NL Homer & Strikeout Percentage Leaders

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.

Top HR Hitters since the All-Star Break

If you happened to attend an MLB game in the last two months that featured any one of the above hitters, you had a good chance to see a HR.  These sluggers have hit the most home runs per AB in the league.

While Atlanta's Dan Uggla tops the list, Lance Berkman of the Cardinals has put the most distance under his HRs in the second half.  His six long balls have averaged 430 feet.

Dan Uggla's Hit Streak Ends

Dan Uggla's 33 game hit streak came to an end versus the Cubs today in Atlanta.  One of the interesting things that stood out during the streak was his increased contact on pitches up and away.  Over the last two and a half seasons, you can see in the graphic below that Dan Uggla made most of his contact on inside pitches. However, during his hit streak, Uggla was putting wood on a lot of balls up and away. 

Dan Uggla (Click image to enlarge)

The zone location breakdown of the 49 hits that Uggla accumulated over the streak was 8 inside, 19 middle, and 22 outside. His added contact on those outside pitches certainly helped keep the streak alive.