Introduction
There is something similar to this article done on ESPN, where it is just a list of interesting overall facts. Lists like these are honestly pretty awesome as they can be impactful when thinking about certain players. Since ESPN isn’t super analytically driven, let’s do a fun article pointing out some interesting facts for hitters.
Interesting Hitting Facts
1) Pete Alonso had the most home runs (28) last year when swinging at a pitch on the edge of the plate. He had 25 home runs on balls thrown in the heart of the plate which was ranked 18th in the league. All in all, if you throw it near the strike zone Alonso will punish you.
2) The player with the highest Barrel to Home Run percentage in 2019 was Gary Sanchez. Barrels are known to be the best indicator of power.
3) The hitter with the best xwOBAcon in the league last year was none other than Yordan Alvarez.
4) Interestingly enough the player with the fourth-highest was Miguel Sano.
5) Miguel Sano was also 4th in Barrels/PA% in 2019. Sano is going outside of the top 100.
6) Remember what I said earlier about Barrels? If you look at Alex Chamberlains deserved Barrel% metric, Aaron Judge is first at 20.1%.
7) Adalberto Mondesi had the second-highest SwStr% last year at 21.2%. His .295 wOBA also came with a .264 xwOBA. Yet he is still being drafted in the third round.
8) In 2019 Franmil Reyes was fifth in average exit velocity, fourth in exit velocity per fly ball line drive, and 14th in Barrel%. His current ADP is 130.
9) Hanser Alberto put the ball in play 27.2% of the time in 2019. That of course came with a 51.2 contact%. He was first overall in both of those categories, putting the ball in play can certainly make things happen!
10) Starlin Castro had the most hits in 2019 that produced an xBA over .290.
11) In 2019 the hitter with the most home runs with runners in scoring position was Rougned Odor with 15. Mookie Betts only did it once.
12) Let’s keep this going, what about home runs with just runners on base? The league leader was Alonso with 22. Betts only did it six times out of his 29 home runs. You can expect Betts to have more than 80 RBI’s this year.
13) In the last two months of 2019, Bryce Harper had 10 steals which was ranked 8th. He should be a great power with some speed option in the second round.
14) Staying within those two months Alex Bregman lead the league in wRC+ with 222. He also had the third-lowest K% with a 9.0. Why does he keep falling in ADP?
15) In the second half of last season, Ketel Marte had a .446 wOBA (3rd), 177 wRC+ (3rd), and .434 OBP (4th).
16) J.D. Martinez killed left-handed hitters last year putting up a .539 wOBA which also ranked first in the league. The player ranked second in terms of wOBA produced a .474 wOBA. That player was Jordan Luplow.
17) In the last three years, Mike Trout has a combine wRC+ of 183 which of course ranks first. The next closest is Aaron Judge with a wRC+ of 157.
18) In that list, the player who ranks 8th was rather surprising. In the past the seasons he has put up a 145 wRC+, .308 Avg, and .387 wOBA. That player is Justin Turner.
19) In the second half of 2019, Danny Santana produced an 43.0 O-Swing% and a 16.9 SwStr%. Both of those numbers are near the bottom of the league.
20) Last but not least! In the second half, Victor Robles had a .128 ISO (20th worst in the league) with a .393 SLG%. Don’t be shocked if he provides littler power in 2020.
Conclusion
Of course, there are a lot of other statistics to look at when it comes to these players. The main purpose of this article is to really get you thinking. Personally, when I read interesting facts like these it causes me to dive into the player. When you dive into a player you don’t think to, you can find out some really amazing things. Also, it is a really good exercise to do because the best thing you can do going into fantasy baseball season is to form an opinion on as many players as possible. Thank you for reading and please let me know if you have any questions!
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