Which Mets Were Clutch In 2008

I was just checking out some Mets historical stats from the 2008 season at Fan Graphs. I’ve only recently discovered this great site, but now I’m hooked.

They have this interesting way of measuring how clutch a player is. Here is their definition…

Clutch: A measurement of how much better or worse a player does in high leverage situations than he would have done in a context neutral environment.

Here are the top five Mets in the category, followed by the five worst.

Most Clutch

1. Fernando Tatis  1.78

2. Carlos Beltran  1.10

3. Daniel Murphy  0.84

4. Moises Alou  0.57

5. Robinson Cancel  0.54

Least Clutch

1. Luis Castillo  (-1.18)

2. David Wright  (-0.98)

3. Jose Reyes  (-0.83)

4. Ramon Castro  (-0.80)

5. Carlos Delgado  (-0.71)

Without looking at any statistical data, I would have easily included Tatis and Beltran as the most clutch. I also would have guessed Damion Easley who just missed the cut.

As for least clutch, Wright would have been my top choice. One year he is going to stop putting so much pressure on himself, and when he does he will drive in 150 or more batters. With just a few clutch hits, he could have easily surpassed 150 last season.