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| (Gene J. Puskar / AP) |
By Stevo-sama | @yoshiki89
There has been some discussion, most recently following the Pittsburgh
Pirates’ dramatic 19-inning win over the St. Louis Cardinals, surrounding
Pirates infielder Pedro Alvarez and his peculiar AVG/OBP/SLG day/night splits
this season.
In 582 AB during the 2010 and 2011 seasons, Alvarez was
batting .241/.313/.354 (158 AB) in day games and .226/.301/.406 (424 AB) in
night games, a percentage difference of 5.8% in OPS. However, in 2012 so far
Alvarez’ day/night splits are profoundly shocking. In 125 AB, Alvarez is
batting .312/.385/.752 in day games and 255 AB, .196/.280/.322 in night games.
His most notable conventional offensive metric is his HR rate in those ABs;
he’s hit 16 HR in 125 AB (12.8%) during the day, 7 HR in 255 AB (2.7%) at
night.
There have been other notable day/night splits poster
children in recent seasons. Justin Morneau’s 2011 splits found him struggling
considerably during night games after several fairly consistent seasons (Day:
100 AB, .320/.361/.490; Night: 164 AB, .171/.239/.238). Morneau’s troubles may or
may not have begun after his mid-2010 concussion (he finished the season with a
1.13% difference in OPS between day and night), but there’s enough doubt around
his lingering symptoms starting in 2011 to perhaps explain the drastic change
during that season. What isn’t easily explained is why, in 2012, Morneau is
experiencing a swing in the opposite direction, .682 OPS in 129 Day AB versus
.870 OPS in 256 Night AB.
