In this climate of energy efficiency, one must do all that he or she can to power their everyday needs while saving as much of that energy as possible.  In fantasy baseball, a team’s overall power is essential for survival. Being able to conserve your auction dollars and "power guy" picks on draft day, and getting that eventual late gem, is what will separate champs from chumps. 

Sure, certain things are necessity in life, so we have to pay for them, much like there are certainties in baseball, which we too, have to pay for. Ryan Howard, Adam Dunn and Albert Pujols, to name a few, will be amongst the league leaders in home runs, we know this. We also know that like the energy we need, it costs a pretty penny, or over 200 of them per gallon at times. 

So why not join the ranks of those who car pool, bike to work, use energy efficient light bulbs, and most importantly, find those efficiently priced soon to be heavy hitting power sources.

How can we do that you ask? How about AB:HR ratio? Home run to At Bat ratio is as simple and easy as it sounds. Basically, how many ABs does it take a batter to “go yard.” Easy.

The purpose of this stat is finding guys who may not have had the number of homers the above guys had, simple because they didn’t have nearly the amount of at bats. Take youth as the main factor, add in time in the minors here and there and injuries, and you can get an idea of who just may be able to pump out at least 30 dingers in ‘09, based on their ’08 AB:HR ratio.  

First, let’s take a look at the top 10 HR leaders from last season and their AB:HR ratio:

Ryan Howard-   48	-   12.71
Adam Dunn-   40	-   12.93
Carlos Delgado-   38	-   15.74
Albert Pujols-   37	-   14.16
Ryan Ludwick-   37	-   14.54
Manny Ramirez-   37	-   14.92
Ryan J. Braun-   37	-   16.51
Miguel Cabrera-   37	-   16.65
Carlos Quentin-   36	-   13.33
Adrian Gonzalez-   36	-   17.11

So what can we take from this? First, it’s obvious the two HR leaders have the highest ratios in this group; nothing earth-shattering there. The next nugget of info we can take from this, is the fact that despite having just 480 ABs in 2008 thanks to an injured shoulder, Quentin still was a Top 10 power producer. In 2009, if he boasts a similar ratio, and gets 600+ ABs like Dunn, Braun, Cabrera and Gonzalez, 2009 may just be a 40+ HR season for the young slugger.  


Looking at Quentin’s ratio got me thinking about some other sluggers who should increase their totals, if you factor in a full season of at bats and a similar AB:HR number.



Guys to watch for higher HR totals in 2009: (510 ABS or less)