Welcome to the sixth installment of my ongoing countdown of 2024’s best players in the major leagues.
Today’s story — the continuation of a 10-part series — ushers us into the upper half of the Baseball 100, my list of the game’s top 100 batters and pitchers. It runs from 50th to 41st place.
Four more installments remain, taking us to the very top of the pyramid on February 14.
If you’ve read previous entries in this series, you can skip the next nine boilerplate paragraphs, which explain the scoring system. If not, push onward.
The rankings within the Baseball 100 are determined by 2024’s overall base values (OBV), which measure the relative effectiveness of batters and pitchers.
A positive OBV indicates one of two things:
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A particular batter reached more bases than the average big leaguer would have attained under identical circumstances.
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A given pitcher surrendered fewer bases than his typical counterpart would have yielded under the same conditions.
Click here if you want to know more about the formulas and calculations. (Be aware that OBV is slightly different from the BV described in the link. The initial sign for a pitcher’s BV is reversed for his OBV. A negative sign is better for a pitcher’s BV, but a positive sign is ideal for an OBV, which is what we’re using here.)
The player with the highest OBV — whether a hitter or pitcher — is deemed to be the best overall player. The rankings proceed downward in order.
If two or more players are tied with identical OBVs, I break the tie by matching their ratios of bases per out (BPO) against 2024’s big-league average of .675. BPO is exactly what it sounds like, a comparison of bases reached or yielded (through hits, walks, hit batters, stolen bases, and sacrifices) against outs made or induced.
Preference within a tie is given to the player who surpassed the BPO norm by the greatest amount, either above .675 for a batter or below the same mark for a pitcher.
Each player in the Baseball 100 is listed with his rank, club, primary position (the one he played more than any other in 2024), BPO or BPO allowed (BPOA), the numbers of bases and outs involved, and OBV.
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Club: Phillies
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Primary position: P
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BPOA: .571 (on 315 bases and 552 outs)
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OBV: +58
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Bottom line: Sanchez enhanced Philadelphia’s deep rotation. He made 31 starts and worked 181.2 innings. His 3.32 earned run average was the National League’s seventh-best.
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Club: Padres
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Primary position: CF
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BPO: .818 (on 332 bases and 406 outs)
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OBV: +58
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Bottom line: Merrill batted .292 and drove home 90 runs for the Padres. He finished second to Paul Skenes in the race for the NL’s Rookie of the Year Award.
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Club: Braves
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Primary position: P
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BPOA: .392 (on 82 bases and 209 outs)
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OBV: +59
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Bottom line: Iglesias ranked fourth in the NL with 34 saves. He posted a 1.95 ERA in 66 relief appearances, holding opponents to a .160 batting average.
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Club: Giants
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Primary position: P
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BPOA: .579 (on 357 bases and 617 outs)
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OBV: +60
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Bottom line: Webb was a workhorse for San Francisco. He started 33 games and pitched 204.2 innings, topping the NL in both categories. He finished sixth in Cy Young Award balloting.
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Club: Brewers
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Primary position: SS
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BPO: .800 (on 381 bases and 476 outs)
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OBV: +60
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Bottom line: Adames flashed an unusual amount of power for a shortstop, launching 32 homers and driving in 112 runs for Milwaukee. He signed with the Giants as a free agent in December.
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Club: Diamondbacks
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Primary position: CF
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BPO: .803 (on 382 bases and 476 outs)
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OBV: +61
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Bottom line: The NL’s 2023 Rookie of the Year wasn’t quite as effective in his sophomore season. Yet he still led the league with 14 triples and ranked fourth with 35 stolen bases.
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Club: Tigers
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Primary position: LF
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BPO: .833 (on 320 bases and 384 outs)
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OBV: +61
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Bottom line: Greene emerged with an unexpectedly strong 2024 season, his third with Detroit. He finished with 24 homers, 74 RBIs, and a .262 batting average.
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Club: Royals
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Primary position: P
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BPOA: .564 (on 314 bases and 557 outs)
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OBV: +62
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Bottom line: Ragans played a key role in Kansas City’s dramatic improvement. He posted an 11-9 record, while topping the American League with a ratio of 10.77 strikeouts per nine innings.
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Club: Cubs
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Primary position: P
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BPOA: .554 (on 290 bases and 523 outs)
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OBV: +63
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Bottom line: Imanaga stepped up as the ace of Chicago’s rotation in his initial big-league season. He went 15-3 and rang up the NL’s third-best earned run average (2.91).
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Club: Rangers
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Primary position: SS
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BPO: .853 (on 302 bases and 354 outs)
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OBV: +63
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Bottom line: Seager was the runner-up for the AL’s Most Valuable Player Award in 2023. He slipped to 15th place in 2024’s balloting, yet he still generated 30 home runs and 74 RBIs.