A couple of days ago, I watched some highlights and a player blasted two home runs in a single game and interestingly, those two homers are first-pitch home runs. And, that makes me wonder whether he frequently swings at the first pitch.
To understand a little bit more, I went to check on the statcast website.
By far this season, Bo Bichette swung at the first pitch 181 times and Corey Seager swung at the first pitch more than 170 times. They definitely like to swing at the first pitch. When swinging at the first pitch, Bo Bichette has a batting average over .300 and he already crushed 3 first-pitch home runs. Moreover, Corey Seager signed a 10-year deal with the Rangers last December and by far, he’s hitting .236/.307/.426 with 16 home runs and 39 RBI in his first season in the Rangers uniform. He was hitting .306/.394/.521 with 16 home runs and 57 RBI in 95 games with the Dodgers in 2021. Seager’s first season with the Rangers hasn’t been really good. However, he doesn’t have any problems at swinging at the first pitch. He already crushed 7 first-pitch homers thus far and his batting average is .300 when swinging at the first pitch. Coreay Seager already swung at the first pitch more than 50% of the time so far this season, should he be more aggressive?
In addition, Nick Castellanos swung at the first pitch 150 times. He blasted 4 first-pitch homers so far. However, Castellanos now hits only .251/.301/.386 with 8 home runs and 44 RBI. But, when swinging at the first pitch, he has a great .375 batting average. Meanwhile, Rafael Devers swung at the first pitch more than 40% of the time and his batting average is over .300. He already crushed 3 first-pitch home runs.
At the same time, it’s important to take a look at Julio Rodriguez. He was named the AL Rookie of the Month for June. It’s the second consecutive month that he received the honor. He’s not afraid of swinging at the first pitch and so far, he swings at the first pitch nearly 43% of the time and has 4 first-pitch homers. Julio Rodriguez now slashes .277/.336/.487 with 15 home runs and 43 RBI.
In the meantime, 4 other players each swung at the first pitch at least 140 times thus far this season.
We have seen that some players love to swing at the first pitch and the outcomes are pretty good. Furthermore, there are other players who have enjoyed seeing good results when they decide to swing at the first pitch. When swinging at the first pitch, Ian Happ’s batting average is .552 and he has 7 extra base hits. Also, C.J. Cron has a batting average of .536 with 7 extra base hits when swinging at the first pitch. In total, there are 9 players with a batting average of .500 or higher when they choose to swing at the first pitch.
While being at bat, some players are quite patient and like to see many pitches. However, some players don’t waste time and they just hit the first pitch. We do see some players who enjoy hitting at the first pitch and they are satisfied with the results. But, for some players they have to think more. For example, Jesse Winker crushed 4 first-pitch homers last season and his batting average was over .400 while swinging at the first pitch. Nonetheless, this season, his batting average drops to under .250 when he chooses to swing at the first pitch.
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