A few weeks ago, I listened to a podcast show. In the show, the host and the guest were talking about some free agents and some teams that possibly will sign those players. Suddenly, the host mentioned a player. That player is an All-Star, however, the host indicated that the player just struggled against pitches in the zone during the regular season.
After listening to the show, of course, it’s worth watching which team will sign that player. Nonetheless, I was just thinking if that player truly had some troubles while facing pitches in the zone.
To understand a little bit more, I went to check on the statcast website.
Firstly, let’s take a look at those players who had a lot of swings and misses against pitches in the strike zone. It’s Ryan McMahon’s 7th season in the majors. This season, he was struck out 198 times, which are the most in a single season in his career. This year, he swung and missed more than 250 times against pitches in the zone. Meanwhile, there were 240+ times that Matt Olson swung and missed against pitches in the zone. However, he crushed 54 home runs, leading the majors.
In the meantime, 3 other players each had at least 230 swings and misses against pitches in the strike zone. Among those 5 players who whiffed at least 230 times against pitches in the zone, Matt Olson is the only one who finished the season with an OPS over .800.
In addition, Tony Kemp only hit .209/.303/.304 with 5 home runs and 27 RBI in 2023. He didn’t hit well against pitches in the zone. When pitchers located pitches in the strike zone, Kemp’s batting average was only .204. Moreover, Taylor Walls was hitting .201/.305/.333 with 8 home runs and 36 RBI over 99 games in 2023. Against pitches in the zone, his batting average was .214. Furthermore, Miguel Vargas batted only .195/.305/.367 with 7 home runs and 32 RBI across 81 games. He was optioned to the minors in July. A major problem is probably that he didn’t hit well against pitches in the zone. He only batted .216 against pitches in the strike zone.
At the same time, 3 other players each had a batting average below .220 when pitchers threw pitches in the zone.
Finally, looking at xwOBA, Taylor Walls and Tony Kemp are on the chart. Well, they didn’t hit well against pitches in the zone and they certainly had some problems making solid contact when pitches were in the strike zone. Meanwhile, Geraldo Perdomo had an interesting season. He was selected to the All-Star game for the first time in his career. During the regular season, he slashed .246/.353/.359 with 6 home runs and 47 RBI over 144 games. In the postseason, Perdomo hit .275/.362/.392 with 2 home runs and 4 RBI in 17 games. Perdomo had a batting average of .259 against pitches in the strike zone in the 2023 season, however, his xwOBA was only .226. Additionally, Nick Allen’s xwOBA against pitches in the zone was below .260.
In the off-season, front office staff are busy evaluating free agents and negotiating salaries with players. At the same time, players are on holidays and they are preparing for the new season. For some players who have problems when pitches are in the zone, they have to identify the reason why and figure out how to solve the problem. In the 2024 season, it will be worth watching whether these players will hit better against pitches in the strike zone.
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