Cubs’ Nick Castellanos is approaching rarefied air with his 58 doubles

There’s a tendency in baseball for high performance levels in statistical categories to clump together in time. Conditions in different eras favor different aspects of offense.

Since the two-major-league era began in 1901, eight of the 13 batting averages of .400 or higher occurred from 1920 to 1930. Six of the eight seasons of 60 or more home runs were from 1998 to 2001. Ten of the 14 seasons of 90 or more stolen bases were from 1980 to 1988.

The Cubs’ Nick Castellanos is poised to invade one of those clusters. With 58 doubles through Sunday, Castellanos stands 10th on the all-time list for two-base hits in a season. The only recent player ahead of him is Todd Helton, who doubled 59 times for the Rockies in 2000.

Six players in major-league history had 60 or more doubles in a season. All but one were in the 1930s, led by the Red Sox’ Earl Webb with 67 in 1931.

Others on the 60 doubles list are Joe Medwick (64 for the Cardinals, 1936), George Burns (64 for the Indians, 1926), Hank Greenberg (63 for the Tigers, 1934), Paul Waner (62 for the Pirates, 1932) and Charlie Gehringer (60 for the Tigers, 1936).

In addition to Helton, two other players stand ahead of Castellanos with 59 each: the Phillies’ Chuck Klein in 1930 and the Indians’ Tris Speaker in 1923.

The 1930s favored hitters in general. The 5.55 runs per team per game in 1930 are a record for the American League/National League era. The average dipped to 4.48 in 1933 but was 4.81 or better in all other seasons from 1930 to 1939.

By comparison, the 4.84 runs per team per game in 2019 is the highest average of the decade. Runs have been below 4.3 four times from 2010 to 2019, with lows of 4.07 in 2014 and 4.17 in 2013.

As for Castellanos, he’s moving up another list. He also has 27 homers and three triples for 88 extra-base hits. That’s tied for 78th on the one-season list. Two more to reach 90 would tie him for 65th with Willie Mays, Willie Stargell, Stan Musial and Rogers Hornsby — not bad company at all.

Before the July trade that brought him to Wrigley Field, Castellanos had 37 doubles, 11 homers and all three of his triples. Since he has been in Chicago, he has been the Cubs’ top hitter.

Since Aug. 1, when Castellanos played his first game for the Cubs, he’s slashing .335/.370/.675 for a 1.045 OPS. Next in the Cubs’ OPS line for that time is Kyle Schwarber at 1.018, followed by Anthony Rizzo at .973.

Turning to more advanced metrics, since Aug. 1, Castellanos’ weighted runs created plus is 164. That is followed by Rizzo (159) and Schwarber (156). In the Fangraphs.com WAR calculation, Castellanos is at 2.4 with the Cubs despite a minus-3.2 defensive runs. Schwarber is at 1.6, Rizzo at 1.4 and Bryant at 1.0 during the same time frame.

In an ideal Cubs world, the value Castellanos added would have the team breezing toward the postseason. Instead, invading the 1930s doubles cluster might be his consolation prize.