FanPost

Willingham, Mauer, Plouffe & the best MLB hitting trios

Mauer, Willingham, and Plouffe are basically numbers 1, 2, and 3 for why I watch the Twins this year. So how many teams have had 3 guys hit that well this year?

Here's the list. You qualify for the list by having at least 240 plate appearances, which is just less than required to officially qualify, but I manipulated it to get Plouffe in. Team ranks are by the weighted wRC+ of the team's top 3 hitters.

Team Name PA AVG OBP SLG wRC+ top-3 wRC+
Cardinals Carlos Beltran 330 0.306 0.394 0.563 156 148.8
Cardinals Matt Holliday 355 0.318 0.397 0.526 153 148.8
Cardinals Yadier Molina 302 0.304 0.357 0.500 136 148.8
Tigers Austin Jackson 274 0.332 0.412 0.559 165 148.0
Tigers Miguel Cabrera 368 0.325 0.386 0.563 153 148.0
Tigers Prince Fielder 359 0.298 0.376 0.490 130 148.0
Angels Mike Trout 278 0.348 0.403 0.555 173 145.4
Angels Mark Trumbo 301 0.306 0.355 0.597 156 145.4
Angels Albert Pujols 356 0.273 0.334 0.461 115 145.4
Twins Josh Willingham 332 0.269 0.380 0.545 152 144.8
Twins Joe Mauer 316 0.330 0.418 0.458 144 144.8
Twins Trevor Plouffe 242 0.250 0.326 0.560 136 144.8
White Sox Paul Konerko 309 0.332 0.408 0.540 155 139.9
White Sox Adam Dunn 351 0.213 0.362 0.518 134 139.9
White Sox Alex Rios 326 0.316 0.350 0.511 132 139.9
Blue Jays Edwin Encarnacion 343 0.295 0.379 0.564 156 138.8
Blue Jays Jose Bautista 365 0.243 0.356 0.541 142 138.8
Blue Jays Colby Rasmus 341 0.262 0.326 0.492 118 138.8
Brewers Ryan Braun 338 0.305 0.388 0.597 164 137.6
Brewers Norichika Aoki 246 0.300 0.363 0.442 123 137.6
Brewers Aramis Ramirez 323 0.268 0.344 0.474 121 137.6
Reds Joey Votto 343 0.345 0.464 0.619 184 137.2
Reds Jay Bruce 327 0.254 0.330 0.507 119 137.2
Reds Brandon Phillips 314 0.283 0.327 0.438 105 137.2
Phillies Carlos Ruiz 277 0.355 0.419 0.596 173 136.6
Phillies Hunter Pence 367 0.287 0.351 0.489 126 136.6
Phillies Juan Pierre 251 0.317 0.355 0.387 112 136.6
Rangers Josh Hamilton 329 0.316 0.386 0.646 166 134.8
Rangers Adrian Beltre 329 0.325 0.356 0.521 130 134.8
Rangers Elvis Andrus 367 0.298 0.372 0.401 111 134.8
Rockies Carlos Gonzalez 335 0.336 0.394 0.589 157 133.8
Rockies Dexter Fowler 280 0.285 0.377 0.527 137 133.8
Rockies Michael Cuddyer 312 0.266 0.317 0.483 106 133.8
Diamondbacks Paul Goldschmidt 273 0.302 0.370 0.541 143 132.4
Diamondbacks Jason Kubel 315 0.292 0.365 0.527 131 132.4
Diamondbacks Aaron Hill 328 0.297 0.354 0.507 125 132.4
Yankees Robinson Cano 347 0.316 0.375 0.585 153 132.0
Yankees Curtis Granderson 367 0.241 0.344 0.498 125 132.0
Yankees Alex Rodriguez 334 0.266 0.356 0.434 118 132.0
Braves Martin Prado 352 0.325 0.386 0.463 135 130.5
Braves Jason Heyward 314 0.273 0.342 0.507 132 130.5
Braves Michael Bourn 378 0.307 0.360 0.452 125 130.5
Giants Melky Cabrera 353 0.356 0.395 0.518 149 129.8
Giants Buster Posey 301 0.295 0.365 0.466 128 129.8
Giants Angel Pagan 334 0.293 0.340 0.420 111 129.8
Mets David Wright 343 0.354 0.443 0.570 170 129.6
Mets Lucas Duda 321 0.253 0.346 0.404 110 129.6
Mets Kirk Nieuwenhuis 275 0.270 0.330 0.407 102 129.6
Indians Shin-Soo Choo 341 0.295 0.384 0.487 144 129.4
Indians Asdrubal Cabrera 331 0.290 0.369 0.478 131 129.4
Indians Jason Kipnis 361 0.272 0.337 0.415 114 129.4
Pirates Andrew McCutchen 329 0.356 0.410 0.603 173 128.7
Pirates Pedro Alvarez 275 0.234 0.309 0.475 108 128.7
Pirates Neil Walker 333 0.276 0.343 0.384 102 128.7
Nationals Bryce Harper 265 0.283 0.355 0.481 128 121.9
Nationals Adam LaRoche 312 0.255 0.340 0.502 120 121.9
Nationals Ian Desmond 350 0.282 0.314 0.502 119 121.9
Royals Billy Butler 333 0.286 0.360 0.492 130 121.2
Royals Mike Moustakas 314 0.269 0.331 0.486 119 121.2
Royals Alcides Escobar 310 0.309 0.352 0.413 114 121.2
Marlins Giancarlo Stanton 319 0.283 0.364 0.555 146 119.9
Marlins Hanley Ramirez 351 0.256 0.330 0.438 108 119.9
Marlins Omar Infante 298 0.286 0.311 0.452 106 119.9
Orioles Adam Jones 350 0.293 0.334 0.543 135 118.7
Orioles Matt Wieters 307 0.250 0.332 0.441 109 118.7
Orioles Chris Davis 278 0.274 0.317 0.483 109 118.7
Red Sox David Ortiz 343 0.302 0.391 0.607 157 114.2
Red Sox Dustin Pedroia 338 0.266 0.326 0.400 94 114.2
Red Sox Adrian Gonzalez 356 0.275 0.323 0.404 92 114.2
Cubs Bryan LaHair 255 0.289 0.369 0.529 136 113.4
Cubs Alfonso Soriano 309 0.266 0.324 0.479 109 113.4
Cubs David DeJesus 307 0.272 0.361 0.389 99 113.4
Padres Chase Headley 356 0.272 0.374 0.421 129 113.4
Padres Will Venable 266 0.248 0.319 0.416 105 113.4
Padres Yonder Alonso 321 0.265 0.347 0.367 103 113.4
Astros Jed Lowrie 309 0.256 0.343 0.467 122 112.3
Astros Jose Altuve 328 0.303 0.344 0.441 116 112.3
Astros Chris Johnson 293 0.274 0.317 0.405 98 112.3
Athletics Josh Reddick 342 0.259 0.340 0.518 135 108.8
Athletics Seth Smith 256 0.248 0.363 0.430 120 108.8
Athletics Jemile Weeks 341 0.215 0.305 0.305 74 108.8
Dodgers Andre Ethier 308 0.291 0.357 0.491 129 108.1
Dodgers A.J. Ellis 261 0.271 0.394 0.402 122 108.1
Dodgers James Loney 257 0.248 0.313 0.333 69 108.1
Rays Ben Zobrist 336 0.247 0.369 0.444 124 107.6
Rays Carlos Pena 353 0.197 0.337 0.366 103 107.6
Rays Desmond Jennings 249 0.231 0.298 0.356 92 107.6
Mariners Michael Saunders 293 0.257 0.317 0.425 109 98.1
Mariners Kyle Seager 317 0.241 0.307 0.423 103 98.1
Mariners Dustin Ackley 339 0.238 0.319 0.334 84 98.1

Not sure what the moral is here, but I think it's sort of a fun list and it is surprising how many power trios Willingham, Mauer, and Plouffe are outproducing. Certainly makes it clear that the problem with the Twins this year has not been a lack of top-level hitting. (Also, damn, the Mariners' best three hitters on average are worse than a league-average hitter. Damn.)