Give up too many extra base hits?

Not so long ago, I watched a baseball game on TV. In the game, a right-handed batter hit the ball hard and it was a double. When the batter was on second base, the play-by-play guy indicated the pitcher’s history of giving up long balls. After hearing that, I was just wondering which pitchers have given up too many extra base hits this season.

To understand a little bit more, I went to check on the statcast website.

 

Extra Base Hits (~2023.08.22)
Player	XBH
Jordan Lyles	71
Rich Hill	63
Ryne Nelson
Brady Singer	60
Lucas Giolito
Jesus Luzardo	59
Drew Smyly

First of all, it’s Jordan Lyles’ 13th season in the majors. He signed a 2-year contract with the Royals last December. By far this season, he already made 24 starts and ate 139.1 innings for the Royals. However, Lyles now owns an ERA over 6. His WHIP of 1.27 isn’t really bad. Nonetheless, he already allowed 71 extra base hits and among those 71 XBHs, 30 are home runs.

Moreover, Ryne Nelson who was selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the second round of the 2019 draft made his MLB debut last year. He only made 3 starts in 2022. This season, Nelson already made 24 starts and now he has a 5.47 ERA and a 1.46 WHIP over 125 innings. An ERA over 5 doesn’t seem to be good. Additionally, there’s another problem. Nelson already gave up 63 extra base hits and among those 63 extra hits, 22 of them are home runs. The D-backs optioned him to the minors in mid-August.

At the same time, Rich Hill now has an ERA over 5 as well. He tossed 130.1 innings by far this season and already allowed 63 extra base hits. He was traded from the Pirates to the Padres before the trade deadline. Nevertheless, he gave up 5 home runs in 3 starts in the Padres uniform thus far.

In the meantime, Brady Singer, who finished the 2022 season with a 3.23 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP through 153.1 innings, doesn’t have a great 2023 season. He already made 25 starts this season, posting an ERA over 5 and a WHIP over 1.30. A main problem is probably the damage of allowing too many extra base hits. And, he gave up 15 home runs thus far.

 

Finally, Lucas Giolito currently has a 4.32 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP. He was traded to the Angels in late July, but he gave up 7 home runs in 5 starts. In total, Giolito gave up 60 extra base hits thus far.

Well, for a pitcher, giving up an extra base hit isn’t ideal. In particular, giving up a home run might be really frustrating. It’s not a good season for Ryne Nelson and Rich Hill because they just gave up too many extra base hits and those extra base hits caused some damage. At the same time, for the Royals, Jordan Lyles and Brady Singer each already gave up at least 60 extra base hits. It’s quite clear that there are some problems in their rotation. Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, the Angels certainly would like to see Giolito give up fewer extra base hits.