Martin's Troubles

Despite his two hits in last night's 9-8 loss to the L.A. Angels (one of which drove in two runs to tie the game in the 7th), Russell Martin is still hitting below .200.  His current line of .186/.329/.339 is reminiscent of his 2010 performance when he finished with a .248/.347/.332 line.  The only difference so far is that his BABIP in 2010 was .287 while it's currently sitting at .209. Perhaps a glimmer of hope?

Martin has always seemed to struggle with pitches down, and this year is no exception:

Russell Martin, 2012Martin has just one hit on a low pitch this season.  Since 2010, he's hitting .127 on pitches down with a .258 wOBA. His contact rate is also a weak 57.7% on low pitches, over 30% lower than pitches middle and up.

Pitchers are going to keep zoning in on that low zone against Martin unless he can make an adjustment. Between 2010 and 2011, 36.2% of all pitches Martin saw were down in or below the strike zone. That percentage is sitting at 38.1% in 2012.  Given his early struggles, it will likely go up over the rest of the season.

Top Hitters with Two Strikes

Most Hits with Two Strikes in 2012

Rank	PLAYER	pa	H	2B	3B	HR
T1	Adam Jones	83	24	3	0	3
T1	Derek Jeter	77	24	6	0	0
3	Josh Reddick	84	23	4	0	0
T4	David Ortiz	73	22	3	0	4
T4	Martin Prado	81	22	4	1	0
T6	Joe Mauer	85	21	4	1	4
T6	Rafael Furcal	76	21	3	0	1
T8	Mark Ellis	79	20	2	0	1
T8	Emilio Bonifacio	100	20	5	1	0
T10	Daniel Murphy	72	19	3	1	0
T10	Ryan Braun	82	19	0	1	1
T10	Bryan LaHair	74	19	4	0	0
T10	Prince Fielder	76	19	7	0	4
T10	Elvis Andrus	81	19	5	0	3
T10	A. J. Ellis	72	19	4	0	4
T10	Dustin Pedroia	83	19	5	2	2
T17	Edwin Encarnacion	89	17	7	0	2
T17	Joey Votto	78	17	4	0	3
T17	Jayson Werth	69	17	2	0	2
T17	Brett Lawrie	76	17	3	0	1
T17	Michael Bourn	92	17	5	0	1
T17	Michael Cuddyer	81	17	1	0	0
T17	Curtis Granderson	92	17	0	0	3
T17	Ian Kinsler	87	17	1	1	1
T17	Nelson Cruz	80	17	2	0	0

Adam Jones has been on fire for the Baltimore Orioles. He's batting .302 with a .591 slugging percentage. And his .397 wOBA is 67 points higher than his 2008-2011 average. Jones is apparently doing much better with two strikes as well, as he's tied with Derek Jeter for the league lead in hits when one pitch away from a strikeout.

In 2011, Jones had 51 hits in two strike counts, and with not even a quarter of the current season finished he's almost half way there. His wOBA with two strikes between 2008 and 2011 was .245. In 2012: .388.

One possible reason for his success this year is that Jones has become more selective when down in the count. Between 2008 and 2011, Jones chased 54.0% of pitches out of the zone with two strikes. This season that number is down to 49.4%. Jones is also making more contact in two strike counts as his miss rate is down to 19.1% from 22.8% between the 2008 and 2011 seasons.

Of course, there's always a little bit of luck involved with balls in play, and Jones is no exception. His BABIP with two strikes is a rather high .408, compared to .312 between 2008 and 2011, and a .298 League Average BABIP with two strikes in 2012.

David Robertson Closing for the Yankees

With the injury to Mariano Rivera, the New York Yankees will be looking to David Robertson as well as Rafael Soriano to close games.

Robertson has been lights out this season. His strikeout rate leads the league at 46.7%, and his K/9 of 15.75 is third behind Jonny Venters' 17.42 and Jason Grilli's 16.36.

Robertson's chase rate is up from 25.0% in 2011 to 32.0% so far in 2012.  His heat maps indicate that he's been hitting the edge of the strike zone more.

It looks like Robertson has avoided throwing in to righties so far this season, while also peppering that outside edge to lefties. That kind of control near the zone means hitters are forced to protect more.  Borderline pitches are swung at more and this has lead to that big jump in his K-Rate.