When FanGraphs updated their stats this morning, Josh Hamilton's Wins Above Replacement jumped by about four runs or 0.4 wins. And the defensive component of FG's WAR (Ultimate Zone Rating) updates on Sundays, so that is before considering his absurd defensive plays.
↵To put that in perspective, the average baseball player tends to be worth about two wins above replacement, which, over 150 games, is about .014 wins per game. Hamilton, in one single game, was worth more than twice that. Put another way, it would take only five of those games (again, even before considering defense) for Hamilton to produce as much as you'd expect from an average center fielder over an entire season. Only about 10 of those games would put him on what's roughly considered All-Star caliber (over a whole season), which is more than Nelson Cruz (3.6) has put up and he's been awesome!
↵Just one way of pointing out how ridiculous Hamilton's game was. Before last night's game, Hamilton led the next closest position player (Robinson Cano) in WAR by 0.6 wins. After that game, he leads by 0.9.
↵I should point out there was one pitcher was tied with Hamilton in WAR before last night.
↵That pitcher is Cliff Lee.
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