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Wednesday, April 24, 2024
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Anthony Rizzo leads MLB in key stat

By  Dan Cahill
   
SHARE Anthony Rizzo leads MLB in key stat

Whether it’s the mosh pit at home plate or the Gatorade bath in front of the dugout, it seems the Cubs come up with a different hero in almost every victory.

But one player has quietly piled up enough clutch hits to lead the majors in a key metric.

Anthony Rizzo is tops in win probability added, an advanced statistic that measures how much a player’s at-bat helps his team win. Briefly explained, a home run with the score tied is more valuable than a dinger in a 15-0 blowout.

Rizzo’s 6.69 WPA puts him ahead of the Reds’ Joey Votto (6.26) and Pirates’ Andrew McCutcheon (5.05).

From ESPN:

Rizzo is hitting .349 in 86 at-bats with the score within two runs in the seventh inning or later. He is 10-for-17 with runners in scoring position under those parameters, which indicates he has been fantastic in the highest of high-leverage situations.

Kyle Schwarber (2.02) is sixth in the majors and Dexter Fowler (1.51) is 10th in WPA.

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