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.

Raising Cain

The Royals acquired Lornezo Cain from the Brewers in the Zack Greinke trade.  Cain enjoyed a breakout year in 2010.  He posted a slash line of .317/.402/.432 in the minors.  Lornezo continued his hot hitting after his call up with a .306/.348/.415 line in 158 plate appearances.  At 24, he was an older rookie, but sometimes when players come up at that age, they are really ready to hit.

Cain, however, hit backwards.  Pitchers went after him in the strike zone:

Pitchers worked Lorenzo Cain right over the heart of the plate.Cain experienced his best results hitting on the edges of the zone:

Cain hit for his highest averages with pitches on the edges of the strike zone.I'm not sure if this is good or bad.  If a player can't cream a ball right down the middle of the plate, there won't be any reason for pitchers to go near the edges.  Given the low frequency of pitches in areas where he hit well, it seems his high average may be more the result of luck than skill.  I suspect pitchers will go after him down the pipe until he proves he can hit pitches in what should be his wheel house.

Stubbs vs. Sliders

Drew Stubbs was one of the best slider hitters in the game last season.  In fact, he absolutely crushed the pitch, hitting .378/.419/.745 with 6 doubles, 3 triples, and 8 HRs in 105 plate appearances decided by a slider. 

His entire slash line against sliders ranked in the top 99th percentile in the league, and his wOBA of .488 was the best in all of baseball.  In fact, it was 51 points better then the next guy on the list, Hideki Matsui, and 206 points better than league average.

It's like a hurricane of pain for opposing pitchers....