Ray Flowers breaks down each position as the 2015 baseball season has reached its conclusion. Here are links to all of the individual breakdowns:

CATCHER

FIRST BASE

  • Rankings from March.
RankTierPlayerTeam (W-L)10 Team ($)12 Team ($)15 Team ($)
11Paul GoldschmidtDiamondbacks393838
21Miguel CabreraTigers373535
32Anthony RizzoCubs333332
42Edwin EncarnacionBlue Jays313131
52Jose AbreuWhite Sox302929
62Freddie FreemanBraves292827
72Todd FrazierReds282726
82Adrian GonzalezDodgers252424
92Buster PoseyGiants212424
103Albert PujolsAngels212222
113Chris DavisOrioles202121
123Carlos SantanaIndians202121
133Joey VottoReds192020
143Victor MartinezTigers181818
153Prince FielderRangers181818
163Mark TrumboMariners161616
173Brandon BeltGiants161616
183Eric HosmerRoyals151515
193Justin MorneauRockies141514
203Adam LaRocheWhite Sox131213
213Lucas DudaMets131212
224Joe MauerTwins121111
234Mike NapoliRangers121111
244Matt AdamsCardinals121111
254Billy ButlerAthletics111010

 

BUSTS

Freeman wasn’t crushed by a lack of teammates as many expected. His average dipped .012 points to .276, his OBP went down to .370 (from .386) and his SLG was up .010 at .471. Same as always. Only 18 homers, 66 RBIs and 63 runs scored, though, as he was limited to 416 at-bats because of multiple injuries.

Santana admitted when the season was over that his back was jacked virtually all year long. His average dipped to .231 and he hit just 19 homers, at least partially as the result of ill health. The 85 RBIs and 72 runs scored were still solid numbers.

V-Mart was a superstar in 2014 (.335/.409/.565). I warned everyone to be cautious and foretold of a serious regression -- still didn’t think it would be so drastic. Martinez went .245/.301/.366 with 11 homers, 64 RBIs and 39 runs scored.

Trumbo hit .262, which is fine, but the 22 homers, 64 RBIs and 62 runs scored were well below expectations for a guy folks had pegged as a 30/90 bat.

Morneau had a solid .310/.363/.458 slash line. Unfortunately, concussions limited him to three homers, 15 RBIs and just 49 games played.

LaRoche is always a 25/75 guy when healthy. He was thought likely to do that again in an offensive environment in Chicago. He dealt with injury, too, but it was just a mess as he hit 12 homers with 44 RBIs and a .634 OPS. Dismal.

Mauer did his normal thing with 10 homers, 66 RBIs and 69 runs scored. However, for the second straight year his slash line was anemic (.265/.338/.380).

Napoli hit .207 with a .693 OPS over 98 games with the Red Sox. He found his stroke, hitting .295/.396/.513 over 35 games with the Rangers but it wasn’t enough to overcome his start (.224-18-50-46).

Adams had a .657 OPS and five homers over 175 uninspiring at-bats.

SURPRISES

Adam Lind (ranked 27th) had a down season of only 290 at-bats and six homers which caused a few to forget that when healthy he can really hit righties. In 2015 he went .277-20-87-72 overall and .291/.380/.503 against righties.

Mark Teixeira (29th) from 2012 to 2014 Tex hit 24, three and 22 homers and had 84, 12 and 62 RBIs, respectively. His season was ended due to a leg issue and he only appeared in 111 games, yet he still managed to sock 31 homers, drive in 79 and score 57 times.

Kendrys Morales (32nd) led the Royals with 22 homers and 106 RBIs. He also hit .290 with 81 runs scored. The last time he was close to this good was back in 2009.

Mitch Moreland (38th) tied his career best with 23 homers, but he also set career bests in RBIs (85), batting average (.278) and OPS (.812).

 

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