A few weeks ago, a friend shared a photo in a chat group and the information of that photo was about a player’s great performance. What impressed me was that the player didn’t have any swings and misses during a certain period of time. While looking at the post, I’m thinking which batters continuously make contact and it’s hard to see them swing and miss.
To understand a little bit more, I went to check on the statcast website.
Luis Arraez has a wonderful season. Now, he hits .397/.447/.483 over 70 games. He leads the majors with 106 hits and his batting average of .397 is now, without doubts, the best in the majors. He’s probably the best contact hitter in the majors now. By far this season, Arraez only has only 36 swings and misses over 295 plate appearances. His whiff% is only 6.9%, which is lowest among qualified batters. Back in 2022, his whiff% was 7.1%, which was lowest in the majors as well.
In the meantime, Nico Hoerner is another good contact hitter. He now hits .284/.333/.399 with 5 home runs and 38 RBI across 66 games. To date, he has only 57 swings and misses over 300 plate appearances. Last season, his whiff% was 14.2% and this season, it decreases to 10.5%. Hoerner and the Cubs agreed to a 3-year contract extension in March. In the Cubs lineup, he’s the one who continuously collects hits.
In addition, in the Guardians lineup, Myles Straw and Steven Kwan are the 2 players that don’t swing and miss frequently. Well, Myles Straw currently hits .242/.317/.313 with 12 RBI. Straw doesn’t have a high batting average, however, his whiff rate is 13.3% so far this season and Straw only has 60 swings and misses. Moreover, in 2023, Steven Kwan only has 61 swings and misses thus far. His whiff rate is 11.2% this year, which isn’t bad. Nonetheless, back in 2022, Kwan’s whiff rate was only 9%, second lowest among qualified batters. Thus, Kwan’s whiff rate increases a little bit this year and his k% goes up to 12.2%.
Finally, Brendan Donovan and Alex Verdugo each have fewer than 70 swings and misses by far this season. Donovan currently hits .275/.363/.395 with 7 home runs and 21 RBI over 69 games. His whiff rate is below 15% in 2023. At the same time, Alex Verdugo has a good season so far. He now slashes .303/.374/.468 with 5 home runs and 31 RBI across 71 games. He currently leads the Red Sox with 86 hits. To date, Verdugo’s whiff rate is now below 13%.
When we look at these players who rarely swing and miss, there’s no doubt that they can make contact. Most of these players have a zone contact rate of over 90%. Additionally, for players such as Steven Kwan and Alex Verdugo, they also have good plate discipline, and they don’t chase frequently. They each now own a chase rate below 25%, so they can focus on the pitches in the zone.
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