Griffey jr and Justin Upton
/
Surprisingly Justin Upton does compare to Ken Griffey Jr at the starts of their careers. Griffey holds a decisive advantage in batting average .301 to .267 however Upton is much closer to Griffey in OBP SLG and OPS (Griffey does lead in those categories).
When looking number of at bats need per HR, RBI, Double, Triple etc Griffey holds an advantage in doubles, HR and RBI. Upton is slightly better in scoring runs (0.1 fewer at bats needed per run scored). Upton has a distinct advantage in the Triples category. Justin Upton has recorded a triple once every 87.46 at bats while Griffey at this point in his career needed 183.13 at bats.
Stolen bases are very similar with a slight edge percentage wise to Upton with more total steals for Griffey.
Strikeouts
There is a dramatic difference in the number of strikeouts when comparing the two players. Griffey struck out once every 6.8 at bats while Upton is nearly doubling that rate with striking out once every 3.69 at bats. It should be noted that that strikeouts have risen in baseball all-around.
So below are some stats. Griffey has better numbers but it’s not as glaring as one might think.
Ken Griffey jr
| |||||||||||||
Year
|
G
|
PA
|
AB
|
R
|
H
|
2B
|
3B
|
HR
|
RBI
|
SB
|
CS
|
BB
|
SO
|
1989
|
127
|
506
|
455
|
61
|
120
|
23
|
0
|
16
|
61
|
16
|
7
|
44
|
83
|
1990
|
155
|
666
|
597
|
91
|
179
|
28
|
7
|
22
|
80
|
16
|
11
|
63
|
81
|
1991
|
154
|
633
|
548
|
76
|
179
|
42
|
1
|
22
|
100
|
18
|
6
|
71
|
82
|
1992
|
142
|
617
|
565
|
83
|
174
|
39
|
4
|
27
|
103
|
10
|
5
|
44
|
67
|
1993
|
156
|
691
|
582
|
113
|
180
|
38
|
3
|
45
|
109
|
17
|
9
|
96
|
91
|
AVG
|
146.8
|
622.6
|
549.4
|
84.8
|
166.4
|
34
|
3
|
26.4
|
90.6
|
15.4
|
7.6
|
63.6
|
80.8
|
Totals
|
734
|
3113
|
2747
|
424
|
832
|
170
|
15
|
132
|
453
|
77
|
38
|
318
|
404
|
Rate with At Bats
|
6.48
|
16.16
|
183.13
|
20.81
|
6.06
|
67%
|
*
|
9.79
|
6.80
| ||||
Justin Upton
| |||||||||||||
Year
|
G
|
PA
|
AB
|
R
|
H
|
2B
|
3B
|
HR
|
RBI
|
SB
|
CS
|
BB
|
SO
|
2007
|
43
|
152
|
140
|
17
|
31
|
8
|
3
|
2
|
11
|
2
|
0
|
11
|
37
|
2008
|
108
|
417
|
356
|
52
|
89
|
19
|
6
|
15
|
42
|
1
|
4
|
54
|
121
|
2009
|
138
|
588
|
526
|
84
|
158
|
30
|
7
|
26
|
86
|
20
|
5
|
55
|
137
|
2010
|
133
|
571
|
495
|
73
|
135
|
27
|
3
|
17
|
69
|
18
|
8
|
64
|
152
|
2011
|
155
|
662
|
582
|
103
|
170
|
39
|
5
|
31
|
88
|
21
|
9
|
58
|
122
|
AVG
|
115.4
|
478
|
419.8
|
65.8
|
116.6
|
24.6
|
4.8
|
18.2
|
59.2
|
12.4
|
5.2
|
48.4
|
114
|
Totals
|
577
|
2390
|
2099
|
329
|
583
|
123
|
24
|
91
|
296
|
62
|
26
|
242
|
569
|
Rate with At Bats
|
6.38
|
17.07
|
87.46
|
23.07
|
7.09
|
70%
|
*
|
9.88
|
3.69
| ||||
Notes
| |||||||
* success rate in stealing bases
| |||||||
Base on balls was based on Plate Appearances not At Bats
| |||||||
Griffey
|
BA
|
OBP
|
SLG
|
OPS
|
1989
|
0.264
|
0.329
|
0.42
|
0.75
|
1990
|
0.3
|
0.366
|
0.481
|
0.85
|
1991
|
0.327
|
0.399
|
0.527
|
0.93
|
1992
|
0.308
|
0.361
|
0.535
|
0.9
|
1993
|
0.309
|
0.408
|
0.617
|
1.03
|
AVG
|
0.3016
|
0.3726
|
0.516
|
0.888
|
Upton
|
BA
|
OBP
|
SLG
|
OPS
|
2007
|
0.221
|
0.283
|
0.364
|
0.65
|
2008
|
0.25
|
0.353
|
0.463
|
0.82
|
2009
|
0.3
|
0.366
|
0.532
|
0.9
|
2010
|
0.273
|
0.356
|
0.442
|
0.8
|
2011
|
0.292
|
0.372
|
0.536
|
0.91
|
AVG
|
0.2672
|
0.346
|
0.467
|
0.814
|
