So Baseball Reference has this thing that they call aLI - or the Average Leverage Index. It's a measurement of pressure situations batters find themselves in. Above 1.00 is a high-pressure situation, and below is (quite obviously) a low-pressure situation. I got to wondering about this Carlos Lee fella based on these situations.
Lee has played in 66 games with an aLI over 1.00, and he has played in 84 games with an aLI below 1.00. These games of which we speak are games that he has made an appearance, pinch-hit appearances included. How did he fare?
In games in which the aLI was at 1.00 or above, he was 60x256 (.234), 20K:14BB.
So by the wonder of mathematics, we can figure out (and not have to keep a running count in our heads) that, in those low-pressure situations/games, he is 82x325 (.252), 37K:21BB.
A couple of qualifications here. The Astros haven't played in many high-pressure games. And of course, the cleanup hitter is going to have more high-pressure situations than say, Tommy Manzella. So take it for what it's worth: we just spent a decent amount of time to tell you that Carlos Lee hasn't been very "clutch." Whatever that means.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
