Sunday, April 22, 2018

Stats!: Positional Breakdown

Some of the data I'm analyzing is collected straight from the cards while other things I have to go digging around for as I write each post. The stuff I can find on the card will probably be featured sooner rather than later and that is the case today.


Each player's position can easily be found on the lower right corner of the card.


Or if you flip it over, it's right in the upper center of the card.

There are nine position players on the field at any given time, but when you factor in the Designated Hitter and the possibility of utility players with multiple positions listed, there are 13 different "positions" listed in the 2018 Opening Day set.


Pitchers and outfielders make up more than half of the set. That's a little surprising at first, but also makes sense when you consider there are three outfielders and five starting pitchers plus the bullpen for most teams.

Just ten catchers made the set but when I glanced at the list, I didn't see any glaring omissions. All four of last year's All-Stars are there as well as four of the six from the year before.

Conversely, 22 first baseman are in the set! All ten teams from the NL Central and NL West are represented here, but just one AL East first baseman is. And surprisingly, it's not the Yankees or Red Sox!

4 comments:

  1. One would think that because of the name, it would actually include all of the "Opening Day" starters. If it did that, and used different photos Topps would triple their sales. I'm guessing there, but y'all get it.

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    1. I started to go into a diatribe about an ideal set being 284-285 cards, all 9 position players from all 30 teams plus the 14-15 DHs used on Opening Day. Maybe an update set with relievers, pinch hitters and other defensive replacements a month later?

      But then the logisitcs of predicting the lineup vs. delaying the release of the set for 100% accuracy put a damper on it and I stuck to the facts.

      One of my later Stats post ideas will be to figure out who was actually on their team's OD lineup.

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  2. P/DH That's gotta be a first, right? Even if Ohtani doesn't live up to everyone's huge expectations... at least he can be this generation's Herb Washington.

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    1. I agree. The prices may never come down to "normal" but Topps seems to have an endless supply of his autographs!

      I'm happy with my Opening Day base cards, haha.

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