Hit the ball hard

It’s been almost a month since the 2023 season began. Some players have a great start this year. While seeing some hitters’ performances, I was wondering whether they can continually hit well during the regular season. In particular, do they actually hit the ball hard? To understand a little bit more, I went to check on the statcast website.

Hard-hit Rate (~2023.04.25)
Player	Hard-hit %
Matt Chapman	62.9%
MJ Melendez	62.2%
Aaron Judge	61.8%
Christian Bethancourt	61.1%
Giancarlo Stanton	61.0%
Mike Trout	59.6%
Jarred Kelenic	59.3%
Joc Pederson	59.3%

Matt Chapman was traded to the Blue Jays in March 2022. In the first season with the Blue Jays, he slashed .229/.324/.433 with 27 home runs and 76 RBI in 155 games. We can’t say those numbers are bad, but the former All-Star third baseman used to finish a season with an OPS over .800 3 times. At the beginning of the 2023 season, there’s no doubt that Chapman is one of the hottest hitters in the majors. He now has 16 extra base hits, tying the most in the majors. Furthermore, his OPS is over 1.000. The major reason that Chapman performs so well is because his hard-hit rate is nearly 63%. He just hit the ball really hard.

In addition, MJ Melendez now has a hard-hit rate of 62.2%. Melendez now hits .178/.282/.342 with 2 home runs and 10 RBI. He made it into the big leagues last year. In 2022, his hard-hit rate was 43.5% and he slashed .217/.313/.393 with 18 home runs and 62 RBI.

Last year, Aaron Judge broke the AL home run record. In total, he crushed 62 home runs in 2022. By far, Judge slashes .244/.337/.488 with 6 home runs and 11 RBI. His hard-hit rate was 61.8% in 2022 and by far this season, his hard-hit rate is 61.8%. He’s not the home run leader at this moment. Nonetheless, it will be worth watching how many home runs he will hit this season.

At the same time, let’s look at a batter from the Tampa Bay Rays, which already won 20 games this season. Christian Bethancourt, catcher of the Rays, now has a hard-hit rate over 61%. By far, he has an OPS over .900 and already blasted 4 home runs in 14 games. In 2022, his hard-hit rate was 44.8% and he had 11 home runs in 101 games. It was his first season to crush 10+ home runs. Will he smash 10+ home runs again in 2023?

Finally, Giancarlo Stanton’s hard-hit rate is over 60% as well. He now has 4 home runs in 13 games. Additionally, Mike Trout’s hard-hit rate is nearly 60%. Trout has an OPS over 1.000. Meanwhile, take a look at Jarred Kelenic. His hard-hit rate is 59.3% now. Kelenic has 7 home runs so far. Last season, he crushed 7 home runs in 54 games.

When we look at the leaders in hard-hit rate, there’s really no surprise that Matt Chapman’s great start in the 2023 season is a real one. He hit the ball hard and the great results will just come. Also, Christian Bethancourt has an OPS over .900 now. Furthermore, Aaron Judge is on the leaderboard again. He was the hard-hit rate leader in 2022 and in 2023, there are no signs to show that he will stop hitting the ball hard. His batting average is now below .250, but his OPS is over .800. However, MJ Melendez’s hard-hit rate is over 60%, but his OPS is below .700 so far. It will be interesting to see whether his numbers will become a little bit different by the end of the 2023 season. Perhaps, some good results will come soon?