Taking Sliders

There’s a world of difference between a minor league slider and a major league slider. Many young hitters often find it hard to adapt to the advanced pitching repertoire they face in the majors, and the slider is often a big reason many fail to make the transition permanent. Part of the problem comes from the harder fastballs they face in the bigs, making the time to identify a slider much shorter.

Since his debut in 2008, Evan Longoria has increased his batting efficiency against the slider each year. Take a look at how his ability to take a slider increased each year:

Sliders Taken by Longoria Taking fewer sliders that ended up in the strike zone raised Longoria’s expected OBP (eOBP) against sliders from .371 in 2008 to .391 in 2009, and .409 in 2010.