Opening Day Countdown: Gomez’s 30 Power/Speed Number in ‘13

As we continue to countdown to Opening Day, let’s take a look at Carlos Gomez’s 30 Power/Speed number in 2013. Before being traded to the Houston Astros along with Mike Fiers for the chuckling Brett Phillips, Domingo Santana, and two other prospects, Gomez had plenty of highlights up at the plate and around the bases. To be honest, looking up numbers of “Power/Speed Number” to keep the countdown going was of no familiarity, so let’s take a look at the exact meaning from Baseball-Reference:

"“The formula is 2(HR x SB)/(HR+SB). James himself has referred to this as a “freakshow” stat with little analytical value.”"

Okay, “with little analytical value”, so maybe that’s why it’s not so familiar. But, whatever it’s worth, taking a look back at Gomez’s 2013 season is fun nonetheless as he splashed onto the scene becoming an All-Star and Gold Glover for the first time.

Taking a look at specifically why the Power/Speed number would be so high is first his HRs at 24, a career high, and stolen bases at 40, also a career high. So, where does it rank among the best in ’13 in the Power/Speed number? (via Baseball-Reference)

He’s at #1 and lucky any time you can beat out Mike Trout. He had 27 HRs and 33 SBs. Gomez beat him out by 7 in SBs, but Trout topped him with three extra HRs. That might be a reason this stat isn’t taken too seriously as it suggests SBs are closer in value to HRs as ever considered.

More from Reviewing the Brew

• Brewers: 4 Players Who Must Step Up for the Crew to Make the Playoffs
• Brewers: Yet Another Huge Promotion For Top Prospect Jackson Chourio
• Brewers Making Colossal Mistake With Corbin Burnes’ Contract
• Which Players May Be In The Final Month Of Their Brewers Careers?
• Brewers: Where Does Devin Williams Stand In NL Reliever Of The Year Race?

Alex Rios being at the 3^rd spot with 25.2 seems to be odd when he doesn’t make any other spots on the leader board besides SBs, but then again that’s the whole point to the stat. He had a total of 42 (tied for 5^th with Andrus) with a total of 18 HRs.

Unfortunately, for Brewers fans, Andrew McCutchen took home the NL MVP. Being 5^th with a 23.6 Power/Speed number, McCutchen had 21 HRs and 27 SBs. But, looking at WAR, Gomez outdid him in that stat too with 8.5 compared to 8.1. While the number is close to arguing, it’s hard to believe Gomez only came in 9^th for NL MVP voting.

Although the Power/Speed number doesn’t seem to be one I’d go with when sticking up for sabermetrics, it does at the very least point out how good Gomez and Trout were in the 2013 season. While the argument of you must be on a good team to be an MVP will always be there, at least, fans like myself can continue to dig deep into sabermetrics for years and find new stats to make the argument last just a little bit longer.