Josh Reddick: One-Year Wonder?

Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports

In December of 2011, the Oakland Athletics acquired Josh Reddick (Raul Alcantara and Miles Head) from Boston for Andrew Bailey and Ryan Sweeney. In the 2012 season there was no doubt that GM Billy Beane was the clear winner of this trade as Andrew Bailey was injured and Josh Reddick had an outstanding season. Reddick hit .242 with 32 Home Runs and an OPS of .768. He even received some MVP consideration. The 2013 season was a little different story. Reddick hit .226 with 12 Home Runs and an OPS of .686. Will the real Josh Reddick please stand up! Is Josh Reddick a one-year wonder, or can he repeat the success he had in 2012?

To break this down we have to remember that Josh Reddick was on the Disabled List twice for the same injury. On April 7^th he slammed his right wrist into the right field foul wall in Houston. Reddick tried to play through this injury. He had played in 22 games before landing on the DL with the right wrist injury. During this span, Reddick’s slash line was .164(BA)/.232(OBP)/.238(SLG). Reddick struck out 24 times in 67 at bats during this stretch. Reddick then was injured again on August 21^st by re-spraining his wrist. In his 2 games he played before landing on the DL on August 26^th, he once again struggled. Reddick was 0-6 with 3 strikeouts in those 2 games.

Obviously, due to injury, Reddick had 226 less at bats from 2012 to 2013. If Reddick would have had 226 more at bats, here is the projected comparison to 2012:

Doubles

Triples

Home Runs

RBI

Walks

Strikeouts

2012

151

2013 Projected

136

If we remove the 70 at bats when Reddick was playing through his injury, his slash line for the 2013 season is very similar to 2012. Here is the comparison to 2012:

Batting Average

On Base Percentage

Slugging Percentage

2012

.244

.330

.436

2013 minus 70 at bats

.242

.305

.463

Another encouraging statistic for Josh Reddick is during the last 3 months of the 2013 season, Reddick increased his OPS. His OPS went from .661 in July, to .745 in August and finally .846 in September.

So barring any injuries in 2014, I see Josh Reddick achieving similar numbers to 2012… hopefully! Until next time fans… Let’s Go Oakland!

The Kid