Free pass

In the movie “Moneyball”, it indicated that it’s important to get on base and drawing more walks helps a team win. It’s been more than 10 years since the movie was released and it’s been nearly two decades since the book was published. Of course, there are some other key pieces to win. But, drawing walks is surely beneficial. This season, there are several players who draw a lot of walks.

Walks (~2022.06.12)
Player	BB
Juan Soto	50
Matt Olson	37
Max Muncy	36
Kyle Schwarber
Yandy Diaz	35
Jesse Winker
Alex Bregman	34
Ian Happ	33
Jose Ramirez

There’s not a surprise to see that Juan Soto is currently leading the majors in walks. Last season, Juan Soto led the majors with 145 walks. By far this season, Soto already drew 50 walks. However, Juan Soto’s walk rate dropped from 22.2% to 18.2%. Nonetheless, Soto’s walk rate was 17.5% in the first half of the 2021 season, but after the All-Star break, his BB% increased to 27%. Perhaps, things will happen again? Matt Olson was traded to the Braves in March and very quickly, he signed an 8-year contract extension with the Braves. By far, Olson is hitting .251/.356/.459 with 8 home runs and 31 RBI in his first season with the Braves. Additionally, Olson already drew 37 walks, second most in the majors. Meanwhile, Max Muncy and Kyle Schwarber each drew 36 walks thus far this season. Max Muncy drew 83 walks in 2021 and now has 36 walks. But, it’s worth indicating that he only has 23 hits now. Hence, he actually has more walks than hits. The two-time All-Star doesn’t have a good start of the 2022 season. He now hits only .156/.326/.286 with 4 home runs and 19 RBI. The elbow injury may seriously affect his performance. Nonetheless, the good news is that Muncy is still quite disciplined. His BB% was 14% last season and the number is nearly 20% so far this season. Furthermore, Kyle Schwarber signed a 4-year contract with the Phillies in March. By far, he’s hitting .208/.327/.476 with 16 home runs and 34 RBI. At the same time, Schwarber’s BB% is 14.3%. In addition, it’s Yandy Diaz’s fourth season with the Rays. Last season he drew 69 walks and his walk percentage was 12.8%. This season, his walk rate rose to nearly 17% and he’s currently co-leading with Jesse Winker the AL in walks. However, at this moment, Jesse Winker’s OPS is only .617. In the meantime, Alex Bregman has 34 walks and he’s struck out 32 times by far this season. Now, Bregman’s OPS is .722. Also, Jose Ramirez has 33 walks now and he’s batting very well with a .292/.389/.641 slash line. Normally, a good batter can draw a high number of walks because they can avoid swinging at pitches that miss the strike zone. Juan Soto is one of the best hitters in the majors. Although his OPS is not over .900, he can still get on base by drawing walks. If he stays healthy, it’s highly possible to see him become the leader in walks again this season. Moreover, Max Muncy has more walks than hits so far. When will his number of hits surpass the number of walks?