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Entries in Bryce Harper (8)

Monday

May132013

NL Homer & Strikeout Percentage Leaders

Bill Chuck |

Monday, May 13, 2013 at 2:18PM

I wanted to spend a few moments looking at ultimate results, all or nothing, homers vs. strikeouts.

There are 20 players in AL with at least seven homers this season led by Justin Upton, Bryce Harper, and John Buck.

Rk	Player	HR	Tm
1	Justin Upton	12	ATL
2	Bryce Harper	10	WSN
3	John Buck	10	NYM
4	Carlos Beltran	9	STL
5	Paul Goldschmidt	9	ARI
6	Anthony Rizzo	9	CHC
7	Lucas Duda	8	NYM
8	Troy Tulowitzki	8	COL
9	Ryan Braun	8	MIL
10	Yuniesky Betancourt	8	MIL
11	Dexter Fowler	8	COL
12	Dan Uggla	7	ATL
13	Justin Ruggiano	7	MIA
14	Wilin Rosario	7	COL
15	Hunter Pence	7	SFG
16	Carlos Gonzalez	7	COL
17	Evan Gattis	7	ATL
18	Michael Cuddyer	7	COL
19	Shin-Soo Choo	7	CIN
20	Chase Utley	7	PHI

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 5/13/2013.

There are 17 players with at least 36 whiffs in the NL led by Jay Bruce, Dan Uggla, and B.J. Upton.

Rk	Player	SO	Tm
1	Jay Bruce	52	CIN
2	Dan Uggla	49	ATL
3	B.J. Upton	47	ATL
4	Ryan Howard	43	PHI
5	Justin Upton	41	ATL
6	Rickie Weeks	41	MIL
7	Pedro Alvarez	40	PIT
8	Ike Davis	39	NYM
9	Paul Goldschmidt	38	ARI
10	Justin Ruggiano	37	MIA
11	Starling Marte	37	PIT
12	Adam LaRoche	37	WSN
13	Matt Kemp	37	LAD
14	Dexter Fowler	36	COL
15	Ian Desmond	36	WSN
16	Carlos Gonzalez	36	COL
17	Joey Votto	36	CIN

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 5/13/2013.

But who are the batters with a good home run percentage and a decent strikeout percentage?

On this chart you want to be in the lower right corner where you see the effectiveness of Bryce Harper, Carlos Beltran, and Yuniesky Betancourt.

The further left you move on the chart into the lower left corner you see batters who are lower in terms of strikeouts and lower in terms of homers.

This group includes guys without any homers including Ben Revere, Denard Span, Juan Pierre, Placido Polanco, and Ruben Tejada. But it also includes some low homer hitters like Adrian Gonzalez, Andrew McCutchen, Starlin Castro, Andre Ethier, and Pablo Sandoval.

The upper right corner is comprised of guys who are hitting some homers, but striking out too much: this is where Justin Upton, Buck and Harper are hanging out along with Lucas Duda, Ryan Braun, Dan Uggla, Anthony Rizzo, Paul Goldschmidt, Dexter Fowler, Michael Cuddyer, and a number of other dangerous batters.

The upper left corner are guys who are whiffing without showing power. This unenviable group includes B.J. Upton, Jay Bruce, Adam LaRoche, Rickie Weeks, Matt Kemp, Everth Cabrera, Starlin Castro, Alfonso Soriano, and numerous others who are frustrating you.

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Home Runs,

Strikeouts | tagged

Tuesday

Nov132012

Harper, Trout Polar Opposites on the First Pitch

David Golebiewski |

Tuesday, November 13, 2012 at 5:04PM

Bryce Harper and Mike Trout turned in epic seasons while taking home Rookie of the Year Honors. In addition to their swift defense and base running savvy, Harper (whose 22 HR trailed only Tony Conigliaro among all teenage hitters) and Trout (whose 171 OPS+ was highest ever for a player qualifying for the batting title during his age-20 season) were historically dangerous in the batter's box. But the two stars destined to be compared to each other for decades to come began their at-bats in markedly different ways. Harper was ultra-aggressive on the first pitch. Trout, by contrast, rarely took the lumber off his shoulder in 0-0 counts.

Check out Harper and Trout's swing rates by pitch location in 0-0 counts:

Harper's first-pitch swing rate by pitch location

Trout' first-pitch swing rate by pitch location

Harper took one of his hellacious cuts about 41% of the time in first-pitch counts, dwarfing the 26% major league average. The only qualified hitters with a higher first-pitch swing rate were Josh Hamilton, Ian Desmond, B.J. Upton, Freddie Freeman, Yadier Molina, Delmon Young, Danny Espinosa and Chris Davis. Harper's aggression paid off, as he slugged .659 on the first pitch (.579 MLB average).

Trout swung just under 10% of the time in first-pitch situations. Kevin Youkilis, Martin Prado, Joe Mauer, Dustin Pedroia and J.J. Hardy were the only batters with a more passive approach on the first pitch. While Harper chased 24% of pitches thrown out of the strike zone in 0-0 counts, Trout showed Zen-like patience by going after only 5% of first-pitch offerings (14% MLB average).

Two all-time great rookies, two totally different (and effective) ways of beginning ABs. Harper embraced his inner Josh Hamilton, lunging at first pitches and tallying lots of extra-base knocks. Trout channeled Rickey Henderson, laying off would-be balls and later doing damage in hitter's counts. Sorry, pitchers: whether these guys swing at the first pitch or not, you really don't stand a chance.

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Angels,

Nationals,

Rookie of the Year | tagged

Bryce Harper,

Los Angeles Angels,

Mike Trout,

Washington Nationals,

rookie of the year

Monday

Oct082012

The rookie Septembers of Mays, Mantle, Harper, and Trout

Bill Chuck |

Monday, October 8, 2012 at 4:16PM

This post, comparing the rookie Septembers of Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Bryce Harper, and Mike Trout was inspired by an observation from the great biographer Jane Leavy on Face the Nation on October 7, 2012 on CBS.