The top 8 Reds shortstops since 1900

There has been a lot of discussion of Cozart potentially being traded.  While I would disagree with the move, it's a good time to look at where he stands among Reds shortstops in terms of all-time productivity.

Let's compare a few statistics...

Baseball-reference Wins Above Replacement

1) Barry Larkin, in a landslide.  70.2 WAR in a career spanning 1986 to 2004.

2) Dave Concepcion.  39.8 WAR from 1970 to 1988.

3) Roy McMillan.  Earned 18.3 WAR from 1951 to 1960.

4) Leo Cardenas.  14.8 WAR from 1960 to 1968.

5) Billy Myers.  13.6 WAR from 1935 to 1940.

6) Zack Cozart.  12.3 WAR from 2011 to 2016.

7) Buck Herzog.  12.0 WAR in only 3 seasons, 1914 to 1916.

8) Eddie Miller.  10.6 WAR, mostly earned during his second stint in Cincinnati from 1943 through 1946.


Offensive WAR only

1) Larkin - 67.5

2) Concepcion - 32.3

3) Cardenas - 13.8

4) McMillan - 12.4

5) Myers - 10.7

6) Buck Herzog - 9.1

7) Felipe Lopez - 6.4

8) Zack Cozart - 6.1



Defensive WAR only

1) Concepcion - 20.9

2) McMillan - 14.4

3) Larkin - 13.8

4) Miller - 10.5

5) Cozart - 9.1

6) Cardenas - 8.5

7) Hod Ford - 7.6

8) Myers - 7.3


NOTE: oWAR and dWAR do not sum to WAR, for a couple different reasons not worth going into in this post.


So it's clear that Larkin and Concepcion were in a class by themselves, as far as all-time Reds shortstops.  Cozart falls into the next tier with guys like McMillan, Cardenas, and Myers.  But with his consistently solid defensive game, and dramatic improvements on offense, I have little doubt that Cozart would (have) move(d) into the top tier within the next couple seasons, and be a sure-fire Reds Hall of Famer. 

Top ten seasons of Cincinnati Reds shortstops

We continue around the horn to shortstop, where (near-)future Hall of Famer Barry Larkin reigns supreme. As usual, I examined players in history with at least 120 games played, and at least 50% of those as the position in question. I looked at a number of conventional stats, as well as WAR and any awards received. The final judgment was based on both objective rankings and subjective weighting, especially with respect to awards.

1) Barry Larkin, 1996. This wasn't his MVP season, but it was better in every way. 7.4 WAR (easily the best of his career or any Red SS in history). Ranks first in Red SS history for HR, runs, RBI, walks, and OPS. Won a Gold Glove, Silver Slugger, and finished 12th in MVP voting. Became the first 30-30 shortstop in MLB history, and is still the only Red SS to hit 30 homers.

2) Barry Larkin, 1995. NL MVP, Gold Glove, Silver Slugger. First in Red SS history for stolen bases and batting average. 5.9 WAR.

The best of the rest:
3) Barry Larkin, 1998. 5.9 WAR, second among Red SS in batting average and OPS
4) Barry Larkin, 1999. 5.2 WAR, second among Red SS in runs and walks
5) Barry Larkin, 1988. 6.2 WAR, second among Red SS in hits
6) Dave Concepcion, 1974. 5.1 WAR, Gold Glove winner
7) Barry Larkin, 1991.
8) Barry Larkin, 1992.
9) Barry Larkin, 1990.
10) Dave Concepcion, 1979.

Others worth mentioning:
Roy McMillan 1956
Leo Cardenas 1965
Dave Concepcion 1976
Eddie Miller 1974
Felipe Lopez 2005

How clutch was that home run?

Since 1950 (as far back as baseball-reference's play index will go), the Reds have only had seven home runs that met all of the following conditions:

- walk-off winner
- 2 outs
- behind at the time
- tying run not even in scoring position, meaning extra bases (or relying on another hit from the next guy) were required to keep the game alive

They are:
Wally Post in 1954 (3-run homer, down 2 against Chicago)
Roy McMillan in 1957 (2-run homer, down 1 against St. Louis - identical in many respects to BP's)
Hal King in 1973 (3-run homer, down 2 against Los Angeles)
Tony Perez in 1974 (2-run homer, down 1 against San Francisco)
Adam Dunn in 2006 (grand slam, down 3 against Cleveland)
Ramon Hernandez in 2011 (3-run homer, down 2 against Milwaukee)
Brandon Phillips in 2011 (2-run homer, down 1 against St. Louis)

More trivia on the event:

- It was Brandon's second walk-off home run of his career and first with the Reds, and third walk-off hit of any kind as a Red.

- Votto and Bruce are the co-leaders on the current roster for walk-off hits as Reds, with 4 each. Two by Bruce and one by Votto were home runs.

- Tony Perez is the all-time Reds leader in walk-off hits with 19. Frank Robinson had 14.

- Perez also leads the Reds in walk-off homers with 10. Adam Dunn had 7.