First, an explanation of the stats below:
RC/27: An estimate of how many runs a player "creates" per every 27 outs he makes.
BABIP: How often a ball hit in the field of play goes for a hit. This takes strikeouts and home runs (which aren't in the field of play) out of the equation. Sometimes (but not always) abnormally low or high BABIPs indicate good or poor "luck."
Ct: The percentage of at-bats a player puts the ball in play.
BB - K%: The percentage of plate appearances in which a player walks or strikes out.
wOBA: Weighted on-base percentage; a stat created to explain productivity per at-bat, explained here.
You probably guessed that VU had the Southeastern Conference's two best hitters in Austin Martin and J.J. Bleday.
You may not have known it had the league's fourth-best hitter as well.
Here are the league's 10-best players with at least 200 plate appearances in terms of runs created per 27 outs:
Martin: 14.35
Bleday,: 13.13
Alerick Soularie, Tennessee: 12.30
Stephen Scott, Vanderbilt: 11.37
Josh Smith, LSU: 10.75
Kameron Misner, Missouri: 10.65
L.J. Talley, Georgia: 10.58
Jake Mangum, Mississippi St.: 10.36
Justin Foscue, Mississippi St.: 10.28
Jack Kenley, Arkansas: 10.24
It's hard to figure how Scott and Misner--a center fielder and likely MLB first-rounder next month, one who's got a "60" grade on his arm and a "55" for fielding-- didn't make either of first- or second-team All-Southeastern Conference.
I don't have an issue with the league's first-team outfielders, who included Bleday, Soularie and Mangum--especially since, when you add in defense for Mangum, not to mention the fact that he's established a four-year record of performance that shows this isn't a fluke.
However, the coaches put the following players on the team ahead of Scott and Misner, either at DH or outfield:
Nelson Maldonado, Florida: 10.11
Dominic Fletcher, Arkansas: 8.04
Heston Kjerstad, Arkansas: 9.85
Antoine Duplantis, LSU: 8.28
Matt Goodheart, Arkansas: 10.00
Kjerstad and Maldonado had legitimate arguments on the second team. Fletcher, a center fielder who's also regarded as a top-100 pro prospect and a good defender, also has that going for him beyond his production. And while LSU right fielder Antoine Duplantis has had an outstanding career, he offered nothing close to the value that Scott or Misner offered this season. As for Goodheart, there's an argument he belonged, however, he also missed a lot of time--190 plate appearances--whereas Scott had 240, and Misner, 262.
Maybe SEC-only stats had an influence, but that makes it doubly hard to explain Scott, whose .457 on-base mark in league games ranked sixth.
There's probably a simple explanation for what happened, and that's triple crown stats:
Duplantis: .318, 11 HR, 58 RBI
Kjerstad: .336, 14 HR, 44 RBI
Fletcher: .320, 10 HR, 52 RBI
Scott: 335, 10 HR, 45 RBI
Misner: .287, 10 HR, 32 RBI
All these players are good players, if not great players. But it's 2019 and the baseball industry realized 15 years ago that there are other measures that measure offensive production better than triple crown stats.
Is it too much to ask people who vote on these teams to keep up with the times?
Late edit: A reader pointed out that Misner hit .222/353/.315 in SEC play, which had escaped me. So his omission is certainly reasonable.
As far as the Commodores, second baseman Harrison Ray hit the ball well last week. VU's junior continues to get a little better and flash some pop. Don't be shocked if Ray hits a couple more bombs before season's end.