Who are the best young players for 2007?

John Dewan's Stat of the Week

March 7, 2007

 

A few months ago we shared the projected batting and pitching leaders from The Bill James Handbook 2007 (Who are the projected batting and pitching leaders for 2007?) This time of year, people want to know who the high impact young guys are.

Each year we update our projections from the Handbook based on offseason changes (available as a spreadsheet at The Bill James Handbook: Projections Update). Here are the updated batting and pitching leaders for players 25 or younger:

Batting Average
American League   National League  
1. Joe Mauer .331 1. Miguel Cabrera .328
2. Robinson Cano .325 2. Kevin Kouzmanoff .321
3. Adam Lind .316 3. Matt Murton .316
4. Nick Markakis .307 David Wright .316
5. Rocco Baldelli .306 5. Brian McCann .315
 
Home Runs
American League   National League  
1. Grady Sizemore 26 1. Miguel Cabrera 32
2. Alex Gordon 23 2. Jeff Francoeur 31
3. Rocco Baldelli 21 3. Prince Fielder 30
4. Ian Kinsler 20 4. David Wright 29
5. 3 tied with 19 5. Kevin Kouzmanoff 27
 
Runs Batted In
American League   National League  
1. Delmon Young 89 1. Miguel Cabrera 125
Howie Kendrick 89 2. David Wright 112
3. Rocco Baldelli 87 3. Jeff Francoeur 111
4. Alex Gordon 86 4. Ryan Zimmerman 102
5. 2 tied with 84 5. Kevin Kouzmanoff 101
 
Stolen Bases
American League   National League  
1. Carl Crawford 55 1. Jose Reyes 58
2. Delmon Young 33 2. Hanley Ramirez 46
3. B.J. Upton 23 3. Willy Taveras 32
4. Josh Barfield 22 4. Chris Young 24
5. 2 tied with 20 5. Rickie Weeks 23
 
On-Base Plus Slugging (OPS)
American League     National League  
1. Adam Lind .936   1. Miguel Cabrera .986
2. Alex Gordon .914   2. Ryan Braun .960
3. Joe Mauer .899   3. David Wright .946
4. Grady Sizemore .892   4. Kevin Kouzmanoff .932
5. Mark Teahen .862   5. Brian McCann .928
 
Wins
American League   National League  
1. Jered Weaver 14 1. Matt Cain 14
2. Felix Hernandez 13 Dontrelle Willis 14
3. Jeremy Bonderman 12 3. Chuck James 13
Justin Verlander 12 Zach Duke 13
Jeremy Sowers 12 5. Scott Olsen 12
 
Saves
American League   National League  
1. Fran. Rodriguez 44 1. Chad Cordero 28
Huston Street 44 2. Jonathan Broxton 11
3. Chris Ray 35 3. Matt Capps 5
4. Joel Zumaya 8 4. Ambiorix Burgos 4
5. Jesse Crain 1 5. Many tied with 0
 
Strikeouts
American League   National League  
1. Felix Hernandez 197 1. Matt Cain 203
2. Jered Weaver 188 2. Scott Olsen 199
3. Jeremy Bonderman 179 3. Dontrelle Willis 170
4. Brandon McCarthy 175 4. Ian Snell 167
5. Scott Kazmir 171 5. Chuck James 164
 
ERA
American League   National League  
1. Jered Weaver 3.08 1. Matt Cain 3.52
2. Rich Harden 3.28 2. Chuck James 3.53
3. Felix Hernandez 3.47 3. Dontrelle Willis 3.73
4. Jeremy Sowers 3.58 4. Chad Billingsley 3.83
5. Justin Verlander 3.66 5. Anibal Sanchez 3.86
 

 

 

Used with permission from John Dewan's Stat of the Week™, www.statoftheweek.com.

 

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