Three True Outcome Percentage: The Oakland Athletics

The Oakland Athletics have had a successful 2014 season thus far, with a 35-22 record heading into Tuesday night's game against the New York Yankees. A lot of attention has been brought to manager Bob Melvin's effective use of platoons, which had me thinking about how my Three True Outcome Percentage might be reflected in platoon splits.

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So here's my look at the AL-West leading Athletics, with a cut-off line of 100 plate appearances as of the start of the day on Tuesday. Since we are dealing with a lot of qualifying hitters, as you'll find out soon, I will designate right-handed (R), left-handed (L) and switch-hitters (S) to help offer some context for platoons.

C Derek Norris (R)- 24 strike outs+24 walks+5 home runs)/153 plate appearances)= .346 TTOP
1B Brandon Moss (L)- 42+22+13/213+ .362 TTOP
2B Eric Sogard (L)- 13+11+0/135= .178 TTOP
SS Jed Lowrie (S)- 24+30+4/233= .249 TTOP
3B Josh Donaldson (R)- 51+33+15/257= .385 TTOP
OF Yoenis Cespedes (R)- 43+17+10/223= .314 TTOP
OF Coco Crisp (S)- 27+25+3/181= .304 TTOP
OF Josh Reddick (L)- 41+14+4/183= .322 TTOP
IF Alberto Callaspo (S)- 25+23+3/192= .266 TTOP
C John Jaso (L)- 34+17+5/146= .384 TTOP
OF Craig Gentry (R)- 26+9+0/113= .309 TTOP
IF Nick Punto (S)- 24+14+1/109= .358 TTOP

Oakland Team TTOP (Through Monday)= 401+250+66/2262= .317

Platoons are definitely working for Oakland, which is a credit to the players involved, Melvin and the front office as they work under significant payroll constraints. Of the above 12 guys that can be considered regulars in the lineup, nine have a TTOP above .300. Nine. It may mean something that two of the three that don't have a TTOP over .300 are switch-hitters (Lowrie and Callaspo), perhaps in part due to more plate appearances since both rank in the top-five on the team in that category, and the third (Sogard) is not a prolific offensive player by any measure.

As always I welcome any feedback anyone has about Three True Outcome Percentage (TTOP), up to and including random thoughts, criticisms and ideas for future posts.