Today I was browsing through Baseball Reference's National League page, and I stumbled upon an interesting fact -- Ryan Braun and Corey Hart are among the top players in the NL based on the "Power/Speed Number." The "Power/Speed Number" was designed by Bill James, and he himself calls it a "freak show stat" -- meaning, the number itself does not have much explanatory value, but rather serves the purpose of an index.

The simple explanation of the stat is that it is meant to evaluate classes of players, specifically those clubs of HR/SB greats -- 15/15, 20/20, 30/30, 40/40, etc. The all-time greats in this category are Barry Bonds, Rickey Henderson, Joe Morgan, Bobby Bonds, and Willie Mays. The stat is simply calculated as follows: (2*HR*SB)/(HR+SB) -- the structure of this equation weights HR and SB together in a way that gives an advantage to a player with a lot of HR and SB, rather than a player with an unbalanced total in one of the categories -- ex., if a player steals 25 bases and hits 17 HR, their power/speed number is 20.2 (2*17*25)/(17+25), whereas a player that steals 40 bases and hits 5 HR will have a number of 8.9, and a player that hits 50 HR and 1 SB will have a number of 1.9.

So, here are the individual NL leaders in Power/Speed Number:

1. Hanley Ramirez, FLA 17.4

2. Lance Berkman, HOU 15.3

3. Brandon Phillips, CIN 13.5

4. Jose Reyes. NYM 12.2

5. Ryan Braun, MIL 11.4

6. Nate McLouth, PIT 11.2

7. Carlos Beltran, NYM 11.0

8. Corey Hart, MIL 10.9

9. David Wright, NYM 9.6

10. Alfonso Soriano, CHC 9.5

 Other Brewers starters are not far off:

Rickie Weeks 8.6

Mike Cameron 7.1

I decided to take the logic of this relationship between power and speed -- that players that can both hit home runs and steal bases in bunches possess two valuable tools -- and apply it to NL teams. Here's what I found....in cases where teams had similar power/speed numbers, I included other stats that indicate power and speed effectiveness, such as XBH%, SB%, and SLG:

Here are the NL teams, ranked by power/speed number...

1. Astros (80 HR, 75 SB):      34.6% XBH; 77.42 power/speed; 72.8% SB; .414 SLG

2. Phillies (105 HR, 60 SB):   38.4% XBH; 76.36 power/speed; 89.6% SB; .440 SLG

3. Brewers (100 HR, 54 SB):  38.6% XBH; 70.13 power/speed; 73.9% SB; .430 SLG

4. Mets (65 HR, 73 SB):         31.5% XBH; 68.77 power/speed; 80.2% SB; .391 SLG

5. Rockies (68 HR, 65 SB):    33.9% XBH; 66.47 power/speed; 81.3% SB; .405 SLG

6. Reds (85 HR, 52 SB):         34.4% XBH; 64.53 power/speed; 67.5% SB; .400 SLG

7. Cubs (88 HR, 49 SB):         33.4% XBH; 62.95 power/speed; 70% SB; .447 SLG

8. Marlins (112 HR, 39 SB):   38.9% XBH; 57.85 power/speed; 76.4% SB; .447 SLG

9. Dodgers (51 HR, 64 SB):   28.3% XBH; 56.77 power/speed; 75.3% SB; .381 SLG

10. Giants (50 HR, 60 SB):    33.3% XBH; 54.55 power/speed; 70.6% SB; .396 SLG

11. Cardinals (77 HR, 32 SB): 31.2% XBH; 45.21 power/speed; 68.1% SB; .418 SLG

12. Nationals (58 HR, 35 SB): 31.7% XBH; 43.66 power/speed; 68.6% SB; .360 SLG

13. Braves (78 HR, 28 SB):    31.5% XBH; 41.21 power/speed; 73.7% SB; .420 SLG

14. D’backs (82 HR, 26 SB)   38.5% XBH; 39.48 power/speed; 66.7% SB; .414 SLG

15. Pirates (80 HR, 23 SB):    33.5% XBH; 35.73 power/speed; 74.2% SB; .409 SLG

16. Padres (69 HR, 24 SB):    31.6% XBH; 35.61 power/speed; 72.7% SB; .379 SLG

For a more thorough look at these rankings, here are the NL teams ranked according to SB%...

1. Phillies (105 HR, 60 SB):   38.4% XBH; 76.36 power/speed; 89.6% SB; .440 SLG

2. Rockies (68 HR, 65 SB):    33.9% XBH; 66.47 power/speed; 81.3% SB; .405 SLG

3. Mets (65 HR, 73 SB):         31.5% XBH; 68.77 power/speed; 80.2% SB; .391 SLG

4. Marlins (112 HR, 39 SB):   38.9% XBH; 57.85 power/speed; 76.4% SB; .447 SLG

5. Dodgers (51 HR, 64 SB):   28.3% XBH; 56.77 power/speed; 75.3% SB; .381 SLG

6. Pirates (80 HR, 23 SB):      33.5% XBH; 35.73 power/speed; 74.2% SB; .409 SLG

7. Brewers (100 HR, 54 SB):  38.6% XBH; 70.13 power/speed; 73.9% SB; .430 SLG

8. Braves (78 HR, 28 SB):      31.5% XBH; 41.21 power/speed; 73.7% SB; .420 SLG

9. Astros (80 HR, 75 SB):      34.6% XBH; 77.42 power/speed; 72.8% SB; .414 SLG

10. Padres (69 HR, 24 SB):    31.6% XBH; 35.61 power/speed; 72.7% SB; .379 SLG

11. Giants (50 HR, 60 SB):    33.3% XBH; 54.55 power/speed; 70.6% SB; .396 SLG

12. Cubs (88 HR, 49 SB):       33.4% XBH; 62.95 power/speed; 70% SB; .447 SLG

13. Nationals (58 HR, 35 SB): 31.7% XBH; 43.66 power/speed; 68.6% SB; .360 SLG

14. Cardinals (77 HR, 32 SB): 31.2% XBH; 45.21 power/speed; 68.1% SB; .418 SLG

15. Reds (85 HR, 52 SB):       34.4% XBH; 64.53 power/speed; 67.5% SB; .400 SLG

16. D’backs (82 HR, 26 SB)   38.5% XBH; 39.48 power/speed; 66.7% SB; .414 SLG

...and SLG...

1. Cubs (88 HR, 49 SB):         33.4% XBH; 62.95 power/speed; 70% SB; .447 SLG

2. Marlins (112 HR, 39 SB):   38.9% XBH; 57.85 power/speed; 76.4% SB; .447 SLG

3. Phillies (105 HR, 60 SB):   38.4% XBH; 76.36 power/speed; 89.6% SB; .440 SLG

4. Brewers (100 HR, 54 SB):  38.6% XBH; 70.13 power/speed; 73.9% SB; .430 SLG

5. Braves (78 HR, 28 SB):      31.5% XBH; 41.21 power/speed; 73.7% SB; .420 SLG

6. Cardinals (77 HR, 32 SB): 31.2% XBH; 45.21 power/speed; 68.1% SB; .418 SLG

7. Astros (80 HR, 75 SB):      34.6% XBH; 77.42 power/speed; 72.8% SB; .414 SLG

8. D’backs (82 HR, 26 SB)     38.5% XBH; 39.48 power/speed; 66.7% SB; .414 SLG

9. Pirates (80 HR, 23 SB):      33.5% XBH; 35.73 power/speed; 74.2% SB; .409 SLG

10. Rockies (68 HR, 65 SB): 33.9% XBH; 66.47 power/speed; 81.3% SB; .405 SLG

11. Reds (85 HR, 52 SB):       34.4% XBH; 64.53 power/speed; 67.5% SB; .400 SLG

12. Giants (50 HR, 60 SB):    33.3% XBH; 54.55 power/speed; 70.6% SB; .396 SLG

13. Mets (65 HR, 73 SB):       31.5% XBH; 68.77 power/speed; 80.2% SB; .391 SLG

14. Dodgers (51 HR, 64 SB):  28.3% XBH; 56.77 power/speed; 75.3% SB; .381 SLG

15. Padres (69 HR, 24 SB):    31.6% XBH; 35.61 power/speed; 72.7% SB; .379 SLG

16. Nationals (58 HR, 35 SB): 31.7% XBH; 43.66 power/speed; 68.6% SB; .360 SLG

I know that many commonly suggest that Melvin built an unbalanced Brewers offense, with a low contact ability and a certain type of streakiness, but I think we might also find that Melvin built an offense around two incredibly important tools -- speed and power. While the Brewers offense needs to improve their ability to get on base, and their ability to make contact and even hit more, one thing is certain: the type of skills our hitters have allow them to hit well for power, and we have several basepath threats on our team.