Hall of Famers Chipper Jones explained that he thought it may be the only time he’d see a fastball in the at-bat, so he liked attacking the first pitch. In this season, swinging at first pitch does work for players, but for some players, they have to think about it again.
Corey Seager likes to swing at the first pitch. Well, we shouldn’t be surprised. Corey Seager’s first pitch swing % has been consistently higher than 40% since he made his MLB debut. In the American League, two Red Sox players, J.D. Martinez and Rafael Devers, each swing at the first pitch more than 70 times so far. J.D. Martinez swings at the first pitch 40.9% of the time. Devers swung at the first pitch 39.1% of the time last season and his first pitch swing % has increased to 47.2% this season. Additionally, Ryan McMahon swings at the first pitch 64 times and Brandon Lowe already did it 63 times.
Among Seager’s 90 swings at the first pitch, 67 pitches are in the strike zone. So, it’s not a bad idea for Seager to swing at the first pitch since he chooses to swing pitches in the strike zone most of the time. When J.D. Martinez swings at the first pitch, 53 of those first pitches are in the zone. Shohei Ohtani swings at the first pitch 62 times so far this season, and 52 pitches are in the strike zone. Ohtani isn’t afraid of swinging at the first pitch if it falls in the strike zone. Moreover, Kyle Tucker swings 51 times at the first-pitch in the zone.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. turned 22 in March and it’s his 3rd season in the majors. Guerrero Jr. surely enjoys a great start of the 2021 season and pitches have to be very careful while throwing a first pitch to Guerrero Jr. He has a batting average of .667 at the first pitch. Joey Gallo, Nick Castellanos and Bo Bichette each have a batting average of at least .500 at the first pitch. Avisail Garcia still doesn’t have a hit while swinging at the first pitch. Kyle Seager only has one hit while swinging at the first pitch. Furthermore, 5 other players fail to hit .200 at the first pitch.
And things are more interesting when we look at xwOBA. Jorge Soler’s xwOBA at the first pitch is .702 and Salvador Perez has an xwOBA of .695 at the first pitch. Shohei Ohtani and Brandon Lowe each post an above .600 xwOBA. Also, 8 other players each have an over .500 xwOBA at the first pitch. They make really loud contact at the first pitch. 2020 NL MVP Freddie Freeman’s xwOBA at the first pitch is .464. Nevertheless, Didi Gregorius’ xwOBA at the first pitch is .175. Some players are patient at bat. However, some players are aggressive at the first pitch. They don’t wait too long. There is no right answer whether a player should see more pitches. Players such as Corey Seager and Shohei Ohtani enjoy swinging at the first pitch and they have done a lot of damage. But, some players seeing more pitches might be a better idea since they have some problems with swinging at the first pitch.
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