Hamilton's Shagadelic Slam

Josh Hamilton is the Santa Claus of carpets. The slugger's fourth inning grand slam last night off Cleveland's David Huff might have bought the good people of Texas more than $500,000 worth of free carpeting and countertops, as a local businessman promised customers a refund if Hamilton went deep with the bases chock full of Rangers in September.

Hamilton wiped the floor with a 1-2 fastball on the outside corner, flicking his wrists and lofting it over the left field wall:

Hamilton's carpet-winning homer, 9/14/2011

While Huff's pitch was high, it's hard to blame him for wanting to pitch Hamilton outside. He's a monster on pitches thrown inside, but a mere mortal on the outer third:

      Hamilton's in-play slugging percentage by pitch location, 2011 Hamilton's .787 slugging percentage on inside pitches ranks behind only Toronto's Brett Lawrie and teammate Nelson Cruz. By no means is Hamilton lousy against pitches on the outer half -- his .424 slugging percentage places 55th out of 403 qualified hitters -- but if you're looking to avoid serving up promotion-winning shots, staying away isn't a bad strategy. Just don't tell Huff that.

Throwing the Ball By Hamilton

Josh Hamilton of the Texas Rangers suffered an offensive downturn in 2011 compared to 2010.  His .359/.411/.633 slash line from 2010 dropped to .298/.345/.520 in 2011.  The change in the way pitchers approach him offers an idea of why.  The average pitch Josh saw in 2010 wasn't very fast:

Josh Hamilton, pitch velocity, 2010.The pitches above averaged 85.6 MPH.  In 2011, Josh sees a lot more yellow:

Josh Hamilton, pitch velocity, 2011.The average velocity isn't that much greater, 86.6 MPH.  Pitchers aren't afraid to throw the high fastball to Josh, and they are getting him to chase those.  In 2010, he did go out of the strike zone up a bit:

Josh Hamilton, swing rate, 2010.In 2011, he can't lay off the high pitch:

Josh Hamilton, swing rate, 2011.In 2010, Josh hit .338/.455/.688 on high pitches, but he was disciplined high.  In 2011, with the selectivity gone, he's at .253/.387/.480. 

It strikes me that Josh lost a little bat speed.  That allows pitchers to throw him high fastballs, which give him even less time to swing.  This may not be a slump, but opponents exploiting a new weakness.

Texas Rangers Offense through April 5th

The Texas Rangers' have started the 2011 season with some very hot hitting, and are 4-0 as a result.

Batters In Play SLG% through April 5th (Click to enlarge)

Nelson Cruz, who became the third player in MLB history to homer in each of his team's first four games of the season, is sporting a 28.6% home run rate, while Ian Kinsler has already gone deep 3 times.  Considering that Josh Hamilton has yet to leave the yard, the Rangers' in play SLG% heat map is even more impressive. 

The only haven for opposing pitchers so far has been down in the zone where Rangers' batters have averaged only .153 and slugged .340.