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Atlanta Braves’ Charlie Culberson: just how clutch is he?

By Alan Carpenter

SAN DIEGO, CA - JUNE 5: Charlie Culberson #16 of the Atlanta Braves slides as he scores during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the San Diego Padres at PETCO Park on June 5, 2018 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Denis Poroy/Getty Images)
SAN DIEGO, CA - JUNE 5: Charlie Culberson #16 of the Atlanta Braves slides as he scores during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the San Diego Padres at PETCO Park on June 5, 2018 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Denis Poroy/Getty Images) /
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TORONTO, ON – JUNE 19: Charlie Culberson #16 of the Atlanta Braves is helped up by Dansby Swanson #7 after making a catch and crashing into the wall in the first inning during MLB game action against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre on June 19, 2018 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON – JUNE 19: Charlie Culberson #16 of the Atlanta Braves is helped up by Dansby Swanson #7 after making a catch and crashing into the wall in the first inning during MLB game action against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre on June 19, 2018 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images) /

Home of the Clutch

Out of 358 batters, the rankings of Braves with pLI are:

For the pinch hitting (phLI) version…

  • Suzuki 29th
  • Camargo 145th
  • Flowers 156th
  • Flaherty 172nd
  • Tucker 186th
  • Culberson 205th

Finally, the WPA/LI:

  • Freddie Freeman 5th
  • Albies 21st
  • Markakis 66th
  • Culberson 122nd
  • (Acuña, Suzuki:  128th, 132nd)

These numbers honestly don’t seem to be telling us too much – that perhaps many of his PH roles are “routine” – not as a game-on-the-line situation.

That’s not terribly surprising when you think about it, for it is not routine to pull a position player for a pinch hitter.  Usually (especially in the NL), this act is reserved for replacing the pitcher’s position in the batting order, which makes it more crazy that Culberson has exercised some special moments in such a role.

Let me shift to baseball-reference.com, which has this broken down a bit differently:

Charlie Culberson:

  • As a starter:  .265 (2 HR, 14 RBI in 123 PA)
  • As a substitute/PH:  .280 (2 HR, 5 RBI in 26 PA)

So when the situation presents itself… Culberson is often delivering well.

But… others?

More from Tomahawk Take

Since their names came up…

  • Johan Camargo:
    • High Leverage:  .387 (2 HR, 18 RBI in 37 PA)
    • Medium and Low:  .242 and .219, respectively
  • Tyler Flowers:
    • High Leverage:  .400 (0HR, 5 RBI in 17 PA)
    • Medium and Low:  .245 and .205
  • Preston Tucker:
    • High Leverage:  .235 (1HR, 7RBI in 18PA)
    • Medium and Low:  .190 and .302
  • Kurt Suzuki:
    • High Leverage:  .455 (1HR, 7 RBI in 29 PA)
    • Medium and Low:  .169 and .337

Reminder:

  • Culberson:
    • High Leverage:  .500 (2HR, 9 RBI in 16 PA)
    • Medium and Low:  .280 and .216

These things are hard to quantify in general, but you’d have to conclude that “clutch” is one of those stats where you’d ‘know it if you saw it’.

Clearly, the walk-off homer is such a situation, and CC has been in unique positions to cash in.  But he’s also come through in a variety of other situations that have helped the Braves – the few times that he’s found such scenarios.

Next: Fried's Domination

So is CC all that?  The fans have spoken and the stats seem to concur:  Charlie is #Clutchberson.

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