	1	J.T. Realmuto	1.6	1.1	0.5
2	J.T. Realmuto	1.6	1.1	0.5	2	Roberto Perez	1.3	0.8	0.5
3	James McCann	1.2	0.9	0.3	3	James McCann	1.2	0.9	0.4
4	Alex Avila	0.5	0.2	0.2	4	Tony Wolters	1.2	0.9	0.3
5	Victor Caratini	0.7	0.5	0.2	5	Yasmani Grandal	1.6	1.3	0.3


Fielding, 1B
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Anthony Rizzo	2.6	1.9	0.7	1	Matt Olson	2.9	2.0	1.0
2	Matt Olson	2.8	2.1	0.7	2	Christian Walker	2.9	2.2	0.8
3	Max Muncy	1.1	0.6	0.5	3	Yulieski Gurriel	1.7	1.0	0.7
4	Christian Walker	2.7	2.4	0.4	4	Anthony Rizzo	2.5	2.1	0.4
5	C.J. Cron	2.0	1.6	0.4	5	Brandon Belt	2.5	2.1	0.4


Fielding, 2B
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Carlos Sanchez	5.7	4.7	1.0	1	Carlos Sanchez	6.0	4.4	1.6
2	DJ LeMahieu	2.4	1.8	0.6	2	DJ LeMahieu	2.5	1.7	0.7
3	Kolten Wong	5.8	5.4	0.4	3	Ozzie Albies	5.4	4.7	0.7
4	Starlin Castro	3.9	3.5	0.4	4	Jonathan Schoop	3.7	3.0	0.7
5	Hanser Alberto	2.3	2.0	0.4	5	Jose Peraza	1.9	1.4	0.6


Fielding, 3B
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Matt Chapman	5.1	3.9	1.2	1	Matt Chapman	5.1	3.8	1.4
2	Yoan Moncada	3.9	3.0	0.9	2	Josh Donaldson	5.8	4.7	1.2
3	Nolan Arenado	4.8	4.0	0.8	3	Anthony Rendon	4.4	3.5	0.9
4	Josh Donaldson	5.6	4.9	0.6	4	Alex Bregman	3.1	2.2	0.8
5	Todd Frazier	3.5	2.9	0.6	5	Matt Carpenter	2.8	2.1	0.8


Fielding, SS
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Paul DeJong	6.6	5.2	1.5	1	Paul DeJong	7.1	4.7	2.4
2	Willy Adames	5.0	4.1	0.9	2	Corey Seager	4.4	3.1	1.3
3	Javier Baez	5.4	4.5	0.9	3	Willy Adames	5.0	4.0	0.9
4	Corey Seager	4.2	3.3	0.8	4	Nick Ahmed	5.5	4.6	0.9
5	Andrelton Simmons	3.7	2.9	0.8	5	Andrelton Simmons	3.7	2.8	0.9


Fielding, LF
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Jay Bruce	1.9	1.3	0.6	1	David Peralta	4.1	3.1	1.0
2	Marwin Gonzalez	0.7	0.3	0.5	2	Austin Meadows	1.8	0.8	0.9
3	Tyler Naquin	1.4	0.9	0.5	3	Mike Tauchman	2.5	1.8	0.7
4	Robbie Grossman	3.7	3.2	0.5	4	Teoscar Hernandez	2.4	1.7	0.7
5	Greg Allen	1.9	1.5	0.4	5	Ben Gamel	1.6	1.0	0.6


Fielding, CF
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Harrison Bader	3.8	2.9	0.9	1	George Springer	3.0	1.5	1.5
2	Mike Trout	4.4	3.6	0.8	2	Jake Marisnick	2.5	1.6	1.0
3	Adam Engel	2.3	1.6	0.7	3	Byron Buxton	3.3	2.4	0.9
4	Kevin Kiermaier	4.6	3.9	0.7	4	Ronald Acuna	3.6	2.7	0.9
5	Byron Buxton	3.2	2.5	0.7	5	Harrison Bader	3.8	3.0	0.8


Fielding, RF
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	Net eWins		Player	pWins	pLosses	Net pWins
1	Bryce Harper	6.3	5.4	0.9	1	Max Kepler	3.6	2.3	1.3
2	Aaron Judge	3.9	3.1	0.7	2	Cody Bellinger	4.8	3.6	1.2
3	Tyler Naquin	2.9	2.3	0.6	3	Aaron Judge	4.1	2.9	1.2
4	Garrett Cooper	1.5	1.0	0.5	4	Ramon Laureano	1.2	0.2	1.0
5	Max Kepler	3.2	2.7	0.5	5	Tyler Naquin	3.0	2.1	0.9

Best by Position

Next, we look at 2019 Major-League leaders by position. The figures shown here only include Player decisions earned while playing this particular position.


Catcher
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Mitch Garver	9.0	6.7	2.8	1	Mitch Garver	9.4	6.3	3.5
2	J.T. Realmuto	13.8	11.8	2.6	2	J.T. Realmuto	13.9	11.7	2.7
3	Yasmani Grandal	12.8	11.0	2.3	3	Roberto Perez	10.7	8.8	2.6
4	Omar Narvaez	9.5	8.1	2.0	4	Travis d'Arnaud	7.8	5.7	2.5
5	Willson Contreras	10.2	9.1	1.5	5	Gary Sanchez	9.6	7.8	2.4


First Base
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Pete Alonso	18.0	13.9	3.3	1	Matt Olson	16.9	10.7	5.9
2	Matt Olson	15.3	12.3	2.5	2	Freddie Freeman	19.2	13.7	4.6
3	Anthony Rizzo	16.6	13.3	2.4	3	Paul Goldschmidt	19.0	14.6	3.4
4	Freddie Freeman	18.0	14.9	2.1	4	Eric Thames	10.2	6.5	3.3
5	Paul Goldschmidt	18.3	15.3	1.9	5	Yulieski Gurriel	13.2	9.6	3.2


Second Base
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	DJ LeMahieu	10.1	8.3	2.1	1	DJ LeMahieu	11.1	7.3	4.0
2	Kolten Wong	17.1	15.1	2.0	2	Ozzie Albies	19.9	16.8	3.2
3	Brandon Lowe	8.8	7.2	1.8	3	Brandon Lowe	9.3	6.8	2.7
4	Jose Altuve	16.2	14.9	1.8	4	Jose Altuve	16.3	14.8	2.0
5	Ozzie Albies	19.1	17.7	1.5	5	Max Muncy	8.6	6.9	1.7


Third Base
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Anthony Rendon	20.2	15.4	3.9	1	Matt Chapman	21.3	15.0	5.7
2	Nolan Arenado	20.7	16.2	3.5	2	Anthony Rendon	20.9	14.7	5.3
3	Matt Chapman	20.0	16.3	3.1	3	Alex Bregman	13.4	9.5	3.6
4	Eugenio Suarez	21.1	17.3	2.7	4	Nolan Arenado	20.5	16.4	3.1
5	Yoan Moncada	16.7	13.7	2.5	5	Josh Donaldson	19.8	15.8	3.1


Shortstop
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Marcus Semien	20.9	17.5	3.4	1	Corey Seager	18.2	13.6	4.3
2	Alex Bregman	8.8	5.9	2.9	2	Marcus Semien	21.2	17.2	3.9
3	Xander Bogaerts	19.9	17.1	2.7	3	Alex Bregman	9.1	5.6	3.4
4	Trevor Story	19.6	16.8	2.4	4	Xander Bogaerts	20.1	16.9	3.2
5	Javier Baez	19.2	16.8	2.0	5	Jorge Polanco	18.6	15.6	3.0


Left Field
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Juan Soto	21.4	18.2	2.4	1	Michael Brantley	15.7	13.4	3.0
2	Austin Meadows	5.3	3.9	1.4	2	Austin Meadows	6.1	3.9	2.9
3	Joc Pederson	8.8	7.1	1.3	3	Joc Pederson	9.5	7.1	2.9
4	Kyle Schwarber	16.8	14.8	1.3	4	Ryan J. Braun	14.6	12.3	2.4
5	J.D. Davis	9.7	8.0	1.3	5	Austin Riley	8.9	7.3	2.3


Center Field
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Mike Trout	18.9	12.3	6.8	1	Mike Trout	18.5	12.7	6.0
2	Ketel Marte	12.7	9.0	3.7	2	George Springer	10.8	6.9	4.1
3	George Springer	10.1	7.6	2.7	3	Ronald Acuna	13.9	9.9	3.9
4	Ronald Acuna	13.2	10.6	2.4	4	Ketel Marte	12.7	9.0	3.6
5	Mark Canha	7.7	6.0	1.8	5	Mark Canha	8.2	5.5	2.7


Right Field
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Christian Yelich	19.9	14.1	4.9	1	Christian Yelich	20.6	13.4	6.5
2	Cody Bellinger	16.4	12.3	3.4	2	Cody Bellinger	17.0	11.8	4.4
3	Mookie Betts	18.1	15.2	2.4	3	Aaron Judge	13.8	9.3	4.1
4	Aaron Judge	12.9	10.2	2.3	4	Mookie Betts	18.8	14.4	3.9
5	Bryce Harper	21.5	18.5	1.9	5	Bryce Harper	22.4	17.6	3.7


Starting Pitcher
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Gerrit Cole	13.2	9.0	4.2	1	Justin Verlander	15.4	8.6	6.9
2	Justin Verlander	14.0	10.0	4.1	2	Gerrit Cole	14.2	8.0	6.3
3	Jacob deGrom	13.6	9.6	4.0	3	Stephen Strasburg	14.2	9.4	4.9
4	Zack Greinke	13.6	9.9	3.8	4	Hyun-jin Ryu	12.8	8.0	4.8
5	Jack Flaherty	13.8	10.3	3.5	5	Charlie A. Morton	13.0	8.6	4.5
6	Max Scherzer	11.0	7.7	3.4	6	Shane Bieber	14.7	10.4	4.4
7	Charlie A. Morton	12.5	9.1	3.4	7	Max Scherzer	11.5	7.2	4.3
8	Stephen Strasburg	13.4	10.2	3.3	8	Jake Odorizzi	11.2	7.5	3.8
9	Mike Clevinger	9.3	6.2	3.1	9	Eduardo J. Rodriguez	13.4	9.7	3.8
10	Sonny Gray	11.2	8.2	3.1	10	Zack Greinke	13.6	9.9	3.7


Relief Pitcher
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Kirby Yates	7.8	4.2	3.5	1	Kirby Yates	8.6	3.4	5.1
2	Liam Hendriks	7.1	4.4	2.7	2	Will M. Smith	7.1	2.5	4.6
3	Brandon Workman	6.4	3.7	2.6	3	Taylor Rogers	8.0	4.1	3.9
4	Taylor Rogers	7.2	4.9	2.3	4	Brandon Workman	6.8	3.2	3.6
5	Aaron Bummer	5.2	3.1	2.1	5	Felipe Vazquez	6.0	2.3	3.6
6	Josh Hader	8.6	6.5	2.1	6	Josh Hader	9.3	5.7	3.5
7	Felipe Vazquez	5.2	3.1	2.0	7	Luke Jackson	7.4	4.3	3.1
8	Carlos E. Martinez	4.8	2.9	1.8	8	Ian Kennedy	5.5	2.7	2.9
9	Roberto Osuna	6.0	4.3	1.6	9	Aaron Bummer	5.6	2.8	2.8
10	Seth Lugo	5.7	4.1	1.6	10	Carlos E. Martinez	5.2	2.5	2.7


Designated Hitter
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Nelson R. Cruz	12.5	9.1	3.1	1	Nelson R. Cruz	13.3	8.4	4.6
2	Jorge Soler	11.6	8.4	2.9	2	Edwin Encarnacion	5.2	3.7	1.4
3	Yordan Alvarez	7.8	5.6	2.0	3	Yordan Alvarez	7.5	5.9	1.3

Finally, here are the best at three oft-forgotten positions that can nevertheless matter: pitcher offense, pinch hitting, and pinch running.


Pitcher Offense
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Zack Greinke	1.2	1.2	0.7	1	Zack Greinke	1.2	1.1	0.7
2	Jacob deGrom	1.1	1.4	0.5	2	Jon Lester	1.0	0.9	0.6
3	Max Fried	1.0	1.5	0.4	3	Zack Wheeler	1.1	1.3	0.6


Pinch Hitter
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Pablo Sandoval	1.7	1.2	0.6	1	Hunter Renfroe	1.2	0.3	0.9
2	Dominic Smith	1.3	0.8	0.5	2	Tyler Austin	1.4	0.6	0.8
3	Mitch Moreland	0.9	0.4	0.5	3	Mitch Moreland	1.0	0.3	0.7


Pinch Runner
		Context-Neutral					Context-Dependent
	Player	eWins	eLosses	eWOPA		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA
1	Manuel Margot	0.1	0.0	0.1	1	Manuel Margot	0.1	0.0	0.1
2	Mac Williamson	0.1	0.0	0.1	2	Mac Williamson	0.1	0.0	0.1
3	Eduardo Nunez	0.1	0.0	0.1	3	Eduardo Nunez	0.1	0.0	0.1

Noteworthy Players of 2019

AL MVP Race: Mike Trout vs. Alex Bregman

The AL MVP race was a two-man race with Mike Trout edging out Alex Bregman, 17 first-place votes to 13 and 355 to 335 overall. Based on the first four tables in this article, Player won-lost records agree with the MVP voters about who the top two players in the American League were. And they also agree with the voters that a case could be made for placing either Trout or Bregman at number one.

The next table compares the 2019 seasons of Mike Trout and Alex Bregman, as evaluated by Player won-lost records.

	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWin Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWin Pct.	eWOPA	eWORL
Mike Trout	134	19.9	13.6	0.595	6.5	8.4	20.5	13.0	0.613	7.8	9.6
Alex Bregman	156	23.1	15.5	0.597	7.2	9.3	22.2	16.4	0.576	5.4	7.5

Basically, it comes down to context. Tying player wins to team wins (pWins), Bregman edges out Trout. Neutralizing the context, Trout pulls ahead of Bregman. In both cases, Bregman gains a bit on Trout if the focus shifts from average (WOPA) to replacement level (WORL) due to Bregman having played 22 more games than Trout. Either way: a pair of excellent seasons from a pair of excellent baseball players.

NL MVP Race: Cody Bellinger vs. Christian Yelich vs. Ronald Acuna

In official voting, the NL MVP race was also a two-man race, with Cody Bellinger besting Christian Yelich by 45 points (362-317) and 9 first-place votes (19-10 - Anthony Rendon received one first-place vote).

Player won-lost records agree that both Bellinger and Yelich had excellent seasons. But Player won-lost records see a somewhat surprising third player in the mix for NL MVP: Atlanta Braves center fielder Ronald Acuna Jr., who finished fifth in the actual NL MVP vote.

The next table compares the 2019 seasons of Bellinger, Yelich, and Acuna, in and out of context.

	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWin Pct.	pWOPA	pWORL	eWins	eLosses	eWin Pct.	eWOPA	eWORL
Cody Bellinger	156	24.6	16.5	0.598	7.1	9.3	23.8	17.3	0.579	5.6	7.8
Christian Yelich	129	21.3	14.0	0.604	6.5	8.4	20.9	14.3	0.594	5.7	7.6
Ronald Acuna Jr.	156	24.0	15.9	0.601	7.6	9.8	22.6	17.3	0.565	4.8	6.9

Top Postseason Performers: Gerrit Cole and Stephen Strasburg

As measured by Player won-lost records, the two most valuable players in the 2019 postseason were also the top two free agents of the 2019-20 offseason. Gerrit Cole and Stephen Strasburg combined to pitch 73 innings (36-1/3 by Strasburg, 36-2/3 by Cole) with 94 strikeouts (47 apiece), a 1.85 ERA (Strasburg allowed one more run than Cole), and a traditional won-lost record of 9-1 (they each had five decisions; Cole lost Game 1 of the World Series).

Strasburg and Cole were each the first player taken in their respective drafts, in 2009 and 2011, respectively. The next table compares their career records (through 2019). The numbers shown here are for regular season and postseason combined.

Season	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL
	Stephen Strasburg					Gerrit Cole
2010	12	4.5	4.1	0.7	1.2
2011	5	1.2	0.9	0.4	0.6
2012	28	11.7	9.2	3.5	4.6
2013	30	10.2	10.5	0.6	1.8	21	8.3	7.5	1.4	2.3
2014	35	13.0	13.2	0.9	2.5	23	7.4	7.4	0.6	1.5
2015	23	9.5	8.7	1.6	2.7	34	14.6	11.4	4.2	5.7
2016	24	9.7	8.8	2.0	3.2	21	7.4	7.8	0.2	1.2
2017	30	13.7	8.4	6.3	7.7	34	13.1	13.4	1.0	2.6
2018	22	10.0	9.0	1.9	3.1	34	13.7	8.6	5.3	6.8
2019	40	17.9	12.3	6.8	8.8	38	17.2	9.5	7.8	9.8
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER RECORDS	249	101.4	85.2	24.8	36.3	205	81.6	65.7	20.6	30.1

Last Hurrahs

It is still 2019 as I write this article, so obviously it is far too soon to know how many players who played their final game in 2019 might one day be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. For that matter, it is not entirely obvious how many players played their final game in 2019. There are, however, two players who have already announced that 2019 was their final major-league season who I think will likely do very well in Hall of Fame voting when they become eligible.

The final table of this article compares the career records of these two players: Ichiro Suzuki and C.C. Sabathia, as measured by Player won-lost records.

Season	Games	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA	pWORL	Games	pWins	pLoss	pWOPA	pWORL
	Ichiro Suzuki					C.C. Sabathia
2001	157	25.0	18.0	5.9	8.2	33	11.6	10.1	1.8	3.3
2002	157	21.3	20.1	0.0	2.2	33	12.7	12.1	0.9	2.6
2003	159	24.6	18.8	4.8	6.9	31	11.1	10.9	0.4	1.9
2004	161	22.0	21.1	0.2	2.4	30	9.9	10.0	0.1	1.4
2005	162	21.1	21.4	-1.1	0.7	31	13.1	11.5	1.8	3.3
2006	161	21.8	21.0	0.3	2.3	28	12.2	10.2	2.3	3.7
2007	161	22.2	19.1	3.2	5.0	34	15.1	9.9	5.6	7.3
2008	162	21.9	22.6	-1.2	0.8	35	17.9	11.1	7.5	9.3
2009	146	22.1	18.6	2.8	4.6	34	14.9	9.9	5.2	6.8
2010	162	20.7	21.7	-2.0	-0.1	34	16.1	10.9	5.4	7.1
2011	161	19.1	23.2	-5.4	-3.4	33	15.0	10.9	4.3	5.9
2012	162	17.3	19.9	-3.1	-1.3	28	10.8	8.7	2.5	3.7
2013	150	16.3	15.9	-0.3	1.3	32	12.1	13.2	-0.8	0.9
2014	143	10.8	11.0	-0.5	0.5	8	2.7	4.3	-1.5	-1.1
2015	153	10.7	13.0	-2.9	-1.8	29	8.7	10.7	-1.8	-0.6
2016	142	9.4	10.6	-1.3	-0.4	30	11.3	10.1	1.5	3.0
2017	136	5.2	5.2	0.1	0.7	27	8.9	6.9	2.3	3.4
2018	15	0.8	1.1	-0.4	-0.3	29	9.0	7.9	1.2	2.4
2019	2	0.1	0.1	-0.0	-0.0	23	6.0	8.3	-2.2	-1.1
------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------	------
CAREER RECORDS	2,652	312.4	302.4	-1.1	28.5	562	218.9	187.5	36.6	63.3
NEGATIVES ZEROED OUT				17.2	35.6				42.9	66.1

Article last updated: December 24, 2019

Wins over positional average and replacement level are calculated using data only for the 2019 season. Positional averages for starting pitching and relief pitching are calculated using single-year data for all starting pitchers and all relief pitchers.

All articles are written so that they pull data directly from the most recent version of the Player won-lost database. Hence, any numbers cited within these articles should automatically incorporate the most recent update to Player won-lost records. In some cases, however, the accompanying text may have been written based on previous versions of Player won-lost records. I apologize if this results in non-sensical text in any cases.

Home List of Articles