Experiment Over

Well, Pick has been sent back to Nebraska and the sabermetric experiment is over. While the sample size is really too small to say anything definitely (just 27 at bats), I’m told by sources in Kansas City that Calvin Pickering looked truly awful in those plate appearances while striking out 14 times. Although he certainly didn’t produce a Pickering apologist like myself is obligated to point out that he was not put in the lineup on a regular basis against right handers and was distracted by his wife giving birth in the last week or so. Interestingly, the Royals did not call up Ken Harvey but opted instead for Mike Diaz who was hitting .364 for Omaha with four homeruns. Well, at least the Royals still have Emil Brown...

That said, Pick's prodigious strikeout rate called to mind those who walk back to the bench bat in hand most frequently. For over 1,000 at bats coming into this season the non-pitcher leaders are:

Russ Branyan   41.0%
Dave Nicholson 40.4%
Melvin Nieves  39.3%
Rob Deer       36.3%
Bo Jackson     35.1%
Mark Bellhorn  33.5%
Adam Dunn      32.7%
Ruben Rivera   32.1%
Sam Horn       31.0%
Craig Wilson   30.6%

Of course, this list takes into account at bats only and not walks. If walks were considered Branyan , Bellhorn, and Dunn would all fair better since they have more plate discipline.