A Look at MLB Offensive Production by Defensive Position

The idea of positional adjustments has always intrigued me. The level of offensive production of a typical shortstop is lower than that of a typical first baseman. Thus, a shortstop can be a good offensive player for his position even if he hits at a level below the average offensive production of a first baseman. This reality has been apparent to me since I was a kid with a binder full of Ozzie Smith baseball cards. It is also why I enjoy looking at Baseball Reference's sOPS+, which shows a player or team's OPS in a given split relative to the league's OPS in said split.

Last Hot Stove, we used sOPS+ to look at whether the 2012 St. Louis Cardinals would perform as well as the 2011 club relative to their peers at defensive positions. On Monday, we resurrected this analysis to evaluate how well-balanced the 2012 Cardinals' offensive production was by defensive position. For additional context, I used Baseball Reference to put a chart together that contains the sOPS+ by defensive position for every club in Major League Baseball. Designated Hitter is not on this chart because it isn't a defensive position and therefore is not used in the National League.

The chart plainly shows just how balanced the Cardinals were compared to other big league clubs. St. Louis was one of three clubs with only one position posting a below-average sOPS+. The other two were the Rockies and Diamondbacks. The Cardinals were also one of only three clubs with five or more positions with an sOPS+ of 110 or higher. Those positions were catcher, first base, third base, left field, and right field. The other clubs were the Rangers and Yankees. In terms of getting high levels of offensive production from multiple positions, the Cardinals were arguably the deepest lineup in all of baseball.

Another reason I like this chart is it illustrates just how good certain players are. The dark reds and maroons on the chart are due to an elite hitter receiving the majority of the plate appearances at that position. So we see that Robinson Cano is one of the most valuable hitters in baseball due to just how much better the Yankees' production at second base is compared to MLB as a whole. The same can be said for Miguel Cabrera, Ryan Braun, Andrew McCutchen, and Ian Desmond.

Whereas the deep reds show us the elite players, the deep blues show us the offensive black holes. One of those horribly offensive positions was shortstop for the Mariners, which was primarily played by former Cardinals shortstop Brendan Ryan. Another position where the offensive production was far below the league-average levels for that position was left field for the Indians. This was due primarily to the poor production from Johnny Damon and Shelley Duncan, the son of former Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan. There are others--such as the Mets catcher--but these are the worst.

Lastly, as the chart trends from primarily reds to primarily blues, it makes one thankful to be a Cardinals fan. The Mariners lineup was terrible, save the catchers. The middle infield was the loan bright spot in the Astros lineup. After making this chart, I'm against confounded as to how the A's won the American League West. It's also amazing to me that the Orioles made the postseason at all.

Please feel free to discuss any other observations you have regarding the chart in the comments.