Pinch hitting

In the first week of August, I watched a baseball game on TV. A player was in the on-deck circle, and it seems that he was ready. At the same time, on the screen, it showed that the player has done a great job as a pinch hitter this season. After watching the game, I began to think about a question.

With the universal DH rule, pitchers don’t have to hit now. So, it’s less frequent to see pinch hitters. Well, the universal DH rule was implemented in the 2020 season. But, prior to 2022, pitchers were required to bat in all NL games and Interleague games in which the NL team was the designated home team, during these games, it was very common to see managers use pinch hitters to replace pitchers to hit.

 

Pinch hitting might not be so common in today’s games, but it still exists. In the 2023 season, which hitters actually have been hitting well as a pinch hitter?

Firstly, let’s take a quick look to see those batters who have more plate appearances as a pinch hitter.

Plate Appearances (Pinch Hitting, ~2023.08.26)
Player	PA
Austin Slater	31
Donovan Solano	29
Kevin Pillar	26
Zach McKinstry	24
Wilmer Flores
Rob Refsnyder

To date, Austin Slater has 31 plate appearances as a pinch hitter and he collects 6 hits. The result doesn’t seem to be really good, but 2 of those 6 hits are home runs. At the same time, Donovan Solano has 29 plate appearances as a pinch hitter, and he has 8 hits and 3 walks. Additionally, Kevin Pillar is now playing for the Braves and has 26 plate appearances as pinch hitter so far this season. However, the result isn’t great. He only has 1 hit as a pinch hitter, but that hit is a homer.

 

Hits (Pinch Hitting, ~2023.08.26)
Player	H
Harold Ramirez	8
David Peralta
Donovan Solano
Aledmys Diaz	7
Joshua Palacios	6
Carlos Perez
Austin Slater

 

Some players have more plate appearances at pinch hitting. However, more plate appearances don’t guarantee better outcomes. So, let’s now look at which batters have more hits as a pinch hitter.

 

Donovan Solano has 8 hits in 25 at bats as a pinch hitter. The result is actually good. However, Harold Ramirez is doing even better. Ramirez has 8 hits in 14 at bats as a pinch hitter and he was only struck out once. Furthermore, David Peralta now slashes .271/.307/.398 with 7 home runs and 47 RBI. His hitting performance isn’t bad. Nonetheless, as a pinch hitter, he hits very well with 8 hits in 18 at bats. And, Peralta has 2 pinch-hit home runs.

 

Finally, Aledmys Diaz has 7 hits as a pinch hitter and his batting average is over .400. By far this season, Diaz only hits .223/.281/.325. Meanwhile, Joshua Palacios and Carlos Perez each have 6 hits as pinch hitters.

During the regular season, pinch hitting hasn’t been as common as it used to be. Nonetheless, in the postseason, a good decision of calling a batter to pinch hit might dramatically change a game or a series. Therefore, some of these players who have been performing well as a pinch hitter this season could be a good option for managers in the playoffs. But, first thing first, the regular season will come to an end in a few weeks. Let’s see whether some of these hitters could help their teams clinch a spot in the postseason.