Among his other feats, Charlie Blackmon leads the majors in RBI. He is accomplishing this from the lead-off slot. That, of course is extremely unusual, but is part of a recent trend. Instead of looking at the overall leader in RBI, this chart shows the MLB leader in RBI in a particular batting slot. So if one player led the league with 140 RBI, but split time between two slots, he will not be on the list. The player who drove in 130 from one slot will be at the top. The Day by Day Database goes back to 1974 with this information:
| Batter | Season | Lineup Position | Runs Batted In |
| Charlie Blackmon | 2017 | 1 | 45 |
| Miguel Cabrera | 2016 | 3 | 107 |
| Josh Donaldson | 2015 | 2 | 113 |
| Mike Trout | 2014 | 2 | 109 |
| Miguel Cabrera | 2013 | 3 | 137 |
| Miguel Cabrera | 2012 | 3 | 139 |
| Prince Fielder | 2011 | 4 | 120 |
| Miguel Cabrera | 2010 | 4 | 126 |
| Prince Fielder | 2009 | 4 | 141 |
| Ryan Howard | 2008 | 4 | 143 |
| Alex Rodriguez | 2007 | 4 | 156 |
| Albert Pujols | 2006 | 3 | 137 |
| David Ortiz | 2006 | 3 | 137 |
| Mark Teixeira | 2005 | 3 | 130 |
| Albert Pujols | 2004 | 3 | 123 |
| Carlos Delgado | 2003 | 4 | 145 |
| Alex Rodriguez | 2002 | 3 | 136 |
| Sammy Sosa | 2001 | 3 | 142 |
| Luis Gonzalez | 2001 | 3 | 142 |
| Frank Thomas | 2000 | 3 | 141 |
| Manny Ramirez | 1999 | 4 | 164 |
| Juan Gonzalez | 1998 | 4 | 157 |
| Ken Griffey Jr. | 1997 | 3 | 147 |
| Albert Belle | 1996 | 4 | 146 |
| Albert Belle | 1995 | 4 | 126 |
| Kirby Puckett | 1994 | 3 | 112 |
| Albert Belle | 1993 | 4 | 129 |
| Cecil Fielder | 1992 | 4 | 122 |
| Cecil Fielder | 1991 | 4 | 133 |
| Bobby Bonilla | 1990 | 4 | 120 |
| Kevin Mitchell | 1989 | 4 | 125 |
| Jose Canseco | 1988 | 3 | 116 |
| George Bell | 1987 | 4 | 133 |
| Mike Schmidt | 1986 | 4 | 118 |
| Eddie Murray | 1985 | 4 | 124 |
| Tony Armas | 1984 | 4 | 111 |
| Jim Rice | 1983 | 3 | 126 |
| Cecil Cooper | 1982 | 3 | 121 |
| George Foster | 1981 | 4 | 90 |
| Al Oliver | 1980 | 3 | 115 |
| Eddie Murray | 1980 | 4 | 115 |
| Cecil Cooper | 1980 | 3 | 115 |
| Don Baylor | 1979 | 4 | 139 |
| Jim Rice | 1978 | 3 | 139 |
| Greg Luzinski | 1977 | 4 | 112 |
| Joe Morgan | 1976 | 3 | 110 |
| Greg Luzinski | 1975 | 4 | 113 |
| Jimmy Wynn | 1974 | 3 | 108 |
Notice that from 1974 through 2013, the player with most RBI in a batting slot was always a three or four hitter. That’s the way managers constructed their lineups. Modern analytics point to having the great hitters higher in the lineup (see the Lineup Analysis Tool). Teams are starting to implement this strategy, so we are seeing number two hitters, and now a lead-off hitter, driving in the most runs in a slot.
New ideas take time to catch on, and this one is starting to bear fruit.
from baseballmusings.com http://ift.tt/2s1A4aw
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