Hitters love to swing against?

Previously, we have learned that batters swung more than 900 times against Robbie Ray’s four-seam fastball during the regular season. Additionally, against Sean Manaea’s sinker, opponents swung more than 900 times as well. Now, let’s use a different stat to see whether MLB batters usually swing against certain pitchers.

Last offseason, Liam Hendriks inked a 3-year deal with the White Sox. During the regular season, Hendriks posted a 2.54 ERA and a 0.73 WHIP. Additionally, he struck out 113 batters over 71 innings. Opponents hit only .174 against Hendriks. Moreover, against Hendriks, opponents swung 57.2% of the time. In particular, Hendriks used his four-seam fastball 68.9% of the time this year and more than 60% of the time, opponents chose to swing.  Jacob deGrom only tossed 92 innings this season before being placed on the injured list. He was dominant on the mound with a 1.08 ERA and a 0.55 WHIP. Opponents only hit .129 against deGrom and he punched out 146 batters. During the regular season, deGrom used his four-seamer 57.4% of the time and opponents decided to swing against his four-seam fastball 54% of the time. Moreover, he threw his slider 33.4% of the time and opponents chose to swing more than 60% of the time. Emmanuel Clase recorded 24 saves this season. He threw 69.2 innings with a 1.29 ERA and a 0.96 WHIP. Furthermore, he struck out 74 batters. Clase used his cutter 69.3% of the time during the regular season and average velocity of his cutter was 100.2 mph. Well, MLB batters are not afraid of swinging at triple-digit pitches. Against Clase's cutter, opponents swung 53.4% of the time. Additionally, Clase threw his slider 314 times in 2021 and opponents swung 58.9% of the time. Andrew Kittredge played 57 games, the most among the Rays pitchers this season. He posted a 1.88 ERA and a 0.98 WHIP. Additionally, he threw 77 strikeouts in 71.2 innings. Moreover, he recorded 8 saves and 7 holds. In 2021, Kittredge became an All-Star for the first time in his career. During the regular season, he threw 982 pitches and opponents swung 54.8% of the time. Finally, in 2021, Tyler Anderson made 18 starts for the Pirates and 13 starts for the Mariners. During the regular season, he threw 2602 pitches and opponents swung 54.2% of the time. Moreover, Michael Wacha tossed 124.2 innings for the Rays in 2021. He used 1974 pitches and opponents chose to swing 53.6% of the time. Liam Hendriks is one of the best closers in the majors and Jacob deGrom, who won the Cy Young award twice, is surely one of the most dominant pitchers. They each used four-seam fastball, slider, changeup and curveball in the 2021 season and opponents did swing frequently against these two great pitchers. However, it’s extremely difficult to hit well against these two pitchers. Hendriks threw 1131 pitches this season and generated more than 240 swings and misses. Jacob deGrom threw 1226 pitches before landing on the IL, he generated 283 swings and misses. MLB batters might not be afraid to swing against some top pitchers, but the results showed us why those top pitchers are dominant.