All About Choo's Bruises

The Cincinnati Reds acquired Shin-Soo Choo from the Indians last winter to bring a patient, potent bat to a lineup that finished dead last in the majors in on-base percentage from the leadoff spot. 

The move has paid off in a major way, as Choo's .432 OBP trails just teammate Joey Votto (.441) and Miguel Cabrera (.447) among qualified major league hitters. He's earning that lofty OBP the hard way, though, as Choo leads the majors in hit by pitches (17). His next closest competitor (or is it commiserator?) is Starling Marte, with 14.

History in the bruising

Choo is getting plunked at an historic pace so far, with fewer than 17 plate appearances going by before he gets a new bruise from the opposing pitcher. That's the third-fewest PA between HBPs among MLB hitters in a season with least 200 trips to the plate:

Fewest PA between HBPs in single season (min. 200 PA)

Source: Baseball-Reference.com

Here's a closer look at how Choo is grimacing his way into the record books in 2013:

• Unfortunately for Choo, he's not getting grazed by errant breaking and off-speed pitches. Thirteen of his 17 HBPs have come on fastballs, ranging from an 86 MPH two-seamer from Jered Weaver to a 93 MPH four-seamer from Kyuji Fujikawa. Choo has also been hit by two sliders, and one curveball and cutter apiece.
• As if getting beaned by fastballs isn't bad enough, Choo is getting buzzed by high pitches. Eight of his 17 HBPs have come on pitches thrown in the upper-third of the strike zone, five have caught him around the ribs, and four have been below the belt.
• Choo crowds the plate, making him a natural target to get plunked, but there might be some deeper strategy involved in terms of when he takes a body shot. Seven of his HBPs have come in two-strike counts. Getting hit by a pitch hurts, but it doesn't sting as much as heading back to the bench after making an out.

Leading off for Cincy, Shin-Soo Choo

Last season, National League leadoff batters hit .257, led by the Colorado Rockies at .279

Last season, National League leadoff batters scored  1528 runs, that's an average of 95.5 runs per leadoff batter. The Giants leadoff batters scored 120 runs.

Last season, no National League team leadoff batters hit lower than the Cincinnati Reds at .208.

Last season, the Marlins leadoff batters scored a league low 80 runs.

But frequently you are judged by the company you keep - the Reds scored 83 runs, the same as the Pirates and the Astros. That's not good company for the Reds.

Here are last year's leadoff batters for the Reds: 

• Zack Cozart who hit .223 and scored 52 runs
• Brandon Phillips who hit .202 and scored 13 runs
• Drew Stubbs who hit .159 and scored 8 runs
• Chris Heisey who hit .208 and scored 7 runs no longer need to worry about leading off for the Reds.

Now leading off for the Reds, Shin-Soo Choo.

On December 11, 2012: Choo was part of a 3-team trade as he went from the Cleveland Indians with Jason Donald and cash to the Cincinnati Reds. The Arizona Diamondbacks sent Matt Albers, top pitching prospect Trevor Bauer and Bryan Shaw to the Cleveland Indians. The Cincinnati Reds sent 23-year old shortstop prospect Didi Gregorius to the Arizona Diamondbacks and Drew Stubbs to the Indians. The Cleveland Indians sent Lars Anderson and Tony Sipp to the Diamondbacks.

For the Reds this was all about acquiring about Choo and his .373 OBP as their leadoff batter. To be successful, it is critical that Choo reduces his 21.9% strikeout rate (the same as Alex Rodriguez) and maintaining his 10.6% walk rate (Mike Trout's rate was 10.5%).

Choo hit .283 last season, decent but his .353 BAbip was inordinately high for those results. Last season, David Freese hit .293 with a .352 BAbip and Carlos Gonzalez hit .303 also with a .352 BAbip.

Over the last five seasons, Choo has averaged 3.98 pitches per plate appearances and last season it was 4.09 (Trout's was 4.08).

Last season, Choo hit 16 homers and yesterday he hit his first home run as a Red. But while the 15-20 homers that he is capable of hitting is a bonus, he has one GOB (an acronym pronounced: JOB).

And that GOB acronym is simple: with Brandon Phillips, Joey Votto, Ryan Ludwick , Jay Bruce, and Zack Cozart hitting behind him, as Choo adjusts to playing centerfield, for the Reds to suceed, Choo just needs to Get On Base.

Cincy Bets on Choo's Bat

Despite posting the second-highest win total in the majors in 2012, the Cincinnati Reds got precious little out of their leadoff spot. Cincy's sorry collection of table-setters -- mostly Zack Cozart, Brandon Phillips and Drew Stubbs -- ranked dead last with an abysmal .254 on-base percentage. It wasn't close, either: the Dodgers and Mariners tied for second-worst at .281. Given the out parade atop an otherwise dangerous lineup, the Reds' top priority this offseason was finding a leadoff hitter with on-base skills.

GM Walt Jocketty got the offensive threat he so coveted in yesterday's three-team, nine-player deal involving the Reds, Indians and Diamondbacks, acquiring Shin-Soo Choo from Cleveland while surrendering Stubbs and shortstop prospect Didi Gregorius. Whether the 30-year-old Choo, who has all of 83 career innings played in center field and below-average defensive metrics in right field, can cut it in the middle pasture is an open question. But here's what's not up for debate: Choo has one of the best plate approaches in the game.

Check out the lefty hitter's swing rate by pitch location last season, compared to the MLB average:

Choo

MLB average

Choo took a cut at 65.2% of pitches thrown in the strike zone in 2012, topping the overall 64.6% average for MLB hitters. In addition to swinging at plenty of hittable pitches, Choo passed on junk pitches tossed outside of the zone. With a 21% chase rate, he ranked just outside the bottom ten among all MLB hitters:

Lowest chase rate among MLB hitters, 2012

Batter	Chase Pct.
Josh Willingham	18.4%
Rickie Weeks	18.4%
Alberto Callaspo	18.7%
Kevin Youkilis	19.2%
Edwin Encarnacion	19.9%
Carlos Santana	20.0%
Dan Uggla	20.1%
Michael Brantley	20.2%
A. J. Ellis	20.3%
Joe Mauer	20.6%
Denard Span	20.8%
Shin-Soo Choo	21.0%
Jamey Carroll	21.6%
Ben Zobrist	21.8%
Adam Dunn	21.8%
MLB Avg.	28.3%

Choo might have to fake it in center field, but he brings doubles power and a career .383 OBP to the top of the Reds' lineup. Somewhere, Joey Votto and Jay Bruce are smiling.