Desmond Jennings and Selectivity

Desmond Jennings of the Tampa Bay Rays gave the Rays offense a boost since his arrival from the minor leagues.  The Rays team batting average only went up from .243 to .246, but their OBP jumped from .312 to .334, and the team slugging percentage rose to .419 from .394.  They were scoring 4.15 runs per game through July 22, but since they've averaged 4.64 runs per game.

Jennings brings excellent strike zone judgment to the Rays.  He seldom chases balls outside the strike zone.  The following table shows the 2011 major league players with the lowest chase percentage, minimum 200 PA.

Batter	Team	Plate App.	Chase Pct.	OBPct	Walk%
Daric Barton	OAK	280	15.9%	0.325	13.9%
Chris Iannetta	COL	401	17.1%	0.366	16.5%
Josh Willingham	OAK	500	17.3%	0.330	9.8%
Scott Sizemore	OAK	373	17.3%	0.336	11.8%
Jim Thome	CLE	293	17.8%	0.345	13.7%
Ian Kinsler	TEX	658	17.9%	0.352	12.0%
Bobby Abreu	LAA	540	18.0%	0.358	13.9%
Kosuke Fukudome	CLE	531	18.4%	0.352	10.7%
Mike Cameron	FLA	268	18.6%	0.286	10.4%
Casey Blake	LAD	239	18.7%	0.342	10.9%
Geovany Soto	CHC	433	19.1%	0.314	10.2%
Jack Cust	PHI	270	19.1%	0.344	16.3%
Desmond Jennings	TB	213	19.1%	0.386	10.3%
Nick Swisher	NYY	576	19.2%	0.379	15.6%
Lou Marson	CLE	229	19.2%	0.308	9.6%
Yunel Escobar	TOR	590	19.7%	0.369	10.3%
Todd Helton	COL	487	19.8%	0.384	11.7%
Sam Fuld	TB	343	19.8%	0.313	9.0%
Dustin Ackley	SEA	313	19.8%	0.367	11.2%
Nate McLouth	ATL	321	19.8%	0.344	13.7%

I like this list, because it shows that players with good judgment on balls outside the strike zone are not necessarily good hitters. Some players, like Sam Fuld, Lou Marson and Mike Cameron use their ability to recognize balls to compensate for poor hitting skills.  Chris Iannetta, Nick Swisher and Jack Cust use this ability to draw tons of walks and boost their OBP above league average.  Desmond is more like Dustin Ackley and Todd Helton, good hitters with good strike zone judgment.  They are not only good at recognizing pitches out of the strike zone, they are good at recognizing pitches they can hit and smacking them as well.  If Jennings can keep this up as the league learns his strengths and weakness, Rays fans won't miss Carl Crawford very much.