If we were to be strictly literal in picking the Least Valuable Player of the first half of the 2023 season, we might choose someone like Chris Okey.
Okey started a single game for the Los Angeles Angels — their May 9 contest against the Houston Astros — and struck out in both plate appearances. The catcher was shipped back to the Angels’ AAA farm club in Salt Lake City before the week was out.
It’s hard to be less valuable than a seasonal total of two whiffs in two at-bats, but selecting Okey (or a counterpart with a similarly sparse record) would miss the spirit of today’s search. A true LVP is a player who takes the field regularly (or somewhat regularly), but falls far short of his team’s expectations.
Somebody like Tim Anderson or Jean Segura.
Anderson has been a fixture at shortstop for the Chicago White Sox since 2016. He won the American League batting title in 2019 at .335, and he kept his average above .300 in each subsequent season from 2020 to 2022.
Segura hasn’t been as geographically stable — the infielder has played for six franchises in his 12-year career — but he is similarly skilled at the plate. Segura’s lifetime average of .281 is only two points below Anderson’s career mark of .283.
But this year has been drastically different for both players, as reflected by their statistics at the midseason point (as of the morning of July 1). Anderson played 59 games in the first half, batting .226 with no home runs and 11 runs batted in. Segura fared even worse in his 63 games, batting .197 with two homers and 14 RBIs.
The weakness of both performances is dramatized statistically by base value (BV), a comparison of the number of bases that each batter accumulated (through hits, walks, hit batters, stolen bases, and sacrifices) and the number that a typical hitter would have attained under the same circumstances. (Click here to learn more about the BV formula.)
Anderson reached 85 bases during the first three months of the 2023 season, but an average hitter would have gotten 136 in the same conditions. The resulting deficit of 51 bases, the worst in the American League, translates to Anderson’s BV of minus-51.
Segura is one base lower at minus-52, the worst figure for any batter in the National League. He reached 80 bases for the Miami Marlins in the first half, far below the big-league norm of 132 for the same number of appearances.
If such a thing as a Least Valuable Player Award existed, Anderson and Segura would qualify as the frontrunners in their respective leagues.
Two runners-up are within 10 bases of Anderson in the American League in the halfway standings: Javier Baez of the Detroit Tigers (minus-46) and Jose Abreu of the Houston Astros (minus-41).
Segura holds a 12-point lead — if we can call it that — in the National League after three months of play. Austin Hedges of the Pittsburgh Pirates (minus-40) is his closest pursuer.
Scroll down to see first-half rankings of the 10 batters with the lowest base values in each league, followed by the team-by-team tailenders. All BV stats, once again, are as of the morning of July 1.
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American League bottom 10
1. Tim Anderson, White Sox, BV -51
2. Javier Baez, Tigers, BV -46
3. Jose Abreu, Astros, BV -41
4. Aledmys Diaz, Athletics, BV -40
5. Kolten Wong, Mariners, BV -37
6. Jackie Bradley Jr., Royals, BV -36
7. Eric Haase, Tigers, BV -34
8. Cam Gallagher, Guardians, BV -33
8. Enrique Hernandez, Red Sox, BV -33
8. Martín Maldonado, Astros, BV -33
National League bottom 10
1. Jean Segura, Marlins, BV -52
2. Austin Hedges, Pirates, BV -40
3. Austin Barnes, Dodgers, BV -34
4. Austin Nola, Padres, BV -33
5. Nick Fortes, Marlins, BV -30
6. Miguel Rojas, Dodgers, BV -29
7. Dominic Smith, Nationals, BV -28
8. Joey Meneses, Nationals, BV -27
8. Keibert Ruiz, Nationals, BV -27
8. Brice Turang, Brewers, BV -27
American League team tailenders
Angels — Luis Rengifo, BV -24
Astros — Jose Abreu, BV -41
Athletics — Aledmys Diaz, BV -40
Blue Jays — Alejandro Kirk, BV -17
Guardians — Cam Gallagher, BV -33
Mariners — Kolten Wong, BV -37
Orioles — James McCann and Ryan Mountcastle, BV -16
Rangers — Robbie Grossman and Sandy Leon, BV -15
Rays — Christian Bethancourt, BV -16
Red Sox — Enrique Hernandez, BV -33
Royals — Jackie Bradley Jr., BV -36
Tigers — Javier Baez, BV -46
Twins — Jose Miranda and Christian Vazquez, BV -25
White Sox — Tim Anderson, BV -51
Yankees — Oswaldo Cabrera, BV -31
National League team tailenders
Braves — Vaughn Grissom, BV -10
Brewers — Brice Turang, BV -27
Cardinals — Alec Burleson, BV -18
Cubs — Tucker Barnhart and Matt Mervis, BV -18
Diamondbacks — Gabriel Moreno, BV -24
Dodgers — Austin Barnes, BV -34
Giants — Casey Schmitt, BV -16
Marlins — Jean Segura, BV -52
Mets — Tomas Nido, BV -26
Nationals — Dominic Smith, BV -28
Padres — Austin Nola, BV -33
Phillies — Edmundo Sosa, BV -22
Pirates — Austin Hedges, BV -40
Reds — Wil Myers, BV -24
Rockies — Harold Castro, BV -25