A couple of days ago, I watched some baseball highlights on YouTube. In one video, a pitcher threw a pitch, which was located in the bottom of the strike zone. However, the batter didn’t seem to have any problems, he swung and hit the ball well. Gone! He crushed it.
It was a home run. The batter in the video is one of the best hitters in the major. After watching the video, I’m just thinking which batters have blasted more home runs by swinging at pitches at the bottom of the strike zone.
To understand a little bit, I went to check on the statcast website.
Looking back at the stats from 2008 to 2022, there are names which the fans are familiar with on the chart.
First of all, Mike Trout made it into the big leagues in 2011 and he crushed 350 home runs from 2011 to 2022. Among those 350 HRs, 114 of them were hit in the bottom of the strike zone. There’s no doubt that Trout is very good at swinging at low pitches.
Moreover, Freddie Freeman blasted 292 home runs from 2010 to 2022. Among those 292 home runs, 107 came from the bottom of the strike zone. Furthermore, Joey Votto made his MLB debut in 2007. From 2008 to 2022, he smashed 300+ HRs and more than 100 home runs were hit at the bottom of the strike zone.
In addition, no one can ignore Giancarlo Stanton’s power. There’s no doubt that he can crush baseballs. He made it into the big leagues in 2010 and from 2010 to 2022, he hit 378 home runs, 103 of those HRs were hit at the bottom of the strike zone.
Interestingly, there’s something in common among these 4 players who blasted 100+ home runs at the bottom of the strike zone. They each won an MVP award before. In particular, Mike Trout is now a 3-time MVP award winner.
Finally, let’s take a look at which batters have smashed a lot of runs at the bottom of the strike zone by far this season. Mookie Betts has a great season so far, hitting .286/.386/.583 with 31 home runs and 77 RBI. Among those 31 home runs, nearly half of them were hit at the bottom of the strike zone. Mookie certainly has done a good job against low pitches this season. Additionally, Matt Olson hit 14 home runs while pitchers located pitches at the bottom of the strike zone. At the same time, Shohei Ohtani and Luis Robert Jr. each crushed 12 home runs when pitches were in this zone.
Previously, I used to watch an interview of a pitcher. That pitcher mentioned that it’s very important to keep his pitches low. However, sometimes, it might not work. In particular, while facing these great hitters or former MVP award winners, throwing a pitch at the bottom of the strike zone might just be perfect to these hitters. There are still several weeks left in the 2023 season. It will be worth watching which batters will continue crushing low pitches. Meanwhile, let’s see whether there will be a game-changing home run which is hit at the bottom of the strike zone.
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