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Tigers leadoff hitter Alex Sanchez has proved that prolific bunting can elevate an accomplished hitter into a candidate for the batting championship.
Sanchez entered June with a .352 average, third in the American League. He had 19 bunt hits in 35 attempts, not counting seven sacrifice bunts (which don't count as official at-bats).
If you subtract the 19-for-35 bunting performance from Sanchez's season, what remained was a .323 average through May 31.
If .323 were his average, Sanchez would have ranked 12th among regulars at that point in the season.
Sanchez's 19-for-35 at bunting--a .543 average--added 29 points to his overall average. It gave him the third-best average in the league instead of the 12th-best.
Sanchez's bunting prowess almost obscures that he had only two walks through the first two ...
Source: HighBeam Research, Bunting his way to the top.(Baseball Notebook ...)