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As baseball fans, we like to learn weird little factoids about the game. Part of this is because, as baseball fans, we are weird; part of this is because, on some level, the factoids are interesting.
One of the factoids I am referring to — with which you might be familiar — is the 20/20/20 club; it consists of hitters who have accrued 20 doubles, 20 triples, and 20 home runs in a single season. A pointless superlative? Probably. A superlative which can only be said of seven players? Definitely.
There exists another 20/20/20 club, however, and while it's not quite as exclusive (and it's considerably weirder), it's just as interesting, at least in my opinion.
Let's back up for a second. Plate discipline is, generally, a good thing for a hitter to have. If you strike out less often and walk more often, you're usually going to perform better. This fact seems like it should be true, and it is — of the top 20 hitters in baseball last year, 16 had above-average strikeout rates, and all had above-average walk rates. Sometimes, though, a hitter is able to succeed despite an Arencibia-esque command of the strike zone, and while it may be uncommon, it's not impossible.
Since 1920, there have been 10,436 qualifying batter seasons. Of these, 1,291 (12.4%) featured hitters who had strikeout and walk rates worse than the major-league average. For this exercise, however, I'd like to go a little bit deeper, to isolate the truly awful batters. Setting our cutoff at 20%, we narrow the pool considerably; of the aforementioned 10,436 seasons, 291 (2.8%) featured strikeout and walk rates 20% worse than the league average.
We would expect these players to be worse offensively, and for the most part, we wouldn't be wrong; whereas the average wRC+ for all the players was 111, the average wRC+ for the 20%-worse group was 98. But this is not to say that there are no quality hitters in the latter group. Of the nearly 300 that fit the criteria, 47 had a wRC+ above 120 (i.e. their offense was 20% better than league average).
Hence, the other 20/20/20 club — players whose walk and strikeout rates were 20% worse than league average, and whose offense overall was 20% better than league average. Behold!
| Player | Year | K% | lgK% | K%+ | BB% | lgBB% | BB%+ | wRC+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andres Galarraga | 1988 | 23.1% | 14.7% | 157 | 5.9% | 8.1% | 73 | 154 |
| Joe Adcock | 1956 | 17.2% | 12.1% | 142 | 6.4% | 9.4% | 68 | 154 |
| Kiki Cuyler | 1924 | 12% | 7% | 171 | 5.8% | 7.7% | 75 | 149 |
| Cito Gaston | 1970 | 22.6% | 15% | 151 | 6.5% | 9.2% | 71 | 144 |
| Mike Marshall | 1985 | 24.3% | 14% | 174 | 6.6% | 8.6% | 77 | 141 |
| Dick Stuart | 1961 | 21% | 13.6% | 154 | 5.9% | 9% | 66 | 141 |
| Bill Skowron | 1960 | 16.3% | 13.5% | 121 | 6.5% | 8.8% | 74 | 139 |
| Marlon Byrd | 2013 | 24.9% | 19.9% | 125 | 5.4% | 7.9% | 68 | 136 |
| Geoff Jenkins | 2000 | 23.9% | 16.5% | 145 | 5.9% | 9.6% | 61 | 132 |
| Walt Dropo | 1950 | 12.3% | 9.9% | 124 | 7.4% | 10.3% | 72 | 132 |
| Mack Jones | 1965 | 22.3% | 15.7% | 142 | 5.3% | 8.2% | 65 | 132 |
| Alfonso Soriano | 2002 | 20.6% | 16.8% | 123 | 5.9% | 8.7% | 68 | 131 |
| Juan Gonzalez | 1992 | 22.6% | 14.7% | 154 | 5.5% | 8.5% | 65 | 131 |
| Carlos Gomez | 2013 | 24.7% | 19.9% | 124 | 6.3% | 7.9% | 80 | 130 |
| Lee May | 1969 | 21.4% | 15.2% | 141 | 6.8% | 9.1% | 75 | 130 |
| Bob Meusel | 1920 | 14.6% | 7.7% | 190 | 4% | 7.2% | 56 | 127 |
| Bill Robinson | 1977 | 16.9% | 13.4% | 126 | 4.6% | 8.5% | 54 | 127 |
| Dan Ford | 1976 | 20.7% | 12.7% | 163 | 6.3% | 8.4% | 75 | 127 |
| Matt Williams | 1991 | 20.2% | 15.2% | 133 | 5.2% | 8.7% | 60 | 127 |
| Sammy Sosa | 1994 | 20.1% | 15.9% | 126 | 5.5% | 8.7% | 63 | 126 |
| Andres Galarraga | 1994 | 20.7% | 15.9% | 130 | 4.2% | 8.7% | 48 | 126 |
| Ron LeFlore | 1977 | 17.3% | 13.4% | 129 | 5.3% | 8.3% | 64 | 126 |
| Jim Rice | 1975 | 19.9% | 13% | 153 | 5.9% | 9% | 66 | 126 |
| Dave Kingman | 1976 | 26.5% | 12.7% | 209 | 5.5% | 8.4% | 65 | 126 |
| Joe Medwick | 1934 | 12.8% | 8.8% | 145 | 3.3% | 8.2% | 40 | 125 |
| Sammy Sosa | 1996 | 22.7% | 16.5% | 138 | 5.8% | 9.1% | 64 | 125 |
| Henry Rodriguez | 1996 | 27.8% | 16.5% | 168 | 6.4% | 9.1% | 70 | 125 |
| Bob Meusel | 1921 | 13.6% | 7.3% | 186 | 5.3% | 7.2% | 74 | 125 |
| Andres Galarraga | 2000 | 23% | 16.5% | 139 | 6.6% | 9.6% | 69 | 124 |
| Tony Armas | 1981 | 24.9% | 12.5% | 199 | 4.1% | 8.4% | 49 | 124 |
| Gary Ward | 1982 | 17% | 13.2% | 129 | 6% | 8.3% | 72 | 123 |
| Mark Trumbo | 2012 | 26.1% | 19.8% | 132 | 6.1% | 8% | 76 | 123 |
| Dan Ford | 1981 | 17.4% | 12.5% | 139 | 5.6% | 8.4% | 67 | 123 |
| Andres Galarraga | 1996 | 22.7% | 16.5% | 138 | 5.8% | 9.1% | 64 | 123 |
| Wally Berger | 1932 | 10.3% | 8.2% | 126 | 5.2% | 7.8% | 67 | 122 |
| Jim Rice | 1976 | 19.7% | 12.7% | 155 | 4.5% | 8.4% | 54 | 122 |
| Tony Armas | 1980 | 19.2% | 12.5% | 154 | 4.4% | 8.2% | 54 | 122 |
| Bob Oliver | 1972 | 17.9% | 14.8% | 121 | 4.8% | 8.4% | 57 | 122 |
| Jim Rice | 1980 | 19.2% | 12.5% | 154 | 4.4% | 8.2% | 54 | 122 |
| Alfonso Soriano | 2007 | 21.1% | 17.1% | 123 | 5% | 8.5% | 59 | 122 |
| Lance Parrish | 1980 | 18.4% | 12.5% | 147 | 5.2% | 8.2% | 63 | 121 |
| Luke Easter | 1951 | 13.3% | 9.7% | 137 | 7% | 9.6% | 73 | 121 |
| Matt Williams | 1990 | 20.8% | 14.9% | 140 | 5% | 8.6% | 58 | 121 |
| Jacque Jones | 2002 | 20.6% | 16.8% | 123 | 5.9% | 8.7% | 68 | 121 |
| Starling Marte | 2013 | 24.4% | 19.9% | 123 | 4.4% | 7.9% | 56 | 121 |
| Larry Parrish | 1984 | 17.5% | 14% | 125 | 6.3% | 8.3% | 76 | 120 |
| George Kelly | 1922 | 10.2% | 7.2% | 142 | 4.7% | 7.5% | 63 | 120 |
This is, for me, an interesting distinction. These players, against the odds, have excelled with the bat, and now I'm giving them some recognition. In fact, three players — Marlon Byrd. Carlos Gomez, and Starling Marte — achieved this feat in 2013, one of only four years that three players have done it.
Byrd played well despite poor strikeout and walk numbers through above-average power, Marte through speed and a strong line-drive stroke. Gomez prospered with a little bit of both, getting on base through fleetness of foot and showing clout at the dish when he didn't.
Obviously, this is a rather uncommon feat, and a pretty useless one too. Players with poor plate discipline will, more often than not, do poorly, as they should. Every once in a while, though, you'll get a player who goes against the grain, who breaks from tradition and attains greatness in doing so. In 2013, we got three. And in the end, aren't they the ones worth revering?
. . .
All statistics courtesy of FanGraphs.
Ryan Romano writes for Beyond the Box Score, the FanGraphs Community blog, and Camden Chat that one time. Follow him on Twitter at @triple_r_ if you enjoy angry tweets about Maryland sports and live tweeting about Community, Thursdays at 8/7c. Cool. Coolcoolcool.
