Baseball's Best Leadoff Hitters
By CHRIS BERNUCCA
What constitutes an ideal leadoff hitter?
As a manager, do you want your first batter to be consistently on base, like Ichiro Suzuki? Or do you sacrifice on-base percentage for pop with Alfonso Soriano?
As a bettor, do you want someone who gives your team a fast start, like Marco Scutaro? Or do you want someone who impacts the total, like Derek Jeter?
With apologies to Curtis Granderson, Alfonso Soriano and Chone Figgins, here are baseball's Top 5 leadoff hitters, based on their performance and their team's offensive showing this season:
No. 5: Ian Kinsler (Texas Rangers)
Kinsler is emerging as one of the game's best No. 1 hitters. He is on pace to shatter his previous career high of 20 homers and despite his modest .274 average, he has not gone more than two games without a hit since late April. His OPS of .901 is excellent for a leadoff hitter.
The first-place Rangers score as well as any team in baseball but have an over/under mark of just 22-32-3. They have gotten some unexpected solid pitching, which may be affecting that number.
No. 4: Ichiro Suzuki (Seattle Mariners)
It's not Ichiro's fault that the Mariners can't score. As usual, he is doing all he can to manufacture runs. He leads the majors in hitting (.356 BA), is on pace for his best homer season since 2005 and boasts an outstanding .393 on-base percentage, which would be the third-best of his career.
But even with handicappers acknowledging Seattle's inability to score runs, the Mariners have an over/under mark of just 24-32-1.
No. 3: Marco Scutaro (Toronto Blue Jays)
When Scutaro broke in earlier this decade, he was a slap hitter who often batted ninth and was lifted for pinch hitters. Now he is the sparkplug for one of the best offenses in baseball.
Scutaro's averages - batting (.304 BA), on-base (.402) and slugging (.451) - would all eclipse his previous career bests. He is also on pace for career highs in virtually every other category and is a big reason why the Blue Jays are fifth with 303 runs.
The Jays also have an over/under mark of 30-29-1, making them one of baseball's few offensive powerhouses that are meeting expectations.
No. 2: Derek Jeter (New York Yankees)
The haters keep looking for chinks in the armor and Jeter is not a prototypical leadoff hitter. He strikes out a bit too much and his steals have dropped off in recent years. But it's hard to argue with how he has produced this season.
In addition to his customary .300 average and an OBP of .379, Jeter is on pace to hit 20 homers for the first time since 2004 and draw 75 walks for just the second time since 1999. His table-setting has the Yankees second in runs with 326 and boasting an over/under record of 29-25-3, which is very solid when you consider how many big bats are in their lineup.
No. 1: Dustin Pedroia (Boston Red Sox)
The superb second baseman earned MVP honors a year ago by adding power to his punch, collecting 54 doubles, 17 homers and 83 RBI. Those totals won't be the same this year, especially after going 190 at-bats without a homer in May.
But Pedroia appears to have traded some pop for plate discipline. His on-base percentage of .412 is considerably higher than his previous best and he already has 33 walks after drawing 50 all of last year.
The drop off in Pedroia's power is not affecting the Red Sox, who are seventh with 300 runs. Boston's over/under mark is 26-27-4.