Total Zone Rating and initial framework for Wins above Replacement calculations provided by Sean Smith. With just a few weeks left in the college season, it seemed likely that the batting average for Division I baseball in 2021 will be the lowest since the NCAA switched to metal bats in 1974. In 2023, however, hes hoping to prolong his big-league career with a new ball club. Oh my Jose Alvarez right in the. Carted off the field pic.twitter.com/vDVZ8yR9oL. MLB tweaked its baseball slightly this year, but in the minor league and college, the bats, balls and other equipment has not changed. 1 player overall in the game, pitting names like Mike Trout, Mookie Betts, Juan Soto and Ronald Acuna Jr. against each other and helping to settle -- or add more fuel to -- positional debates like who is MLB's best starting pitcher. Most of the time, these players help grab the viewer's attention, not because of their gameplay but because of their . Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels hits a solo home run in the first inning of a game against the Chicago White Sox at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California, on April 4, 2021. COR is the coefficient of restitution, or the relationship of the incoming speed to the outgoing speed. His batting percentages were down across the board. You can follow him on Twitter @morgenstenmlb. Only the pitcher and catcher would be hit by a batted ball on the fly. The Mariners selected Jones in the first round of the 2003 MLB draft.He came up in the Mariners' minor league system as a . Do you have a sports website? Small changes to the specifications can add up. 2021-22 (First Year) - Played in 19 games and started 10 times. Don't sweat what anyone does in camp. All picks and predictions are suggestions only. If you can judge a player's greatness by his worst seasons, with Trout, you can see at a glance why he's as much in a race with the likes of Babe Ruth and Willie Mays for historical supremacy as he is with Mookie Betts, Juan Soto and Fernando Tatis Jr. for the best-right-now throne that remains his, and his alone. any player The entire league slugged .386! Its a disappointing outcome for a player just one year removed from winning the AL batting title and putting up a career-best 132 wRC+. The current criteria dont value that though. Baseball player (probably college) gets hit with a baseball right in the nuts, but hysterically dabs afterwards. -- Gonzalez, Why he's here: Bieber emerged as one of the game's best pitchers over the past two seasons and put together a remarkable 2020 campaign. Unless noted, stats are batting & fielding. We need more information before we can definitively say that. "Mr. Allegedly Raced UGA Assistant Before Fatal Crash, Jake Paul's Team Pissed I Posted Fake 'Script', 2023 EHM PRODUCTIONS,INC. any player Homers per ball in play is a much more accurate measure of the game's home run rate. But which one is No. 20 college football teams we aren't sold on in 2023, SEC Basketball Power Rankings: Mizzou shocks Tennessee, Alabama downs Auburn and more, SEC Basketball Power Rankings: Alabama stays unbeaten in SEC play, Tennessee outlasts Auburn and more, SEC Basketball Power Rankings: A new top team emerges, Alabama loses in blowout fashion, Mizzou lights it up again. -- Jesse Rogers, Why he's here: After an uneven first season in San Diego, Machado was terrific in 2020. The refrain is common across baseball as young players emulate the big league style of play. Printed from TeamRankings.com - 2005-2023 Team Rankings, LLC. "Obviously, it hit me in my private parts. -- Gonzalez, Why he's here: He's a little undersized, but all this guy does is hit, hit for power and steal some bases. Pitchers - maybe every few seasons at the MLB level. Now that we have some spring training games under our belt, let's look at how the new baseball is playing, and what the guys who throw it for a living are saying about it. You can submit your questions here. The right fielder is still just 28 years old, which seems nearly impossible given how long he's been on the minds of baseball fans, but he has yet to win his first playoff series as a major leaguer, something Philadelphia undoubtedly envisioned when it signed him to a 13-year, $330 million deal. Tennessee will face Mississippi State in an elimination game Thursday. He joins his teammate Stanton as the only players to make the list more than once. Oh my Jose. Balls were heavier, denser, and just didnt move without considerable power behind the swing. Tennessee had started to celebrate what appeared to be a walk-off win but because of the hit, interference was called. And, yes, just over 118 mph in exit velocity is where we start the list. League-wide trends can be evident in spring training, however. That's all I got on that situation, man." . A hit batsman is awarded first base, provided that (in the plate umpire's judgment) he made an honest effort to avoid the pitch, although failure to do so is rarely called by an umpire. For a pitcher it is the average of his softest 50% of batted balls allowed. In baseball, hit by pitch (HBP) is a situation in which a batter or his clothing or equipment (other than his bat) is struck directly by a pitch from the pitcher; the batter is called a hit batsman (HB). And with the two-way standout shortstop heading into a walk year, Story's act might be a limited-run performance. In 584 PA, he was worth -0.9 WAR, the lowest figure among qualified hitters. If the Marlins are still calling, hed be wise to pick up the phone. Williams hit .344/.442/.594 as a 21-year-old. Catchers get it with foul balls all the time - thus the mask. February 28, 2023. But since the start of the 2018 season, Judge has played in just 242 games out of the scheduled 384. To join our email list and get notified when we launch the 2023 MLB section. This page tracks grounded into double plays statistics. A near universal complaint among pitchers the last few seasons was that the ball was slick and hard, like a cue ball. His walk rate fell in response. Send me email updates and offers from TMZ and its Affiliates. 12 Hottest Baseball Players. He could take a spot on the bench, displacing David Hensley, but Gurriel would likely prefer more guaranteed playing time and the Astros might prefer to see what Hensley has to offer. Perhaps he should have taken the guaranteed cash when it was still on the table. pic.twitter.com/GXkXdi3jau, Wes Rucker (@wesrucker247) May 26, 2021. But from 2007 to now, the MLB strikeout rate has risen steadily to rates that the game has never seen before. Pitchers and batters who don't mind the time pay with automatic balls and strikes. any player Those who hate it say that now innings can go by without anyone other than the pitcher, catcher and hitter getting involved in the game. Spring training is now well underway, and Gurriels options are dwindling. List of Major League Baseball leaders in bases on balls, "Career Leaders & Records for Hit By Pitch", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_Major_League_Baseball_career_hit_by_pitch_leaders&oldid=1135492550. Bellinger was never quite in sync last year, batting .233/.329/.455 if you include the postseason. Get TMZ breaking news sent right to your browser! The SPORTS REFERENCE and STATHEAD trademarks are owned exclusively by Sports Reference LLC. The new, supposedly deadened 2021 ball is in use this spring, so let's look at the league home run rate. "I hope I don't have to keep answering questions about it," Cole told Martin about the ball. It doesnt take long for the ball to travel 415 feet. 1 overall, evaluates 2023 QB class, Nate Oats comments on Brandon Miller's 'pat down' intro routine: 'It won't happen again', SEC Basketball Power Rankings: Alabama inches toward regular-season title, Kentucky and Mizzou score big wins, 8 players ejected after fight breaks out between Florida and Kentucky at SEC Women's Tournament, Joe Lunardi lays out high stakes for Alabama-Auburn clash, John Calipari announces Sahvir Wheeler will miss Senior Day ceremony for Wildcats, provides reasoning. Many thanks to him. Please check the opt-in box to acknowledge that you would like to subscribe. Batting average is down. About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features NFL Sunday Ticket Press Copyright . Predicting the next MLB Rank top 100 player for all 30 MLB teams, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. As pitchers throw progressively harder and learn how to better design and sequence their pitches, they are missing more and more bats. on May 26, 2021. -- Lee, Why he's here: No, it's not foolish to compare Soto to Ted Williams. -. The state of play in Major League Baseballand the path it is onhas been a topic of frequent discussion. -- Doolittle, Why he's here: Bellinger is a naturally gifted fielder with a plus arm, elite speed and majestic power. A consistent routine, a consistent strike zone, a consistent ball, so on and so forth. -- Gonzalez, Why he's here: Last season was Trout's worst since his cup-of-coffee debut a decade ago. New York Mets have themselves to blame for Noah Syndergaard leaving, 3 moves for the San Francisco Giants this offseason, MLB history: Baby Doll, Gorgeous George, and 7 stat-stuffed games, Rating MLB general managers for 2021: The NL Central, NL teams seeking answers to the leadoff spot, Finding the next breakout star of the MLB postseason. Many of the aspects of the game are changing, even if the runs scored per game aren't drastically moving. Spring strikeout and walk rates correlate well to the regular season, for example. Heres a look at how the last 15 No. The Cactus League and Grapefruit League seasons are 11 days old now and 150 spring training games have been played. It strips away the league's ever increasing strikeout and walk rates, is unaffected by length of game, and simply tells you "when the hitter makes contact, the ball leaves the yard this often." Question, Comment, Feedback, or Correction? Today, we determine the No. Gurriels swing and o-swing rates jumped back up to where they once were. His bat was mediocre, his power was lacking, his baserunning was poor, and his defense was lousy in other words, his toolbox was empty. TeamRankings.com is solely responsible for this site but makes no guarantee about the accuracy or completeness of the information herein. He posted a 1.63 ERA and 0.87 WHIP in 12 starts and was in the hunt for the American League MVP award for much of the year in addition to the Cy Young he eventually won. Right now, the latter seems more relevant than the former. Or write about sports? -- Doolittle, Why he's here: Making contact has never been more difficult than it is now for hitters, and over the past four years, Rendon has struck out only 24 more times than he has walked. Baseball as a game rarely stays static, and there have been plenty of times in the past when the run scoring, hitting or pitching environments have changed. Home runs per game are on pace to be at the highest level since the BESR bats of the late 2000s. Lets take a look at the leaders making up the top 20 overall on the exit velocity list from both the American League and National League. Betts is a five-tool player in every sense of the word. Those who love the MLB product in 2021 say the game is never more exciting than when a pitcher and batter are battling, power versus power. Started all 31 games he played in. In the span of five years, we had a dead ball that suppressed offense, and a "juiced" ball that led to home run records. Last month, it was reported MLB is making minor changes to the ball intended to deaden it in 2021. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, call 1-800-GAMBLER. Last year, however, his 38 years caught up to him. The explanation offered was that the Alabama fielder got hit in a bad area: Tony Vitello, on the 9th inning play at 2nd, He said he got hit in the nuts. In fact, Stanton has 13 of the 20 hardest-hit balls on record for 2021. Hitters have responded by hitting for more power in the less frequent times they make contact. Find out more. 100-51, featuring rising stars like the reigning National League Rookie of the Year and a trio of young hitters in Chicago who help make the White Sox one of the American League's most exciting teams. As a note, all data for this article was taken from BaseballSavant.MLB.com. Join or start a league for free >>, Why he's here: Buehler took some time off when the 2020 season initially shut down and was thus slow to build up when MLB restarted midsummer. -- Rivera, Why he's here: This will be a crucial year for the two-time Gold Glove shortstop and four-time All-Star. any player He swung less often, particularly at pitches outside the strike zone. He's only 26 and has already established himself as one of the game's best big-game pitchers -- and it seems as if the best is yet to come. -- Rivera, Why he's here: It's so easy to forget that Acua is still just 23 years old, given how quickly he has established himself as one of the sport's most feared hitters, belting 14 homers and posting a .250/.406/.581 line in 46 games last year. 1 farm systems fared in the following seasons. Tony Vitello did not hesitate to share exactly what he was told by the SEC Tournament umpiring crew regarding the controversial call that sent the Tennessee-Alabama game to extra innings. Free MLB baseball player stats and stats leaders in simple, easy to read tables. Everything was good in the hospital. * Home Games qualifier is Across the minor leagues, hitters were hitting .235 over the first two weeks of the season. Major League Baseball Statcast, Visuals & Advanced Metrics | MLB.com 50-26, featuring seven shortstops in what is truly a golden age for the position. MLB owns Rawlings, the company that makes its baseballs, and every ball is handmade. "Let's see (if) there's a big difference during the regular season,'' Yankees shortstop Gleyber Torres recently told reporters, including Dan Martin of the New York Post. If he hits around .250, he slides into the back half of the top 100. In 1961, Mickey Mantle set the single season record for home runs hit by a switch hitter when he belted fifty-four long balls with the New York Yankees. Brian Cartwright, data analyst for the Oliver player projections, first brought to our attention that the home run rate across all three levels of NCAA baseball was increasing dramatically. His barrel rate dropped, his hard-hit rate dropped, and - you guessed it - his average exit velocity dropped too. Jose was down on the field for several minutes before, eventually, trainers loaded him onto a cart to take him into the locker room. Home runs and strikeouts are up. Gurriels Baseball Savant page provides a good preliminary explanation of what went wrong. Tony Vitello asked the umpire if he punched him in the pic.twitter.com/fGsrs9hWDz. Picks, tools and data that give you an edge in NFL survivor and knockout style pools. Spring training baseball is not regular season baseball (not even close, and that is especially true with this year's pandemic-related weirdness) and, on an individual level, spring performance is meaningless. MLB has some of the hottest and most attractive players all around. Some defensive statistics Copyright Sports Info Solutions, 2010-2023. -- Gonzalez, Why he's here: Arenado played through shoulder pain (AC joint) for most of 2020, which led to a career-worst .253/.303/.434 over 48 games. AT ST. OLAF. In 2021, Gurriel gave fans hope that he could buck the aging curve. Below is the list of the top 100 Major League Baseball players who have been hit by a pitch the most during their MLB careers. The Cactus League and Grapefruit League seasons are 11 days old now and 150 spring training games have been played. With Opening Day nearly upon us, it's time to break down how baseball's elite stack up. Subscribe to Stathead Baseball: Get your first month FREEYour All-Access Ticket to the Baseball Reference Database. In the video below, Stanton takes an 0-1 pitch from Twins pitcher Randy Dobnak to left field for a double. Yet the problem was more localized than that. By J.J. Cooper. WARNING: THIS VIDEO WILL MAKE YOU SQUIRM!!! I don't know how many I'd have to go through to find something like that before. Answer (1 of 5): Batted ball? Follow on, Mel Kiper Jr. analyzes historic nature of Bryce Young going No. An underrated weird thing about Major League Baseball today is the variability in the ball from year to year. 2005-2023 Team Rankings, LLC. This isnt entirely new. In college baseball, the strikeout rate sat around 16% through the rise of offenses in the late 2000s. Then they acknowledged the ball had changed slightly. 11:37 am ET. Led team in OPS (.915), total bases (51), slugging percentage, and . But the Yankees' $324 million right-hander does have to clean up his propensity to serve up home runs, as his 14 homers allowed was the second most in the majors. In two years with the Yankees, LeMahieu has twice finished in the top five in MVP voting and led the majors in batting average in 2020. In the video below, Stanton takes an 0-1 pitch from Twins pitcher Randy Dobnak to left field for a double. Only Francisco Lindor and Xander Bogaerts have compiled more fWAR among shortstops over the past three years, and Story may be a better all-around performer than them both. Players Top Lists. COLUMBIA, Mo. | Snubs, debates | 2020 list, Why he's here: Harper enters his third season with the Phillies after a strong 2020 campaign in which he hit .268/.420/.542 with 13 homers. All rights reserved. We're now midway through spring training and a few prominent pitchers have said the 2021 baseball is better than previous versions, and by better I mean it's easier to grip and more consistent from ball to ball. With no run scored for UT due to the interference, the game went to extra innings. SEC hoops notebook: March arrives, season accolades, 8 in dance? In extras, Alabama went up 3-2 in the top of the 11th and held on in the bottom half of the inning to pull off the upset. It has gone from 16.3% in 2014 to 21.0% in 2021. Biography. All Rights Reserved. Logos were compiled by the amazing SportsLogos.net. Because everything said about MLB can also be said about college and minor league baseball. Only 21 went for extra bases. -- David Schoenfield, Why he's here: Re-signing LeMahieu was arguably the best move made in the AL this offseason. A blank field indicates a tie. Even after Chapman's death, it would be two decades before any team began requiring players to wear helmets . Why he's here: Bregman is coming off a forgettable 2020 season in which, perhaps more than any other fallen Astro, his on-field swagger appeared to wane amid the avalanche of derision that fell on Houston. In Colorado, Arenado twice led the league in both homers and RBIs, and he was a four-time Silver Slugger Award winner. In college baseball, the 2021 season was on pace to finish with the lowest batting average across Division I that the NCAA had seen since it switched to metal bats in 1974. Like it or not, MLB in 2021 is seeing more strikeouts and nearly as many walks than ever. Suddenly, getting picked off doesn't sound so bad. They also came after news this week . Its definitely a different ball., "(Going) through four or five boxes of balls, but I would just say I've noticed they're consistent. Trea Turner. Padres starter Blake Snell has noticed the laces are thicker in the new baseball, allowing him to dig in his fingers so he can more easily throw breaking balls. Now he'll head into his free-agent year looking to cement his place among the game's most valuable players. His health has improved, he said, after offseason surgeries . Some high school data is courtesy David McWater. This page tracks hit by pitch statistics. Use without license or authorization is expressly prohibited. "The landscape has never been unfair. Alvarez was able to shake off the pain for long enough to get the out at first but immediately after, the dude crumpled to the grass, wincing and grabbing his ding dong area. Posted an on-base percentage of .400 and a slugging percentage of .515. Frankly, it's hard to believe the baseball varies as much as it does given how it can contribute to significant shifts in offense from one season to the next. Overrated? In other words, he was making more contact on less hittable pitches. Hmmm. But thats only seeing one part of a much bigger story. Last year, however, his 38 years caught up to him. Yuli Gurriel has played professional baseball around the world, suiting up in Cuba and Japan before making his way to MLB. Updated: Wednesday, March 1, 2023 12:24 PM ET, Park Factors Home runs and strikeouts are up. The league's health and safety protocols allow teams to play shortened games this spring (typically seven innings) and also end innings before three outs are recorded to avoid overworking pitchers. He then won NLCS MVP and World Series MVP. When he gets the timing of his intricate load and swing right, he's one of the game's greatest players, as he showed through most of his MVP season in 2019. Cole still lived up to his ace billing, going 7-3 with a 2.84 ERA in 12 regular-season starts in 2020, with 94 strikeouts over 73 innings. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This article was last updated by Pranaya Poudel on February 28, 2023. But Buehler was at his best when it mattered most, allowing just five runs and striking out 39 batters in 25 innings during the postseason. The 2021 Major League Baseball season kicks off on April 1. Fielding Runs is based on actual time at the position. Gary Lee. . The Astros first baseman hit 194 fly balls and only managed a hit on 26 of them. His first-pitch strike percentage was better than average for the very first time. Heres more via additional reporting fromThe New York Times: Major League Baseball informed its 30 teams in a memorandum on Friday of changes to the balls and how they will be handled for the 2021 season. Pitchers have 15 seconds between pitches with the bases empty and 20 seconds with runners on base to start . Fans have been waiting three years for a glimpse of a season like Judge's monumental 52-homer Rookie of the Year campaign in 2017. Nothing bad. * Away/Neutral Games qualifier is Gurriel's Baseball Savant page provides a good preliminary explanation of what went wrong. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images), May 17, 2021; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso (20) hits a single against the Atlanta Braves in the first inning at Truist Park. 2023 Minute Media - All Rights Reserved. Thats a question that could be asked of Aaron Judge, who makes the list of the 20 hardest hit balls of the season on three occasions. From fantasy to gambling to soothsaying, Passan dons many hats to identify breakout players and teams that will win big in the year ahead. Play-by-play data prior to 2002 was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted . It's a baseball trend. If these trends continue, expect to see more no-hitters, more pitchers racking up double-digit strikeout gamesbut also more home run records and fewer balls put into play. At this point, its unlikely Gurriel will find a team willing to offer him regular at-bats, and he may have to settle for a minor league deal. All major league baseball data including pitch type, velocity, batted ball location, So home runs and strikeouts are up, and batting averages are way down. For more information, please read our Legal Disclaimer. Smile" is coming off a down final season in Cleveland in which he hit a career-low .258 with eight home runs. 2018 is an outlier, but in 2017, 2019, and 2020, the homers per ball in play rate jumped quite a bit from spring training to the regular season. Presumably, Solano took the roster spot and the salary that might have otherwise gone to Gurriel. -- Rogers, Why he's here: Baseball's best pitcher admitted to being affected by the stop-and-start nature of last year's pandemic-shortened season. A player is considered inactive if he has announced his retirement or not played for a full season. All UZR (ultimate zone rating) calculations are provided courtesy of Mitchel Lichtman. He also deservedly finished in the top five of AL MVP voting for the ninth season in a row. You can convert WAA to a team record by taking wins = WAA + .5*G and losses = G-wins. You can convert WAR to a team record by taking wins = WAR + .294*G and losses = G-wins. Rank amongst leaders in career hit batsmen. Then, finally, MLB said differences in the seams contributed to the 2019 home run spike. Baseball, and batting in particular, was much more dangerous in 1920 than it is today. Gurriel really did have a 20 wRC+ on fly balls last season. All Rights Reserved. Speaking a few hours after the incident, Alvarez told reporters somehow everything checked out fine after a trip to the hospital. section: | slug: will-mlbs-altered-ball-change-2021-home-run-rate-heres-what-players-and-spring-stats-are-saying-about-it | sport: baseball | route: article_single.us | With Jos Abreu at first base and Michael Brantley as the DH, there isnt room for Gurriel in Houstons starting lineup. He led the AL with a 0.87 walk-to-strikeout ratio, and his .383 OBP was second only to Vladimir Guerrero Jr.s. He still possesses elite contact skills, but those skills are far less valuable when hes swinging at worse pitches and hitting without thump. Well find out pretty quickly then if were in for a Deadball Era II.. It is too early -- far too early -- to say the new baseball has or will change the league home run rate in a meaningful way. Zack Wheeler was one of the most dominant pitchers in the National League this season, finishing second in the NL Cy Young Award balloting. Yet as he enters his age-39 season, theres a reason teams have been hesitant to offer him a guaranteed role. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, Download the TMZ App on the Apple App Store, Download the TMZ App on the Google Play Store. Pete Alonso, August 19 vs. Los Angeles Dodgers, 118.4 mph The new, supposedly deadened 2021 ball is in use this spring, so let's look at. The telltale metric was that Statcast credited Bregman with just five barrels on 128 batted balls a season ago. With deGrom's velocity up this spring and an improved lineup around him, Mets fans can expect more deGrom dominance -- and more than likely some better run support -- in 2021. Additionally, you can subscribe to Baseball America's newsletter and receive all of our rankings, analysis, prospect insight & more delivered to your inbox every day. The best prospect since Mike Trout led our rankings. If Colorado falters as the projections suggest, Story will be a hot commodity on the in-season trade market. No longer could his other skills pick up the slack. This spring, the homers per ball in play rate is equal to where it was last regular season, and pretty close to where it was during the 2019 regular season, the year MLB smashed home run records. Become a Stathead & surf this site ad-free. 100-51: Which of baseball's best players lead off our 2021 list? All Rights Reserved. Hughie Jennings holds the Major League record for most hit by pitches, getting hit 287 times in his career. The baseball, literally the most important piece of equipment in the sport, changes from year to year and MLB doesn't appear to be in a rush to get to the bottom of it. Once heralded as a five-tool player, Gurriel was a shell of his former self. Well see how Vitellos Vols respond after the frustrating loss. Velocity and strikeouts are way up. 50-26: Which aces cracked the top half of our list? Best Speed is an average of 50% of his hardest hit balls. Home runs per game is nice and straightforward, though it paints an incomplete picture this spring because the games themselves are incomplete. Hank Aaron holds the Major League record for most home runs hit in a career without EVER striking out more than one hundred times in a season. Leo is a writer for FanGraphs and an editor for Just Baseball. As hitters swing and miss more often, they also have learned that the optimal way to score runs is often to accept that strikeouts are part of todays game, but when they do hit the ball, its best to hit it hard and high. Of course, we're less than two weeks into this very unusual spring training, one in which teams are easing their pitchers in action following the shortened 2020 season. -- Schoenfield, Why he's here: He wasn't far from a third consecutive Cy Young Award in 2020, finishing third behind Trevor Bauer and Yu Darvish. This isn't a trend for one level of baseball. The first home run on our list, Stanton takes an 0-1 slider from Texas pitcher Dane Dunning over the left field wall. Watch our How-To Videos to Become a Stathead, Subscribe to Stathead and get access to more data than you can imagine. All betting content is intended for an audience ages 21+. But the next time someone mentions these trends in Major League Baseball, tell them they can more accurately say this is the trend for baseball as a whole. Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. Until a Red Sox pitcher named George Herman Babe Ruth started hitting an unusual number of dingers in 1919, Major League Baseball was a strategy hitters game; home runs were so rare that the period 1900-1919 was later called The Deadball Era.. The strikeout and walk rates were also climbing quickly. His barrel rate dropped, his hard-hit rate dropped, and you guessed it his average exit velocity dropped too. Craig Biggio (285), Tommy Tucker (272), Don Baylor (267), Jason Kendall (254), Ron Hunt (243), Dan McGann (230), Chase Utley (204), and Anthony Rizzo (201) are the only other players to be hit by 200 or more pitches during their careers.
