Oh, whiff?

Previously, several coaches taught me to swing at strikes and make contact when I began to play baseball. A swing and miss isn’t ideal and weak contact is slightly better because your opponents might make mistakes in defense. Well, that might be right. However, some swings and misses don’t seem to be a serious problem in the MLB.

When we look back at the 2021 season, there are several players who had a lot of swings and misses. But, they still had a great season.

In his third season in the majors, Bo Bichette became an All-Star in 2021. This season, Bichette slashed .298/.343/.484 with 29 home runs and 102 RBI. At the same time, he stole 25 bases, tying 9th most in the majors. During the regular season, Bichette swung 1508 times and he often made contacts with only 337 swings and misses.

Meanwhile, Ozzie Albies finished the 2021 season with 100+ RBI as well. Albies, who won the World Series title with the Braves, hit .259/.310/.488 with 30 home runs and had 20 stolen bases. During the regular season, he swung 1480 times and had 369 swings and misses.

In addition, Salvador Perez’s 2021 season is definitely unforgettable. He finished the season with 48 home runs, tying most in the majors. Moreover, he led the majors with 121 RBI. During the regular season, Perez swung more than 1400 times. He had 474 swings and misses, 2nd most in the majors. However, it doesn’t seem to be a huge problem because Perez still batted .273/.316/.544 and he became an All-Star again.

Furthermore, Freddie Freeman won the 2020 NL MVP award and, in 2021, he slashed .300/.393/.503 with 31 home runs and 83 RBI. This season, he didn’t have an OPS of 1.102 as he did in 2020. However, an .896 OPS is still pretty good. Freeman swung 1372 times in 2021 and he had 289 swings and misses.

Finally, Jonathan Schoop and Adolis Garcia each swung more than 1350 times in 2021. Schoop batted .278/.320/.435 with 22 home runs and 84 RBI. He had 335 swings and misses. Nonetheless, Garcia had more than 460 swings and misses. But, it’s not a big problem. Garcia crushed 31 home runs and had 90 RBI. He was selected to the All-Star game for the first time in his career.

The Baseball season is a marathon. A batter normally has hundreds of plate appearances during the regular season. At the same time, he probably swings more than 1000 times in a year and actually, he might miss hundreds of times each year. In 2021, Javier Baez swung 1171 times and he had 476 swings and misses, most in the majors. Baez had an over 40% whiff rate, highest among MLB qualified batters. But, he still hit .265/.319/.494 with 31 home runs and 87 RBI. Swings and misses are part of baseball games. For some players, having many swings and misses doesn’t seem to be too serious. They know how to make adjustments at each plate appearance. Baez already signed a 6-year deal with the Tigers. Let’s see whether he and Salvador Perez will have a lot of swings and misses in the AL Central next year.