A few weeks ago, I listened to a podcast show. In the show, an analyst mentioned a batter, who’s good at bat control. That batter can make contact, but he doesn’t hit the ball really hard. Moreover, the batter collects a lot of hits during the regular season. After listening to the show, I began to think about a question.
In the 2023 season, which hitters had collected a lot of hits with an exit velocity of 90 mph or lower? To understand a little bit more, I went to check on the statcast website.
Steven Kwan made his MLB debut in 2022 and he collected 168 hits. He doesn’t hit the ball hard and last year, Kwan’s average exit velocity was 85.1 mph. In the 2023 season, he finished the season with 171 hits. More than 48% of those hits were hit with an exit velocity of 90 mph or lower. In 2023, his average exit velocity was 86 mph. Nonetheless, he can still collect hits. But, his hard-hit rate was only 18.8%.
Whit Merrifield is a 3-time All-Star and this season, he was selected to the All-Star game again. In 2023, he slashed .272/.318/.382 with 11 home runs and 67 RBI over 145 games. Merrifield collected 149 hits and nearly 50% of those hits were hit with an exit velocity of 90 mph or lower. However, there’s something worth watching. Merrifield’s average exit velocity was 85.1 mph, which is the lowest in a single season by far in his career. Additionally, his hard-hit rate was only 24.3% and it’s the first time that his hard-hit rate is below 25% in his career.
Now, let’s look at Luis Arraez, who finished the 2023 season with 200+ hits. It’s the first time that he finished a season with at least 200 hits. He hit .354/.393/.469 with 10 home runs and 69 RBI. There were 70 times that he collected a hit with an exit velocity of 90 mph or lower this season. Arraez’s hard-hit rate was 25.7% during the regular season.
In addition, Ha-Seong Kim slashed .260/.351/.398 with 17 home runs and 60 RBI. He collected 140 hits during the regular season. And, more than 60 of those hits were hit with an exit velocity below 90 mph. Nonetheless, it’s worth mentioning that his hard-hit rate dropped from 32.4% to 26.7%.
Finally, 5 other players each had at least 60 hits with an exit velocity of 90 mph or lower. Well, seeing Freddie Freeman on the chart is interesting. However, let’s remember what a season he had. In 2023, he slashed .331/.410/.567 with 29 home runs and 102 RBI. He had 211 hits this season, so actually, less than 30% of those hits were hit with an exit velocity below 90 mph.
Looking at those batters who had at least 60 hits with an exit velocity of 90 mph or lower, several players don’t hit the ball hard. For example, Kwan’s hard-hit rate was below 20% in 2023. In baseball, you don’t need to hit the ball really hard to get a hit. However, is it possible to have a long career without hitting the ball hard?
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