MLB Power Rankings: The 30 Teams on Offensive 'Clutchness' in the 2010 Season

Being able to perform in the 'clutch', when the game is on the line and there is no room for error, is a unique ability. Feeling 50,000+ pairs of eyes watching your every move and knowing millions more are watching on their TVs in their homes can be nerve-racking, to say the least. 

Nonetheless, professional baseball players are often faced with a situation like this and how they perform in them can becoming a defining characteristic. A great baseball player can lose respect, and ultimately significant money in his contract, if he is known for not getting the big hit when needed; likewise, a player can prolong, or even make, a career out of timely hits. 

Lenny Harris, for example was a career .269 hitter but he got the hits when it counted most. Over his 18 season career, much of which was either has a platoon player or pinch hitter, Harris batted .294 with tow outs and a runner on third; he also batted .323 with the bases loaded. 

Individual clutch performances can greatly affect a player's career and it can also give his team an extra win or two but the combine clutch offensive performances of an entire team can have a huge impact on the team's season. A team with a lot of talent but who doesn't get the big hits often misses the playoffs whereas a team with less offensive talent but gets the big hit when it matters most can win the World Series (see the 2010 San Francisco Giants). 

This slideshow is ranking the 30 MLB teams from least to most clutch, as a whole, for the 2010 season. In order to fully analyze the 'clutchness' of a team I used 8 different statistical categories.

This includes: WAR (wins above replacement), BT Wins (adjusted batting wins - which measures a hitter's contribution to his team's wins with only his bat), Clutch (which measures the win probability of a team having a particular player), Productive Outs Percentage (which measures a player's ability to make productive outs - i.e. moving a runner along, etc.), BA with Two Outs and RISP, BA in Late+Close games, BA in High Leverage Situations, and, finally, BA in Extra innings. 

With this extensive list of stats of the entire teams combined offensive stats, I was able to fully analyze each team's ability to perform in the clutch and, thus, rank them from least to most clutch. 

30. Seattle Mariners

Eliot J. Schechter/Getty Images

ST PETERSBURG, FL - SEPTEMBER 26: Ichiro Suzuki #51 of the Seattle Mariners celebrates a 6-2 win with teammates against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field on September 26, 2010 in St. Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Eliot J. Schechter/Getty Images)

The Good:

1. The Mariners were almost in the top 3rd of baseball with their Clutch rating.

The Bad:

1. The Mariners finished last in BT Wins and 2 Out W/RISP categories.
2. The Mariners also finished 2nd to last in High Leverage and Extra Innings BA categories.

	WAR	BT Wins	Clutch	Prod. Out %	2 Out, RISP	Late/Close	High Leverage	Extra Inn.
Mariners	11.7	-14.2	-0.1	30	.197	.221	.235	.177
MLB Rank	23	30	11	20	30	28	29	29

29. Pittsburgh Pirates

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PITTSBURGH - SEPTEMBER 06: Jose Tabata #31 congratulates teammates Garrett Jones #46 and Ryan Doumit #41 after their 3-1 win against the Atlanta Braves of the Pittsburgh Pirates during the game on September 6, 2010 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

The Good:

1. The Pirates had a good Clutch rating in 2010.

The Bad:

1. While a good Clutch rating is good, it doesn't account for everything; in all of the other categories the Pirates finished in the bottom 3rd of all 30 MLB teams (including a combined MLB worst in the WAR category). 

	WAR	BT Wins	Clutch	Prod. Out %	2 Out, RISP	Late/Close	High Leverage	Extra Inn.
Pirates	-4.4	-13.6	.8	28	.225	.236	.243	.224
MLB Rank	30	29	8	26	24	22	26	25

28. New York Mets

Andrew Burton/Getty Images

NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 15: Joaquin Arias #12 (C) of the New York Mets celebrates with Carlos Beltran #15 (L) after scoring a run in the fourth inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates on September 15, 2010 at Citi Field in the Flushing neighborhood of the Que

The Good:

1. Productive Out % - The Mets were able to make productive outs and move runners along. While this is important because it sets up the ability to drive in runs the rest of the Mets' stats show they weren't able to do anything after advancing the runners. 

The Bad:

1. Finished in the bottom three in all of the important clutch Batting Average categories. You can't expect to win games when your offense is at its worst when it counts the most...
2. With a payroll like the Mets had in 2010 one wouldn't normally expect them to appear this close to the bottom - Carlos Beltran, for example, received such a large salary off of what he did in the post season right before he became a free agent (he was clutch then...).

	WAR	BT Wins	Clutch	Prod. Out %	2 Out, RISP	Late/Close	High Leverage	Extra Inn.
Mets	17.4	-7.7	-3.8	37	.208	.212	.227	.185
MLB Rank	17	24	27	4	29	29	30	28

27. Los Angeles Angels Of Anaheim

Harry How/Getty Images

ANAHEIM, CA - SEPTEMBER 20: Peter Bourjos #25, Bobby Abreu #53 and Torii Hunter #48 of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim celebrate a 7-4 win over the Texas Rangers during the ninth inning at Angel Stadium on September 20, 2010 in Anaheim, California. (P

The Good:

1. Like the Mets, the Angels were excellent at giving themselves up when they had to advance a runner (Productive Out %)
2. Compared to the other BA categories, the 2 Out, RISP BA was decent.

The Bad:

1. Lowest BA in baseball in Late and Close games. 

Team	WAR	BT Wins	Clutch	Prod. Out %	2 Out, RISP	Late/Close	High Leverage	Extra Inn.
Angels	10.8	-6.3	-3.6	37	.238	.202	.244	.226
MLB Rank	25	21	26	3	15	30	25	24

26. Chicago Cubs

Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

CHICAGO - JULY 16: (L-R) Alfonso Soriano #12, Tyler Colvin #21 and Marlon Byrd #24 of the Chicago Cubs celebrate a win over the Philadelphia Phillies at Wrigley Field on July 16, 2010 in Chicago, Illinois. The Cubs defeated the Phillies 4-3. (Photo by Jon

The Good:

1. The Cubs offense showed up in Extra Innings posting an almost .300 average when the game went past 9 innings. 

The Bad:

1. Last in the Clutch rating
2. 3rd to last in the WAR rating

Team	WAR	BT Wins	Clutch	Prod. Out %	2 Out, RISP	Late/Close	High Leverage	Extra Inn.
Cubs	6.1	-11.1	-5.7	30	.240	.237	.246	.297
MLB Rank	28	27	30	22	14	20	23	7

25. Toronto Blue Jays

Brad White/Getty Images

TORONTO - SEPTEMBER 23: Lyle Overbay #35, Edwin Encarnacion #12 and Aaron Hill #2 of the Toronto Blue Jays celebrate the teams win over the Seattle Mariners during game action September 23, 2010 at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Br

The Good:

1. BT Wins and WAR rating are very good.

The Bad:

1. Productive Outs % is 3rd worst in the league. Not doing the small things makes it harder to drive in runs and, no doubt, negatively effected other clutch categories.

Team	WAR	BT Wins	Clutch	Prod. Out %	2 Out, RISP	Late/Close	High Leverage	Extra Inn.
Blue Jays	23.5	3.4	-3	26	.228	.236	.252	.219
MLB Rank	9	7	25	28	22	21	16	26

24. Arizona Diamondbacks

Nick Laham/Getty Images

NEW YORK - AUGUST 01: The Arizona Diamondbacks celebrate their win against the New York Mets at Citi Field on August 1, 2010 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images)

The Good:

1. Give the young age of the team the WAR and BT Wins category is good should only improve as their key players get more experience. 

The Bad:

1. Extremely poor ranking in the Clutch, Prod. Out %, and Late/Close categories.

Team	WAR	BT Wins	Clutch	Prod. Out %	2 Out, RISP	Late/Close	High Leverage	Extra Inn.
Diamondbacks	18.9	-4.3	-4.6	26	.232	.222	.251	.241
MLB Rank	15	17	29	29	19	27	18	20

23. Washington Nationals

Greg Fiume/Getty Images

WASHINGTON - SEPTEMBER 24: Willie Harris #22 of the Washington Nationals celebrates with Ivan Rodriguez #7 after hitting an inside the park home run in the seventh inning against the Atlanta Braves at Nationals Park on September 24, 2010 in Washington, D

The Good:

1. Jayson Werth + experience for their young players = improvement in the numbers over the next few years. 

The Bad:

1. Worst team in baseball when it comes to Extra Inning batting average.
2. One of the worst BAs in baseball in Late and Close games.

Team	WAR	BT Wins	Clutch	Prod. Out %	2 Out, RISP	Late/Close	High Leverage	Extra Inn.
Nationals	11.7	-7.1	-2.2	32	.233	.223	.250	.111
MLB Rank	24	22	19	14	17	26	19	30

22. Oakland Athletics

Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images

OAKLAND, CA - SEPTEMBER 23: Chirs Carter #22 of the Oakland Athletics celebrates with Kurt Suzuki #8 after hitting an RBI sacrafice fly against the Texas Rangers in the fourth inning during a Major League Baseball game at the Oakland-Alameda County Colis

The Good:

1. Productive Out %, Late and Close BA, and Extra Innings BA are respectable (especially given the team's W-L record). 

The Bad:

1. High Leverage situations were

Team	WAR	BT Wins	Clutch	Prod. Out %	2 Out, RISP	Late/Close	High Leverage	Extra Inn.
Athletics	17.2	-6	-2.8	35	.228	.244	.240	.258
MLB Rank	19	20	22	10	21	13	27	15

21. Cleveland Indians

Jeff Gross/Getty Images

ANAHEIM, CA - SEPTEMBER 07: (L-R) Trevor Crowe #4, Lou Marson #30 and Jason Donald #16 of the Cleveland Indians celebrate Marson's grand slam home run in the sixth inning against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at Angel Stadium on September 7, 2010 in

The Good:

1. Really good 2 Out, RISP BA.
2. WAR rating is solid. 

The Bad:

1. Late and Close was not a good situation for the Indians. 
2. Productive Outs % shows the team was not good at moving runners over, etc. 

Team	WAR	BT Wins	Clutch	Prod. Out %	2 Out, RISP	Late/Close	High Leverage	Extra Inn.
Indians	21.9	-1.2	-2.9	29	.243	.233	.248	.264
MLB Rank	12	15	23	25	9	24	20	14

20. Baltimore Orioles

J. Meric/Getty Images

ST. PETERSBURG, FL - SEPTEMBER 29: Outfielder Felix Pie #18 of the Baltimore Orioles celebrates the victory over the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field on September 29, 2010 in St. Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by J. Meric/Getty Images)

The Good:

1. Best offensive team in baseball in Extra Innings with an astounding .353 BA!
2. Late and Close games the Orioles were one of the better teams in baseball as far as BA goes.
3. Solid rating in the Clutch and Productive Outs % categories

The Bad:

1. WAR and 2 Out, RISP were poor ratings for the Orioles. Perhaps there would have been less Late and Close games or Extra Inning games if the Orioles performed better with 2 Out and RISP. 
2. High Leverage situations was a struggle for the Orioles' hitters. 

Team	WAR	BT Wins	Clutch	Prod. Out %	2 Out, RISP	Late/Close	High Leverage	Extra Inn.
Orioles	9.5	-8.2	-.2	34	.219	.256	.245	.353
MLB Rank	27	25	12	12	26	7	24	1

19. Los Angeles Dodgers

Doug Pensinger/Getty Images

DENVER - SEPTEMBER 27: The Los Angeles Dodgers celebrate their victory over the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field on September 25, 2010 in Denver, Colorado.The Dodgers defeated the Rockies 3-1. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

The Good:

1. Extra Innings is when the Dodgers offense showed up. 

The Bad:

1. Poor WAR rating
2. Poor Late and Close BA
3. Poor High Leverage BA

Team	WAR	BT Wins	Clutch	Prod. Out %	2 Out, RISP	Late/Close	High Leverage	Extra Inn.
Dodgers	16.7	-4.7	-.7	31	.232	.230	.248	.292
MLB Rank	20	18	15	15	18	25	21	8

18. Florida Marlins

Al Bello/Getty Images

SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO - JUNE 29: Jorge Cantu #3 and Hanley Ramirez #2 of the Florida Marlins celebrate after Cantu scored the winning run off of a hit by Dan Uggla #6 as Rod Barajas #21 of the New York Mets is late with the tag in the bottom of the ninth

The Good:

1. High Leverage BA
2. Extra Inning BA

The Bad:

1. WAR and BT Wins rating was very poor for the 2010 season.
2. It's hard to win games if you don't get the big 2 out hit, and the Marlins had one of the worst BA in that situation. 

Team	WAR	BT Wins	Clutch	Prod. Out %	2 Out, RISP	Late/Close	High Leverage	Extra Inn.
Marlins	10.5	-8.5	.3	30	.220	.249	.266	.290
MLB Rank	26	26	10	19	25	10	8	9

17. Milwaukee Brewers

Andrew Burton/Getty Images

NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 30: Alcides Esobar #21 and Ryan Bauer #8 of the Milwaukee Brewers celebrate after beating the New York Mets 9 - 2 on September 30, 2010 at Citi Field in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. This was the f

The Good:

1. BT Wins is extremely high = their hitters had a HUGE impact with their bats (with players like Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder it's easy to understand why that is)
2. The Brewers were very successful at driving in runners with 2 outs
3. Excellent BA in Extra Innings

The Bad:

1. It's tough to see a team do so many things right (like getting the 2 out hit) but shoot themselves in the foot like not getting a bunt down. The Brewers were the worst in Productive Outs in baseball; and it hurts more that they are an NL team, where Productive outs mean more with the pitcher in the batting order. 

Team	WAR	BT Wins	Clutch	Prod. Out %	2 Out, RISP	Late/Close	High Leverage	Extra Inn.
Brewers	23.4	3.9	-2.5	25	.252	.240	.237	.313
MLB Rank	10	6	20	30	8	18	28	5

16. San Diego Padres

Jeff Gross/Getty Images

LOS ANGELES, CA - SEPTEMBER 22: (L-R) Ryan Ludwick #47, Miguel Tejada #10 and David Eckstein #22 of the San Diego Padres celebrate Tejada's two-run home run in the third inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium on September 22, 2010 in Lo

The Good:

1. Clutch rating is great. 
2. The Padres helped their own cause by being able to handle the bat; Productive Outs % shows us they were one of the best in this.

The Bad:

1. A .218 BA with 2 outs and RISP definitely contributed to their collapse at the end of the season. 

Team	WAR	BT Wins	Clutch	Prod. Out %	2 Out, RISP	Late/Close	High Leverage	Extra Inn.
Padres	19.9	-3.8	1	37	.218	.244	.254	.252
MLB Rank	13	16	7	2	27	14	15	17

15. New York Yankees

Al Bello/Getty Images

NEW YORK - OCTOBER 20: Curtis Granderson #14, Brett Gardner #11 and Nick Swisher #33 of the New York Yankees celebrate after the Yankees won 7-2 against the Texas Rangers in Game Five of the ALCS during the 2010 MLB Playoffs at Yankee Stadium on October

The Good:

1. BT Wins: tells us the Yankees won their games in a slugfest and not a pitchers' duel, typically. And, with a number as high as that, a slugfest is what the Yankees wanted.
2. Excellent WAR for the team. 

The Bad:

1. The Extra Innings BA is very subpar; especially for a team made up of the caliber of talent the Yankees had.
2. Late and Close BA is middle of the pack but, for a payroll like the Yankees have, it should be higher. With all those All-Stars they should be getting bigger hits more often.

Team	WAR	BT Wins	Clutch	Prod. Out %	2 Out, RISP	Late/Close	High Leverage	Extra Inn.
Yankees	26.8	7.3	-3	31	.242	.241	.255	.235
MLB Rank	4	1	24	16	11	16	14	22

14. Kansas City Royals

Nick Laham/Getty Images

NEW YORK - JULY 24: The Kansas City Royals celebrate the win against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on July 24, 2010 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images)

The Good:

1. The Royals were actually a pretty decent team in offensively clutch situations; considering their record they had some of the best BAs for 2 out and RISP and Late and Close. 
2. The Royals showed they could play small ball and do the little things to win games with a solid Productive Out % in 2010.

The Bad:

1. The Clutch category comes up a bit low. 
2. WAR is also low (this is most likely a byproduct of not having a bit name on the team to raise the team's average - nothing against Billy Butler, he's very good, but he's not a top 10 player in the MLB). 

Team	WAR	BT Wins	Clutch	Prod. Out %	2 Out, RISP	Late/Close	High Leverage	Extra Inn.
Royals	17.2	-.3	-2.7	35	.259	.259	.260	.286
MLB Rank	18	12	21	9	6	4	12	10

13. Detroit Tigers

Jim McIsaac/Getty Images

NEW YORK - AUGUST 19: Miguel Cabrera #24 of the Detroit Tigers celebrates his first inning two run home run against the New York Yankees with teammates Johnny Damon #18 and Will Rhymes #28 on August 19, 2010 at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx borough of New

The Good:

1. Late and Close BA! That goes a long way to seeing the numbers in the win column rise.
2. Excellent team WAR and BT Wins
3. Almost in the top 3rd of the High Leverage BA in baseball

The Bad:

1. Productive Out % - again hurting your own cause when you can't do the small things to help you win a game. 
2. 2 Out, RISP BA - so the Tigers were able to get a lot of hits but when there were 'ducks on the pond' with 2 outs they were one of the worst hitting teams. It's hard enough to score runs with only 3 outs; helping the defense and essentially making them only get 2 outs doesn't help you to win games. 

Team	WAR	BT Wins	Clutch	Prod. Out %	2 Out, RISP	Late/Close	High Leverage	Extra Inn.
Tigers	24.3	2.2	-.4	30	.226	.274	.260	.252
MLB Rank	6	8	13	21	23	1	11	16

12. Houston Astros

Bob Levey/Getty Images

HOUSTON - JUNE 01: Lance Berkman #17 of the Houston Astros celebrates with Geoff Blum after his game winning hit in the bottom of the ninth against the Washington Nationals at Minute Maid Park on June 1, 2010 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty

The Good:

1. Clutch rating! 
2. High Leverage situations seem to be a situation the Astros thrived in (when compared to the rest of the MLB). 
3. Productive Outs % is extremely high. This is really important for an NL team. 

The Bad:

1. BT Wins shows the Astros' players had trouble winning games with their bats alone. 
2. Extra Innings BA could be improved. 

Team	WAR	BT Wins	Clutch	Prod. Out %	2 Out, RISP	Late/Close	High Leverage	Extra Inn.
Astros	3.4	-13.3	8.1	35	.242	.241	.247	.281
MLB Rank	29	28	1	6	10	15	4	18

11. Atlanta Braves

Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

ATLANTA - SEPTEMBER 29: Brooks Conrad #26 of the Atlanta Braves celebrates with Derrek Lee #27 and David Ross #8 after hitting a three-run homer in the third inning against the Florida Marlins at Turner Field on September 29, 2010 in Atlanta, Georgia. (

The Good:

1. WAR, BT Wins and Clutch ratings are all excellent. 

The Bad:

1. I'm surprised to see a Bobby Cox-managed team with such a poor Productive Outs %. I would have thought a manager like Cox would have stressed getting the little things done correctly. 
2. Poor High Leverage BA suggests a possible source for the struggles the Braves faced at the end of the season trying to make it into the playoffs.

Team	WAR	BT Wins	Clutch	Prod. Out %	2 Out, RISP	Late/Close	High Leverage	Extra Inn.
Braves	25	1.7	1.9	29	.242	.241	.247	.281
MLB Rank	5	9	4	24	12	17	22	11

10. Colorado Rockies

Doug Pensinger/Getty Images

DENVER - SEPTEMBER 25: Troy Tulowitzki #2 of the Colorado Rockies emerges from the celebration after he hit the game RBI double to score Carlos Gonzalez #5 against the San Francisco Giants in the 10th inning at Coors Field on September 25, 2010 in Denver

The Good:

1. Clutch rating! 
2. High Leverage situations = the Rockies were one of the best team in baseball in them. 

The Bad:

1. WAR, BT Wins, Productive Outs %, and Extra Innings BA. What happened? I was surprised by this because the Rockies are known for the September power surges and push for the playoffs. They came up short in 2010 but still had a great run (especially Tulo). How bad would their numbers have been if they had a normal September month?

Team	WAR	BT Wins	Clutch	Prod. Out %	2 Out, RISP	Late/Close	High Leverage	Extra Inn.
Rockies	13.8	-7.2	2.7	30	.240	.248	.269	.248
MLB Rank	22	23	2	18	13	12	7	19

9. Boston Red Sox

Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images

SEATTLE - SEPTEMBER 14: Members of the Boston Red Sox celebrate after defeating the Seattle Mariners 9-6 at Safeco Field on September 14, 2010 in Seattle, Washington. The Red Sox won 9-6. (Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images)

The Good:

1. WAR, BT Wins, and Late and Close BA! All categories the Red Sox are top 3 in baseball! That'll help you win games
2. 2 Out and RISP the Red Sox come in at number 5; not top 3 but still really, really good. 

The Bad:

1. Productive Outs %. Again, I'm really surprised to see such a well-managed team, with such a high caliber of talent, failing to do the small things to help them win games.
2. Extra Innings BA - what happened here? Did the players get tired? They went from being one of the best teams in Late and Close games to one of the worst once the scoreboard showed a double-digit inning. Had they performed better in Extra Innings how many more wins would they have had? Would it have been a true three team race in the AL east in 2010? 

Team	WAR	BT Wins	Clutch	Prod. Out %	2 Out, RISP	Late/Close	High Leverage	Extra Inn.
Red Sox	28.5	6.4	-.8	26	.266	.262	.251	.218
MLB Rank	2	2	16	27	5	3	17	27

8. St. Louis Cardinals

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ST. LOUIS - OCTOBER 2: Joe Mather #22 and Pedro Feliz #77 both of the St. Louis Cardinals celebrate Feliz's game-winning run against the Colorado Rockies at Busch Stadium on October 2, 2010 in St. Louis, Missouri. The Cardinals beat the Rockies 1-0 in 11

The Good:

1. Lots to be happy about here: WAR, Productive Outs %, 2 Out and RISP, Late and Close, and High Leverage BA. All top 10 in baseball. 

The Bad:

1. Same story as the Red Sox; what happened in Extra Innings? Why did the team go from doing so well at the end of close games to so poorly on the offensive side of the game? And how many wins did it cost them? That's one way to top off a frustrating season. 

Team	WAR	BT Wins	Clutch	Prod. Out %	2 Out, RISP	Late/Close	High Leverage	Extra Inn.
Cardinals	23.6	0	-1.6	36	.255	.256	.265	.230
MLB Rank	8	11	18	5	7	6	9	23

7. Tampa Bay Rays

Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

ARLINGTON, TX - OCTOBER 09: (L-R) Carlos Pena #23 of the Tampa Bay Rays celebrates a two run homerun with Sean Rodriguez #1 in the 9th inning against the Texas Rangers during game 3 of the ALDS at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington on October 9, 2010 in Arlin

The Good:

1. WAR, BT Wins, Clutch, and High Leverage BA are all top 5 in baseball!

The Bad:

1. 2 Outs and RISP was a problem for the Rays. 
2. Extra Innings was not the best time for the Rays offense. 

Team	WAR	BT Wins	Clutch	Prod. Out %	2 Out, RISP	Late/Close	High Leverage	Extra Inn.
Rays	28	4.2	1.1	34	.230	.238	.272	.240
MLB Rank	3	5	5	11	20	19	5	21

6. Philadelphia Phillies

Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

SAN FRANCISCO - OCTOBER 21: Jimmy Rollins #11, Raul Ibanez #29, and Chase Utley #26 of the Philadelphia Phillies celebrate defeating the San Francisco Giants 4-2 in Game Five of the NLCS during the 2010 MLB Playoffs at AT&T Park on October 21, 2010 in Sa

The Good:

1. WAR is very good.
2. Extra Innings BA is superb; almost .300. 
3. Clutch rating is 3rd best in baseball for the 2010 season. 

The Bad:

1. Productive Outs % is very poor (especially for a team that does so well with other fundamentals of the game). 
2. Late and Close BA is extremely low - particularly with the talent this team had. Bad Late and Close BA + Giants solid bullpen + Giants early lead = Trouble for the Phillies

Team	WAR	BT Wins	Clutch	Prod. Out %	2 Out, RISP	Late/Close	High Leverage	Extra Inn.
Phillies	24	-.9	2	29	.237	.235	.262	.298
MLB Rank	7	13	3	23	16	23	10	6

5. Texas Rangers

Elsa/Getty Images

ARLINGTON, TX - OCTOBER 22: Bengie Molina #11 and Neftali Feliz #30 of the Texas Rangers celebrate after defeating the New York Yankees 6-1 in Game Six of the ALCS to advance to the World Series during the 2010 MLB Playoffs at Rangers Ballpark in Arlingt

The Good:

1. Productive Outs %! Best in baseball; and definitely a surprise as I took the Rangers for more of a free-swinging team. Goes to show the affect of giving yourself up to move a runner along can have (they made it to the World Series, after all). 
2. 2 Out RISP! Again, the best in baseball in 2010. Without a doubt that played a really big role to all their success in 2010. It's so important to get those 2 out RBIs (and not to mention it really deflates the opposing team). 
3. High Leverage BA is superb. The got the hits when they needed to AND when the hits would count for the most. 

The Bad:

1. Clutch rating is a bit low, which was a surprise. 
2. WAR was also lower than I expected (especially with all the superstars this team had). 

Team	WAR	BT Wins	Clutch	Prod. Out %	2 Out, RISP	Late/Close	High Leverage	Extra Inn.
Rangers	18.7	.6	-1.1	38	.285	.248	.281	.271
MLB Rank	16	10	17	1	1	11	3	13

4. San Francisco Giants

Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

ARLINGTON, TX - NOVEMBER 01: Mark DeRosa (C) of the San Francisco Giants celebrates with his teammates after they won the World Series against the Texas Rangers in Game Five of the 2010 MLB World Series at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington on November 1, 201

The Good:

1. The epitome of why quality beats quantity: the Giants didn't get a lot of hits but they maximized the damage when they did get them. 2nd best in baseball in Extra Inning BA and 5th best in Late and Close BA. 
2. Solid Productive Outs %
3. Although the numbers could be better, it's hard to argue with results. The Giants won the World Series and had some extremely timely hits in the process (Cody Ross, Edgar Renteria, Juan Uribe, etc.). 

The Bad:

1. 2 Outs and RISP is 3rd worst in baseball! Hard to believe a team can win the World Series while being so poor at getting in a run when there are 2 outs in the inning. But it does go along with the theme of Giants baseball - the pitchers got whatever runs the offense could scrape together and that's all the SF pitchers had to work with; it turns out that they didn't give up many runs so the offensive didn't need to score many. 

Team	WAR	BT Wins	Clutch	Prod. Out %	2 Out, RISP	Late/Close	High Leverage	Extra Inn.
Giants	19.6	-4.8	-.6	35	.212	.258	.256	.329
MLB Rank	14	19	14	8	28	5	13	2

3. Cincinnati Reds

Joe Robbins/Getty Images

CINCINNATI, OH - SEPTEMBER 28: The Cincinnati Reds celebrate Jay Bruce's walk off home run against the Houston Astros at Great American Ball Park on September 28, 2010 in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Reds won 3-2 to clinch the NL Central Division title. (Photo b

The Good:

1. WAR rating! Best in baseball in 2010!
2. BT Wins rating! 3rd best in baseball in 2010. 
3. BAs for 2 Out and RISP, Late and Close, High Leverage, and Extra Innings are all fantastic. Constantly in the top of baseball in all 4 categories - that's a recipe for success!

The Bad:

1. Clutch rating is suspiciously low. 3rd lowest in baseball. 

Team	WAR	BT Wins	Clutch	Prod. Out %	2 Out, RISP	Late/Close	High Leverage	Extra Inn.
Reds	29.6	6.3	-4.1	31	.269	.272	.270	.321
MLB Rank	1	3	28	17	4	2	6	3

2. Chicago White Sox

Jim McIsaac/Getty Images

NEW YORK - MAY 02: Paul Konerko #14 of the Chicago White Sox celebrates his ninth inning three run home run against the New York Yankees with teammates Andruw Jones #25 and Gordon Beckham #15 on May 2, 2010 at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx borough of New Y

The Good:

1. Minus WAR and BT Wins all of the numbers in the categories are excellent. The White Sox got it done with men in scoring position and 2 out; they were also very successful in High Leverage situations and had a lot of success in Extra Innings. 
2. Productive Outs % is excellent - especially for an AL team. 

The Bad:

1. WAR rating is very low given the talent on this club. 

Team	WAR	BT Wins	Clutch	Prod. Out %	2 Out, RISP	Late/Close	High Leverage	Extra Inn.
White Sox	14.6	-1	.3	35	.273	.249	.281	.320
MLB Rank	21	14	9	7	3	9	2	4

1. Minnesota Twins

Nick Laham/Getty Images

NEW YORK - JUNE 26: Carl Pavano #48 of the Minnesota Twins celebrates the win with teammates against the New York Mets at Citi Field on June 26, 2010 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images)

The Good:

1. Best High Leverage BA in baseball in 2010!
2. Second best BA wtih 2 outs and RISP in baseball!
3. BT Wins very high shows the Twins offense helped get a lot of wins for the club.
4. Excellent Clutch rating.
5. Really good BA in Late and Close games and it essentially continued into Extra Innings (as far as the rankings among other MLB teams go; in terms of BA comparison the BA was actually higher in Extra Innings but this is probably because the better relievers were used up by then - probably in those Late and Close innings were the BA is lower). 

The Bad:

1. Nothing to say here...that's why they are the most clutch offensive team in the 2010 season. 

Team	WAR	BT Wins	Clutch	Prod. Out %	2 Out, RISP	Late/Close	High Leverage	Extra Inn.
Twins	22	4.9	1	32	.277	.252	.291	.276
MLB Rank	11	4	6	13	2	8	1	12