Who Were the Most Productive Offensive Players in 2017?
By Bill Gilbert
With the 2018 baseball season starting next week this is a good time to take a look back at who were the most productive players in 2017.
Numerous methods have been devised to measure offensive performance. The most common are batting average, on-base percentage and slugging average. Since none of these averages provides a complete picture by itself, a more comprehensive measure of offensive performance is useful. Such a measure would include the following elements:
- The ability to get on base.
- The ability to hit with power.
- The ability to add value through baserunning.
The first two elements are measured by on-base percentage and slugging average. A measure of offensive performance, which encompasses both as well as baserunning achievements, is Bases per Plate Appearance (BPA). This measure accounts for the net bases accumulated by a player per plate appearance. It is calculated as follows:
BPA = (TB + BB + HB + SB – CS – GIDP) / (AB + BB + HB + SF)
Where: BPA = Bases per Plate Appearance
TB = Total Bases
BB = Bases on Balls
HB = Hit by Pitch
SB = Stolen Bases
CS = Caught Stealing
GIDP = Grounded into Double Plays
AB = At Bats
SF = Sacrifice Flies
The numerator accounts for all of the bases accumulated by a player, reduced by the number of times he is caught stealing or erases another runner by grounding into a double play. The denominator accounts for the plate appearances when the player is trying to generate bases for himself. Sacrifice hits are not included as plate appearances, since they represent the successful execution of the batter’s attempts to advance another runner.
BPA Table, 2013-2017
| YEAR | BPA | .550 | .600 |
| 2003 | .461 | 42 | 15 |
| 2004 | .468 | 33 | 18 |
| 2005 | .456 | 34 | 13 |
| 2006 | .470 | 46 | 14 |
| 2007 | .463 | 34 | 15 |
| 2008 | .458 | 41 | 11 |
| 2009 | .461 | 42 | 16 |
| 2010 | .446 | 19 | 7 |
| 2011 | .442 | 25 | 7 |
| 2012 | .447 | 12 | 5 |
| 2013 | .440 | 14 | 3 |
| 2014 | .426 | 9 | 4 |
| 2015 | .440 | 20 | 6 |
| 2016 | .456 | 23 | 7 |
| 2017 | .466 | 36 | 12 |
Offensive production peaked in 2000 before declining in the early years of this century. BPA declined significantly from .481 in 2000 to .426 in 2014 before significant upticks in the last three years.
In the 1990s, there were 14 individual .700 BPA seasons. In the eight year period from 2000 to 2007, there were 18. The highest BPA in the 1990s was recorded by Mark McGwire in 1998 (.799). Barry Bonds shattered that with .907 in 2001, the highest figure ever recorded, topping Babe Ruth’s best two years (1920 and 1921). Bonds followed that with .869 in 2002, .818 in 2003 and .882 in 2004. There had not been any hitters with a BPA of .700 since 2007 until Mike Trout did it in 2017.
The .700 BPA seasons in 2000-2017 are listed below:
Player (Team & Year) BPA
Barry Bonds (San Francisco 2001) .907
Barry Bonds (San Francisco 2004) .882
Barry Bonds (San Francisco 2002) .869
Barry Bonds (San Francisco 2003) .818
Sammy Sosa (Chicago Cubs 2001) .758
Barry Bonds (San Francisco 2000) .745
Jim Thome (Cleveland 2002) .728
Manny Ramiriz (Cleveland 2000) .726
Todd Helton (Colorado 2000) .720
Mike Trout (LA Angels 2017) .718
Luis Gonzalez (Arizona 2001) .713
Todd Helton (Colorado 2001) .709
Carlos Delgado (Toronto 2000) .707
Larry Walker (Colorado 2001) .707
Jason Giambi (Oakland 2000) .706
Travis Hafner (Cleveland 2006) .703
Alex Rodriguez (NY Yankees 2007) .702
Jason Giambi (Oakland 2001) .700
Ryan Howard (Philadelphia 2006) .700
The yearly leaders since 1992 are as follows:
1992 Bonds .734
1993 Bonds .740
1994 Bagwell .768
1995 Belle .692
1996 McGwire .765
1997 Walker .770
1998 McGwire .799
1999 McGwire .735
2000 Bonds .745
2001 Bonds .907
2002 Bonds .869
2003 Bonds .818
2004 Bonds .882
2005 D. Lee .699
2006 Hafner .703
2007 A. Rodriguez .702
2008 Pujols .685
2009 Pujols .696
2010 Bautista .671
2011 Bautista .681
2012 Trout .665
2013 C. Davis .670
2014 Trout .623
2015 Harper .694
2016 Trout .681
2017 Trout .718
The benchmark for an outstanding individual season is .600. Following is a list of the twelve players with enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting title and with a BPA of .600 in 2017. The list is topped by Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels with a BPA of .718, the fourth time he has finished in front. He has had a BPA over .600 in all five years that he has played a full season.
Bases per Plate Appearance (BPA) of .600+ in 2017
————————————————-
No. of 2017-2016 .600+ Player
BPA BPA LG Seasons Comments _________
| # | Player | 2017 BPA | 2016 BPA | LG | .600+ Years | Comments |
| 1 | Mike Trout | .718 | .656 | AL | 6 | On Top Again. |
| 2 | Aaron Judge | .681 | .274 | AL | 1 | Do it again? |
| 3 | G. Stanton | .659 | .533 | AL | 4 | Should thrive as NYY. |
| 4 | Joey Votto | .641 | .606 | NL | 6 | Also 6th OBP Lead. |
| 5 | C. Blackmon | .640 | .597 | NL | 1 | Breakout season. |
| 6 | Cody Bellinger | .631 | —- | NL | 1 | Set NL rookie HR mark. |
| 7 | F. Freeman | .630 | .616 | NL | 2 | Best season yet in 2017. |
| 8 | P. Goldschmidt | .625 | .587 | NL | 2 | The D-Backs Do-it-all. |
| 9. | Joey Gallo | .613 | .333 | AL | 1 | Home Run or Bust! |
| 10. | Jose Rameriz | .612 | .509 | AL | 1 | Fast Lane Superstar! |
| 11. | Jose Altuve | .601 | .576 | AL | 1 | First time over .600. |
| 12. | Kris Bryant | .600 | .611 | NL | 2 | Already a ROY & MVP. |
The increase in the number of players with a .600 BPA from 7 to 12 reflects the increase in overall offense in 2017. Near misses were Zack Cosart (598), Justin Upton (595) and Anthony Rendon (595).
Three players had a BPA over .600 in 2016 but failed to reach it in 2017.
No. of
2016 2017 .600+
Player BPA BPA LG Seasons Comments
1 David Ortiz .631 —- A 6 Retired on top.
- Daniel Murphy .612 .560 N 1 Fell short of 2016 career year.
- Josh Donaldson .609 .617 A 2 Not enough plate appearances to qualify.
Two active players have a BPA of .600 for their careers:
2017 Career
Player Age BPA BPA Comments
————- — —- —- —————————
Mike Trout 25 .718 .648 Leader by far.
Joey Votto 33 .641 .603 No sign of decline yet.
Another list of interest is of players with a BPA of over .600 in 2017 who did not have enough plate appearances (502) to qualify for the batting title.
Player Age BPA PA Comments
————— — —- — ————————–
Rhys Hoskins 24 .684 212 Mid-season rookie sensation
J.D. Martinez 29 .679 489 Spectacular in Arizona.
Matt Olson 23 .667 216 Hit 47 homers between majors and minors in 2017.
Bryce Harper 24 .622 492 Has never reached 100 RBIs.
Josh Donaldson 31 .617 496 Consistently productive.
Martinez, Harper and Donaldson fell just short of the 502 plate appearances needed to qualify.
Looking at the other end of the spectrum, five players who earned enough playing time to qualify for the batting title had a BPA less than .400 in 2017. This list has shrunk each year from 25 players in 2014 to only five in 2017 reflecting the increase in offense.
Player Age BPA Team Comments ————– — — —- ———————
Albert Pujols 35 .385 Angels On .600 BPA list eight times.
Dansby Swanson 23 .381 Braves Sophomore slump
Alex Gordon 33 .380 Royals Where did the offense go?
Jose Peraza 23 .375 Reds Has trouble getting on base.
Alcides Escobar 30 .347 Royals No stranger to this list.
Four players had a batting average over .300, an on-base average over .400, a slugging percentage over .500 and bases per plate appearance over .600 in 2017.
Player BAVG OBA SLG BPA OPS
Mike Trout .306 .442 .629 .718 1.071
Joey Votto .320 .454 .578 .641 1.032
Freddie Freeman .307 .403 .586 .630 .989
Jose Altuve .346 .410 .547 .601 .948
Trout and Votto have these numbers for their careers.
Mike Trout–Career .306 .410 .566 .648 .976
Joey Votto-Career .313 .428 .541 .603 .967
Trout did not lead counting categories like home runs and RBIs because he missed 48 games with an injury. However, he led the American League in important rate stats like OBA, SLG, OPS and BPA, He was clearly the best offensive and all-around player in the Major Leagues in 2017.
Bill Gilbert
3/23/18
Source of statistics used in this report is the “Lee Sinins 2018 Complete Baseball Encyclopedia”.
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Bill McCurdy
Principal Writer, Editor, Publisher
The Pecan Park Eagle
The Pecan Park Eagle 
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