A few days ago, I watched a game and the broadcaster mentioned an interesting fact, which is that a team is not good at hitting sliders. That really drew my attention and I went to the statcast website to see if there is something worth noticing.
So far in the 2021, 4 teams each have an above .250 batting average against sliders. Firstly, the Angels hit .270 against sliders. At the same time, Kansas City Royals hit .265 against sliders and the Astros have a .263 batting average. In the National League, the Atlanta Braves’ BA is .250. Nonetheless, some teams do have problems when hitting sliders. 12 teams fail to hit .200 against sliders so far in 2021. San Francisco Giants batters probably really hate sliders because they only bat .116 against sliders. Another team in the NL West doesn’t like sliders, either. The Diamondbacks only hit .119 against sliders so far in 2021. Tampa Bay Rays won the AL pennant last season, but in this season, they only bat .127 against sliders.
The 2021 season is going to be a 162-game marathon. A low batting average in the first month doesn’t guarantee that the team won’t be able to hit. Maybe they are just unlucky? So, let’s look at xwOBA.
The Astros have a .388 xwOBA against sliders and there’s no doubt that they can hit sliders. The Braves also can make good quality contact against sliders and they post a .383 xwOBA. The White Sox only bat .210 against sliders, but their xwOBA is .344. Additionally, three other teams each have a .320 xwOBA or above against sliders. If these teams can consistently make good quality contact against sliders, they shall see the good outcomes sooner or later.
Now, let’s see which player is really good at hitting sliders so far.
Corey Seager is not afraid of sliders and has 9 hits against sliders so far in 2021. Cedric Mullins has a very good start in 2021, hitting .333/.397/.485 so far. Against sliders, Mullins collects 8 hits. In the meantime, DJ LeMahieu and Jose Iglesias each have 8 hits against sliders as well.
When seeing sliders, Cedric Mullins collects 8 hits and he probably likes to see a pitcher throw sliders to him. His batting average against sliders is .667 so far. DJ LeMahieu is a good hitter and he already won the batting title twice, one in the NL and the other in the AL. He’s good at hitting sliders so far in 2021 with a batting average of .500. Max Muncy is a disciplined hitter and he’s hitting .500 against sliders as well.
Against sliders, Bryce Harper’s batting average is only .182 at this moment, however, you can’t ignore the former MVP. Harper's xwOBA against slider is .665 and if he keeps making quality contact against sliders, we shall see some good outcomes. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was a top prospect and expected to be a very dangerous hitter in the league. This season, he seems to be well prepared. He’s currently hitting .429 against sliders and his xwOBA is .578. Moreover, Kyle Tucker’s xwOBA is .575 against sliders. Rafael Devers and Jazz Chisholm Jr. each post an above .550 xwOBA when seeing sliders.
Throwing a slider is common in the major league since many pitchers have it in their pitching arsenal. How to hit sliders is always a key lesson for major league hitters. We see that some teams are struggling to hit sliders in the first month of the season and they will have to identify how to improve. Meanwhile, some hitters already show that they are good at hitting sliders. When facing these good hitters, a pitcher has to make sure that he can perfectly locate his slider, otherwise, it will be dangerous.
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