Fun with Small Sample Sizes: Hitters edition

It’s always fun to jump to conclusions after the opening series of the season. Of course, three or four games are not indicative of anything, especially in a 162 game season. But, it’s fun to look at impossible to continue statistics, so that’s why we do it. Let’s start off with some crazy stats on the Tigers, then move around the league:

The Tigers won all three games this weekend, putting them on pace to go 162-0. That would be crazy, huh?

Miguel Cabrera: .455/.533/1.273/ 1.806 OPS, .818 ISO

Cabrera is awesome. He had 3 HR this weekend, including a three run blast that tied Sunday’s game in the 9th inning.

Austin Jackson: .571/.625/.857 1.482 OPS

Jackson was fantastic this weekend, was on base 10 out of 16 times, and scored 5 runs in three games. In typical Jackson fashion, he has a BABIP of .727, and struck out only 3 times in his first 16 plate appearances. It’s extremely early, but his mechanical adjustment, getting rid of his leg kick, is paying dividends thus far.

Alex Avila and Prince Fielder: .417/.500/.1000 and .417/429/.917 respectively

Both players showed up in the opening series, and each smashed two home runs.

Delmon Young .231/.214/.231 .445 OPS

Elmon, in typical Elmon form this weekend, only saw 41 pitches in 14 PA, a measly 2.93 per plate appearance. He also only saw 8 balls in those same 14 appearances, which means he was swinging at pitches out of the zone per usual. If Mr. Young wants to succeed this season, he’s going to need to take a pitch or two.

Around the league, there are some other fun batting lines:

Corey Hart: .444/.545/1.556 3 HR in 11 PA
Yoenis Cespedes: .308/.400/1.077 3 HR in 15 PA (worth noting that one of them went an astounding 462 feet)
Nick Markakis .545/.583/1.182 2 HR in 12 PA

The most fun line of the weekend:
Jay Bruce: .273/.250/1.091 3 HR
It’s always fun when your batting average is higher than your OBP. Bruce was 3/11, but also had a sac fly, so he ended up getting on base 3 out of 12 times.

Wednesday, I’ll do fun sample sizes for pitchers, after everyone has had a turn through the rotation.