Last month, I watched a baseball game. The home team was leading by one-run in the top of the 9th inning. The closer was on the mound and ready to throw. The catcher wanted the ball to go low, unfortunately, the ball was in the top of the strike zone and the batter crushed it.
The broadcaster said the batter was good at hitting high balls. And, I decided to check on the statcast website to see who is really good at hitting high balls.Yuli Gurriel had a very disappointing 2020 and he was hitting only .232/.274/.384. Nonetheless, Gurriel bounces back in 2021, so far this season, he slashes .317/.384/.478 with 13 home runs and 69 RBI over 110 games. Moreover, he likes to hit baseballs in the top of the strike zone, posting a .425 batting average. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has an outstanding 2021 season and is one of the AL MVP favorites. By far, he’s batting .308/.405/.595 with 36 home runs and 90 RBI. When pitchers locate their pitchers in the upper third, Guerrero Jr. has a batting average of .388 and he already crushed 9 home runs. Alex Verdugo had a pretty good 2020 in his first season with the Red Sox, slashing .308/.367/.478 with 6 home runs and 15 RBI. However, there are some ups and downs for Verdugo this season, but he is still hitting .286/.354/.437. He’s a contact-oriented hitter and when pitches are in the top of the strike zone, Verdugo can hit well with a .387 BA so far. Jonathan Schoop has been hitting well for the Tigers. He slashed .278/.324/.475 with 8 home runs and 23 RBI in the shortened 2020 season. By far this season, Schoop is batting .281/.323/.442 with 18 home runs and 69 RBI. The Tigers agreed to a two-year contract extension with Schoop this August and will surely hope to see him be as productive as these two years. Schoop is comfortable at hitting high pitches with a batting average of .375. In addition, Teoscar Hernandez has a .357 BA and Jesus Aguilar has a batting average of .349 when pitchers locate pitches in the upper third. Now, let’s look at the quality of contact.
Teoscar Hernandez is hitting .305/.347/.521 with 22 home runs and 84 RBI so far and he was selected to the All-Star game for the first time this year. Pitchers have to avoid throwing pitches in the top of the strike zone while facing Teoscar Hernandez because he can make solid contact and his xwOBA is over .500. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has a .388 batting average against pitches in the upper third. And, when we look at the quality of his contact, Guerrero’s xwOBA is over .500 and it’s surely that he makes high quality of contact. Nelson Cruz can still hit very well at 41 years young. By far, he’s slashing .275/.347/.520 in the 2021 season. However, Cruz hasn’t been so productive after being traded to the Rays because he’s hitting .220/.275/.470. Nonetheless, he’s good at hitting high pitches this season with a .424 xwOBA. The Miami Marlins are not going to play in the postseason as they did last year. Nevertheless, don’t ignore Jesus Aguilar’s performance. He already collected 88 RBI, leading the NL. Aguilar has a .417 xwOBA at hitting pitches in the upper third. He’s making very good contact on high pitches. Ramon Laureano was suspended for 80 games after a positive test for a performance-enhancing drug. Before being suspended, Laureano had a .304 batting average and a .403 xwOBA when pitches were in the upper third. Moreover, when pitches are in the top of the strike zone, Max Muncy’s xwOBA is .392 and J.D. Martinez has .391 xwOBA. With a high batting average and a high xwOBA, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. already shows that he’s very good at hitting high pitches. Furthermore, Yuli Gurriel’ enjoys a good bounce-back season because of good results of hitting high pitches. Meanwhile, players such as Jesus Aguilar and Alex Verdugo can also do damage against high pitches. When facing these great high ball hitters, pitchers definitely have to think again if they are going to throw pitches in the top of the strike zone.
No comments:
Post a Comment