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Billy Butler

Billy Ray Butler (Country Breakfast) (twitter: @BillyButlerKC)

Positions: Designated Hitter and First Baseman
Bats: Right, Throws: Right
Height: 6' 1", Weight: 240 lb.

Born: April 18, 1986 in Orange Park, FL
High School: Wolfson HS (Jacksonville, FL)
Drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the 1st round (14th pick) of the 2004 amateur draft.
Signed June 11, 2004. (All Transactions)
Debut: May 1, 2007
Team: Royals 2007-2012
2012 Contract Status: Signed thru 2014, 4 yrs/$30M (11-14) & 15 team option (details) [*]
Service Time (01/2012): 4.102, Free Agent: 2015 [*], Agents: Greg Genske, previously: Doug Rogalsky [*]
    About biographical information

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Standard Batting

Year Age Tm Lg G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+ TB GDP HBP SH SF IBB Pos Awards
2007 21 KCR AL 92 360 329 38 96 23 2 8 52 0 0 27 55 .292 .347 .447 .794 108 147 8 2 0 2 5 D3/7
2008 22 KCR AL 124 478 443 44 122 22 0 11 55 0 1 33 57 .275 .324 .400 .724 93 177 23 0 0 2 0 D3
2009 23 KCR AL 159 672 608 78 183 51 1 21 93 1 0 58 103 .301 .362 .492 .853 125 299 20 2 0 4 3 *3D
2010 24 KCR AL 158 678 595 77 189 45 0 15 78 0 0 69 78 .318 .388 .469 .857 134 279 32 5 0 9 8 *3D
2011 25 KCR AL 159 673 597 74 174 44 0 19 95 2 1 66 95 .291 .361 .461 .822 124 275 16 3 0 7 15 *D3
2012 26 KCR AL 49 210 190 21 55 11 0 11 35 0 1 14 33 .289 .352 .521 .873 137 99 6 5 0 1 2 *D/3
6 Yrs 741 3071 2762 332 819 196 3 85 408 3 3 267 421 .297 .359 .462 .821 121 1276 105 17 0 25 33
162 Game Avg. 162 671 604 73 179 43 1 19 89 1 1 58 92 .297 .359 .462 .821 121 279 23 4 0 5 7

Player Value--Batters

WAR Explained (v2.1): 8+ MVP, 5+ A-S, 2+ Starter, 0-2 Sub, < 0 Repl
Year Age Tm Lg G PA Rbat Rbaser Rdp Rfield Rpos RAA WAA Rrep RAR WAR waaWL% 162WL% oWAR dWAR oRAR Salary Pos Awards
2007 21 KCR AL 92 360 3 -1 0 0 -8 -6 -0.5 12 6 0.6 .493 .496 0.6 -0.7 6 $ D3/7
2008 22 KCR AL 124 478 -4 -1 -4 -3 -11 -23 -2.1 16 -7 -0.6 .481 .486 -0.4 -1.2 -4 $399,000 D3
2009 23 KCR AL 159 672 22 -5 -2 -8 -10 -3 -0.1 23 20 1.9 .498 .498 2.7 -1.7 28 $421,000 *3D
2010 24 KCR AL 158 678 28 -3 -5 -4 -11 5 0.8 23 28 2.9 .503 .503 3.3 -1.4 32 $470,000 *3D
2011 25 KCR AL 159 673 17 -2 -2 -2 -15 -4 -0.3 23 19 1.8 .497 .497 2.1 -1.7 21 $3,500,000 *D3
2012 26 KCR AL 49 210 8 -1 0 -2 -5 -0 -0.0 7 7 0.6 .500 .500 0.9 -0.8 9 $ *D/3
6 Seasons 741 3071 74 -14 -13 -19 -60 -32 -2.3 104 72 7.2 .496 .497 9.2 -7.5 92 $4,790,000

Advanced Batting

Year Age Tm Lg PA Outs RC RC/G AIR BAbip BA lgBA OBP lgOBP SLG lgSLG OPS lgOPS OPS+ OWn% BtRuns BtWins TotA SecA ISO PwrSpd
2007 21 KCR AL 360 243 50 5.5 107 .328 .292 .271 .347 .338 .447 .424 .794 .762 108 .538 3.8 0.4 .730 .237 .155 .0
2008 22 KCR AL 478 347 51 3.9 104 .294 .275 .266 .324 .333 .400 .417 .724 .751 93 .395 -5.0 -0.5 .606 .196 .124 .0
2009 23 KCR AL 672 449 105 6.2 105 .332 .301 .264 .362 .332 .492 .423 .853 .756 125 .594 23.3 2.2 .809 .288 .191 1.9
2010 24 KCR AL 678 447 102 6.1 99 .341 .318 .259 .388 .327 .469 .406 .857 .733 134 .619 32.1 3.1 .806 .267 .151 .0
2011 25 KCR AL 673 447 99 5.9 99 .316 .291 .258 .361 .323 .461 .409 .822 .732 124 .613 22.4 2.2 .784 .281 .169 3.6
2012 26 KCR AL 210 143 33 6.2 98 .299 .289 .253 .352 .320 .521 .410 .873 .730 137 .633 9.6 0.9 .824 .300 .232 .0
6 Yrs 3071 2076 440 5.7 102 .322 .297 .262 .359 .329 .462 .415 .821 .744 121 .573 86.2 8.3 .761 .262 .165 5.8
162 Game Avg. 671 454 96 5.7 102 .322 .297 .262 .359 .329 .462 .415 .821 .744 121 .573 19 2 .761 .262 .165 1

Ratio Batting*

Year Age Tm Lg PA HR% SO% BB% XBH% X/H% SO/BB AB/SO AB/HR AB/RBI GB/FB GO/AO IP% LD% HR/FB IF/FB
2007 21 KCR AL 360 2.2% 15.3% 7.5% 9.2% 34% 2.04 6.0 41.1 6.3 0.97 1.34 74% 21% 6.3% 9%
2008 22 KCR AL 478 2.3% 11.9% 6.9% 6.9% 27% 1.73 7.8 40.3 8.1 0.96 1.35 79% 18% 6.3% 11%
2009 23 KCR AL 672 3.1% 15.3% 8.6% 10.9% 40% 1.78 5.9 29.0 6.5 0.95 1.41 73% 18% 8.8% 9%
2010 24 KCR AL 678 2.2% 11.5% 10.2% 8.9% 32% 1.13 7.6 39.7 7.6 0.93 1.49 75% 19% 6.0% 9%
2011 25 KCR AL 673 2.8% 14.1% 9.8% 9.4% 36% 1.44 6.3 31.4 6.3 0.84 1.11 73% 20% 7.5% 9%
2012 26 KCR AL 210 5.2% 15.7% 6.7% 10.5% 40% 2.36 5.8 17.3 5.4 0.95 1.60 70% 16% 15.3% 11%
6 Yrs 3071 2.8% 13.7% 8.7% 9.3% 35% 1.58 6.6 32.5 6.8 0.92 1.35 74% 19% 7.6% 9%
MLB Averages 2.6% 18.0% 8.5% 7.8% 33% 2.11 4.9 34.6 7.9 0.80 1.07 69% 19% 7.5% 13%

Win Probability

Year Age Tm Lg BtRuns BtWins Plays WPA WPA+ WPA- aLI WPA/LI Clutch RE24 REW boLI RE24/boLI PHlev AB
2007 21 KCR AL 3.8 0.4 364 0.5 6.0 -5.5 .89 0.3 0.2 5.8 0.5 0.95 3.6 0.61 7
2008 22 KCR AL -5.0 -0.5 488 -0.4 7.7 -8.1 .92 -1.2 0.8 -4.9 -0.5 0.92 -12.0 1.13 7
2009 23 KCR AL 23.3 2.2 678 2.4 12.6 -10.2 .92 2.6 0.1 22.2 2.1 0.91 27.7 1.75 3
2010 24 KCR AL 32.1 3.1 687 1.5 13.1 -11.6 1.04 2.2 -0.8 15.3 1.5 0.94 20.9 4.41 1
2011 25 KCR AL 23.3 2.3 687 0.7 12.9 -12.2 1.06 1.2 -0.5 23.6 2.3 1.00 16.4 1.12 6
2012 26 KCR AL 9.6 0.9 212 0.5 4.4 -3.9 .99 0.9 -0.4 5.3 0.5 0.91 8.5 0
6 Yrs 87.1 8.4 3116 5.3 56.7 -51.4 .98 6.0 -0.7 67.4 6.5 0.94 65.0 1.19 24

Baserunning & Misc. Stats*

Year Age Tm Lg ROE XI RS% SBO SB CS SB% SB2 CS2 SB3 CS3 SBH CSH PO PCS OOB BT XBT% 1stS 1stS2 1stS3 1stD 1stD3 1stDH 2ndS 2ndS3 2ndSH
2007 21 KCR AL 3 0 26% 126 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 7 22% 20 13 5 3 3 0 9 5 2
2008 22 KCR AL 3 0 23% 158 0 1 0% 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 17 26% 24 18 4 11 9 2 12 6 6
2009 23 KCR AL 5 0 26% 280 1 0 100% 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 4 8 28% 38 34 4 12 7 4 24 10 13
2010 24 KCR AL 6 0 25% 266 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 20 20% 38 33 5 12 11 1 26 16 9
2011 25 KCR AL 5 0 25% 249 2 1 67% 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 21 13% 25 23 1 19 17 2 20 14 5
2012 26 KCR AL 0 0 16% 72 0 1 0% 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 29% 9 6 3 1 1 0 4 3 1
6 Yrs 22 0 24% 1151 3 3 50% 3 3 0 0 0 0 2 0 28 74 22% 154 127 22 58 48 9 95 54 36

Situational Hitting*

Hits Pinch Hitting Home Runs SH GIDP PrdOut BaseRunners Advances
Year Age Tm Lg PA Ptn% H Inf Bnt AB H HR RBI PHlev All GS GSo vRH vLH Hm Rd IP Att Suc % Opp DP % Opp Suc % BR BRS BRS% <2,3B Scr % 0,2B Adv % PAu
2007 21 KCR AL 360 30% 96 8 0 7 2 0 0 0.61 8 0 6 4 4 5 3 0 0 0 72 8 11% 34 15 44% 235 46 20% 30 20 67% 14 11 79% 0
2008 22 KCR AL 478 33% 122 12 0 7 3 0 0 1.13 11 0 9 3 8 4 7 0 1 0 0% 91 23 25% 38 10 26% 275 44 16% 18 11 61% 20 13 65% 0
2009 23 KCR AL 672 31% 183 7 0 3 0 0 0 1.75 21 0 16 13 8 16 5 0 0 0 131 20 15% 52 24 46% 407 75 18% 42 22 52% 27 18 67% 0
2010 24 KCR AL 678 20% 189 11 0 1 0 0 0 4.41 15 0 7 13 2 9 6 0 0 0 135 32 24% 59 26 44% 439 69 16% 43 28 65% 32 20 63% 0
2011 25 KCR AL 673 26% 174 7 0 6 1 0 0 1.12 19 0 11 13 6 9 10 0 0 0 114 16 14% 65 19 29% 421 77 18% 40 20 50% 33 18 55% 0
2012 26 KCR AL 210 27% 55 3 0 0 0 0 0 11 0 6 7 4 3 8 0 0 0 42 6 14% 25 9 36% 124 24 19% 16 8 50% 14 9 64% 0
6 Yrs 3071 27% 819 48 0 24 6 0 0 1.19 85 0 55 53 32 46 39 0 1 0 0% 585 105 18% 273 103 38% 1901 335 18% 189 109 58% 140 89 64% 0
MLB Averages 54% 68% 11% 32% 14% 51% 56%

Pitch Summary -- Batting*

Year Age Tm Lg PA Pit Pit/PA Str Str% L/Str S/Str F/Str I/Str AS/Str I/Bll AS/Pit Con 1stS 30% 30c 30s 20% 20c 20s 31% 31c 31s L/SO PAu Pitu Stru
2007 21 KCR AL 361 1381 3.83 852 62% 26% 13% 29% 32% 74% 3% 46% 82% 26% 7% 25 5 17% 62 29 8% 30 18 25% -1 0 0
2008 22 KCR AL 479 1716 3.58 1075 63% 30% 11% 23% 36% 70% 0% 44% 84% 24% 6% 28 5 15% 73 32 9% 42 24 32% -1 0 0
2009 23 KCR AL 676 2599 3.84 1585 61% 30% 13% 25% 32% 70% 1% 43% 82% 21% 8% 52 9 19% 130 48 9% 64 32 28% -4 0 0
2010 24 KCR AL 679 2559 3.77 1540 60% 31% 11% 24% 34% 69% 2% 42% 84% 21% 7% 49 9 19% 127 41 9% 64 32 24% -1 0 0
2011 25 KCR AL 674 2526 3.75 1535 61% 30% 14% 23% 33% 70% 6% 43% 80% 22% 8% 56 8 19% 125 40 10% 70 42 16% -1 0 0
2012 26 KCR AL 211 804 3.81 499 62% 32% 13% 24% 32% 68% 3% 42% 81% 17% 8% 17 5 16% 34 9 10% 22 14 12% -1 0 0
6 Yrs 3080 11585 3.76 7086 61% 30% 13% 24% 33% 70% 3% 43% 82% 22% 7% 227 41 18% 551 199 9% 292 162 24% -9 0 0
MLB Averages 3.81 63% 28% 15% 27% 30% 72% 2% 45% 79% 27% 5% 15% 9% 25%

Cumulative Batting

Year Age G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+ TB GDP HBP SH SF IBB
2007 21 92 360 329 38 96 23 2 8 52 0 0 27 55 .292 .347 .447 .794 108 147 8 2 0 2 5
2008 22 216 838 772 82 218 45 2 19 107 0 1 60 112 .282 .334 .420 .754 99 324 31 2 0 4 5
2009 23 375 1510 1380 160 401 96 3 40 200 1 1 118 215 .291 .346 .451 .798 111 623 51 4 0 8 8
2010 24 533 2188 1975 237 590 141 3 55 278 1 1 187 293 .299 .359 .457 .816 118 902 83 9 0 17 16
2011 25 692 2861 2572 311 764 185 3 74 373 3 2 253 388 .297 .360 .458 .817 119 1177 99 12 0 24 31
2012 26 741 3071 2762 332 819 196 3 85 408 3 3 267 421 .297 .359 .462 .821 121 1276 105 17 0 25 33

Neutralized Batting

Change to: Default / 750 Runs / 1968 Dodgers / 2000 Rockies or

All seasons are converted to 162-game seasons &
average team scoring of 716 total runs (4.42 R/G) How this works
Year Age G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS RC Gact
2007 21 92 357 327 37 94 23 2 8 50 0 26 55 .287 .342 .443 .785 49 92
2008 22 124 478 443 44 122 22 0 11 55 0 33 57 .275 .324 .400 .724 58 124
2009 23 159 673 609 79 184 51 1 21 94 1 58 103 .302 .363 .493 .855 109 159
2010 24 158 689 603 82 197 47 0 16 83 0 72 78 .327 .398 .484 .882 116 158
2011 25 159 681 603 78 180 46 0 20 100 2 68 95 .299 .369 .474 .843 105 159
2012 26 49 211 191 22 56 11 0 11 37 0 14 33 .293 .355 .524 .879 35 49
6 Yrs 741 3089 2776 342 833 200 3 87 419 3 271 421 .300 .363 .468 .831 472 741
162 Game Avg. 162 675 607 75 182 44 1 19 92 1 59 92 .300 .363 .468 .831 103 741

* Many Detailed Statistics are based on play-by-play accounts accumulated by RetroSheet. These totals may be incomplete (3.6% of all plays from 1918 to 1973 are missing or have incomplete accounts, click link for year and team summary) for some players prior to 1974 and even complete seasons may not match the official totals due to errors in both the official totals and the play-by-play accounts. Pre-1954 seasons have a substantial numbers of games missing play-by-play accounts and should be viewed as essentially incomplete.

Appearances on Leader Boards, Awards, and Honors

Stats are Year-Value-Rank · Glossary

Batting Average s c a p y
2010 AL  .318 (6th)
Active  .297 (22nd)

On-Base% s c a p y
2010 AL  .388 (7th)
Active  .359 (43rd)

Games Played s c a p y
2009 AL  159 (7th)
2010 AL  158 (8th)
2011 AL  159 (4th)

Hits s c a p y
2010 AL  189 (3rd)

Total Bases s c a p y
2009 AL  299 (10th)
2012 AL  99 (10th)

Doubles s c a p y
2009 AL  51 (2nd)
2010 AL  45 (4th)
2011 AL  44 (8th)

Home Runs s c a p y
2012 AL  11 (9th)

Runs Batted In s c a p y
2012 AL  35 (5th)

Singles s c a p y
2010 AL  129 (7th)

Adjusted OPS+ s c a p y
Active  121 (39th)

Extra Base Hits s c a p y
2009 AL  73 (6th)

Times On Base s c a p y
2010 AL  263 (4th)

Hit By Pitch s c a p y
2012 AL  5 (4th)

Sacrifice Flies s c a p y
2010 AL  9 (6th)

Intentional Bases on Balls s c a p y
2011 AL  15 (5th)

Double Plays Grounded Into s c a p y
2008 AL  23 (6th)
2009 AL  20 (9th)
2010 AL  32 (1st)

AB per SO s c a p y
Active  6.6 (45th)

Youngest s c a p y
2007 AL  born 1986-04-18 (3rd)
2008 AL  born 1986-04-18 (8th)

                           

Hall Of Fame Statistics

Player rank in (·)

Gray InkBatting - 24 (922), Average HOFer ≈ 144
Hall of Fame MonitorBatting - 10 (1173), Likely HOFer ≈ 100
Hall of Fame StandardsBatting - 17 (917), Average HOFer ≈ 50

Similarity Scores

Explanation of Similarity Scores
Similar Batters 
 View Similar Player Links in Pop-up
 Compare Stats to Similars
  1. Reggie Jefferson (943)
  2. James Loney (942)
  3. Lamar Johnson (935)
  4. Greg Colbrunn (929)
  5. Del Bissonette (920)
  6. Willie Aikens (919)
  7. Sam Leslie (916)
  8. Joe Hauser (914)
  9. Nick Johnson (914)
  10. Gordy Coleman (912)
Similar Batters through 25 
 View Similar Player Links in Pop-up
 Compare Stats to Similars
  1. John Olerud (948)
  2. Kent Hrbek (942)
  3. Keith Hernandez (931)
  4. Nick Markakis (924)
  5. Carl Yastrzemski (919) *
  6. Delmon Young (909)
  7. Carlos May (904)
  8. Don Hurst (904)
  9. Steve Kemp (903)
  10. Ben Grieve (900)
* - Signifies Hall of Famer
Most Similar by Ages 
 View Similar Player Links in Pop-up
 Hold mouse over #'s to see names
  1. Keith Hernandez (960)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  2. Kent Hrbek (954)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  3. John Olerud (954)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  4. John Olerud (948)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
* - Signifies Hall of Famer

Other Resources & Links

Error?     Compare     Search SABR's Baseball Index     Other Links@google.com     Baseball-Almanac.com     Retrosheet     The Baseball Page     WhatIfSports: Billy Butler    

Viewed 106,433 times through May 31, 2012.
Name and misspellings: Billy Country billie Billy Breakfast Ray Butler

Player Page Tricks and Tips

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The play-by-play information both shown and used to create certain data sets was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by RetroSheet.