A full count in baseball is a situation that refers to a count of three balls and two strikes during the course of an at bat. It is usually considered a moment of increased tension, as neither the batter nor the pitcher has any margin of maneuver left. This season, which players are performing well in this intense situation?
Elvis Andrus has 1861 hits in his career so far. However, his first season with the A’s hasn’t gone well, he hits only .240/.289/.318 with 3 home runs and 37 RBI. But, there is still good news. When pitch count is full, his batting average is .366. Moreover, when he’s ahead in count, he hits .346/.467/.522 with 3 home runs and 16 RBI. Charlie Blackmon finished the 2019 season with a batting average of .314 and he batted .303/.356/.448 last year. However, he only hits .267/.346/.416 so far. Nonetheless, he’s hitting well on a full count with a batting average of .359. Yuli Gurriel has a bounce-back season this year and he’s hitting .317/.384/.459 with 14 home runs and 77 RBI over 135 games. Also, his batting average is over .350 when pitch count is full. In addition, 5-time All-Star Michael Brantley has been hitting well again this season. His batting average is .315 over 116 games this season. It’s highly possible to see him finish the season with an at least .300 batting average for four consecutive seasons. Moreover, he has a .333 batting average when pitch count is full. Meanwhile, Manny Machado has a batting average of .333 when pitch count is full. Machado now hits .281/.347/.492 with 26 home runs and 96 RBI in his third season with the Padres. Moreover, Jonathan Schoop and Tim Anderson each own an over .320 batting average on a full count. Now, let’s look at those pitchers whose payoff pitches work well.
The Padres must be satisfied with Joe Musgrove in the rotation. He’s the most consistent pitcher in the Padres rotation this season. He leads the Padres in wins (11) and he posts a 3.15 ERA and a 1.07 WHIP. Musgrove tossed two shutouts this season and one was a no-hitter. Opponents hit .210 against Musgrove and when pitch count is full, opponents hit just .076. Marcus Stroman currently has 9 wins and 13 losses. However, he owns a 3.00 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP. Opponents hit .241 against Stroman. He’s doing even better when pitch count is full and opponents hit only .082. The ace of the Yankees already tossed 169.1 innings this season and Gerrit Cole owns a 3.03 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP. Batters hit .218 against Cole and Cole’s payoff pitches went well as opponents’ batting average is only .090. Furthermore, batting average against Jose Berrios is .244 this season and opponents hit .222 against Lucas Giolito. When pitch count is full, opponents only hit .106 against Berrios and MLB batters only hit .110 against Giolito. When pitch count is full, pitchers have no room to waste a pitch and batters would like to avoid resulting in a strikeout. Marcus Stroman, Joe Musgrove and Gerrit Cole use their payoff pitches well to let opponents hit under .100. In addition, batters such as Elvis Andrus can hit well on a full count.
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