In baseball, teams have little control over the clustering of hits. Hence, we can use run creation formulas to estimate a team’s luck in clustering hits.
This table shows cluster luck for MLB teams in units of runs. A positive number implies good luck in all cases, e.g. positive cluster luck on defense implies a team allowed fewer runs than expected.
These are final cluster luck numbers from the regular season for 2019.
| Rnk | Team | Total | Off | Def |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cleveland | 15.2 | 5.7 | 9.5 |
| 2 | Minnesota | 14.8 | 12.0 | 2.8 |
| 3 | Houston | 12.7 | 6.7 | 6.1 |
| 4 | Tampa Bay | 10.9 | 8.1 | 2.9 |
| 5 | Los Angeles Dodgers | 9.6 | 6.1 | 3.5 |
| 6 | Atlanta | 9.1 | 11.9 | -2.8 |
| 7 | Colorado | 6.2 | 7.0 | -0.8 |
| 8 | Miami | 4.8 | 2.7 | 2.0 |
| 9 | Arizona | 4.5 | 4.3 | 0.1 |
| 10 | Oakland | 4.1 | 5.6 | -1.5 |
| 11 | Pittsburgh | 3.5 | 14.2 | -10.7 |
| 12 | Detroit | 2.9 | 11.3 | -8.4 |
| 13 | Boston | 2.2 | -3.0 | 5.2 |
| 14 | San Diego | 1.7 | 7.3 | -5.6 |
| 15 | Washington | 1.7 | -4.4 | 6.1 |
| 16 | Chicago Cubs | -0.4 | 6.4 | -6.8 |
| 17 | New York Yankees | -1.3 | 4.6 | -5.9 |
| 18 | Los Angeles Angels | -2.0 | 5.6 | -7.6 |
| 19 | Philadelphia | -2.1 | -0.0 | -2.1 |
| 20 | Milwaukee | -3.6 | 2.2 | -5.8 |
| 21 | Chicago White Sox | -4.4 | -4.7 | 0.3 |
| 22 | St. Louis | -4.5 | 1.1 | -5.7 |
| 23 | Kansas City | -5.9 | -0.0 | -5.9 |
| 24 | Toronto | -6.8 | -8.1 | 1.4 |
| 25 | Baltimore | -8.1 | 0.2 | -8.3 |
| 26 | Texas | -9.8 | -1.6 | -8.2 |
| 27 | New York Mets | -10.1 | -5.3 | -4.7 |
| 28 | San Francisco | -10.4 | 1.1 | -11.5 |
| 29 | Cincinnati | -12.6 | 5.5 | -18.1 |
| 30 | Seattle | -15.3 | 4.2 | -19.4 |