Early Season High And Lows
What players and teams are exceling (or struggling) at things this season compared to last?
Guardians hitters have an OBP of .363 (237 PAs) against LHP this season -- second best in MLB. They had an OBP of just .296 (1,910 PAs) against LHP last season -- worst.
Cleveland has turned their fortunes around left-handed pitches this season. What gives? Well, they currently have a team Well-Hit rate of 21.9% against lefties compared to 16.1% last season. How about Gabriel Arias? He was 9-for-108 (!) last season against lefties and now he is 6-for-12 this season. Steven Kwan has upped his game against lefties with a .400/.419/.433 (.853 OPS) slash line this season compared to a .260/.327/.340 last season (.667 OPS). Other player improvements come from Josh Naylor (.821 OPS —> 1.093 OPS) and Jose Ramirez (.766 OPS —> .903 OPS) this season. Where will they end up against lefties at the end of the year?
Brewers hitters are slugging .437 against RHP this season -- fourth best in MLB. They slugged just .378 (1,518 total bases in 4,015 ABs) against RHP last season -- third worst.
Much like the Guardians, the Brewers have seen a successful turn against right-handed pitching this season, but will it keep up? As a team they are hitting .274/.349/.437 (.785 OPS) against righties which is good for 3rd best in MLB. They have a .333 BABIP compared to last seasons .288 BABIP. The Well-Hit Rate is up to 19.3% compared to 18.5% last season and are averaging an extra-base hit every 11.7 at-bats this season.
Bo Bichette is batting just .138 on inside pitches this season -- fifth worst in MLB. He batted .326 (58-for-178) on inside pitches last season -- 10th best in MLB.
Bo Bichette is batting just .240 in non two-strike counts this season -- ninth worst in MLB. He batted .397 (117-for-295) in non two-strike counts last season -- tied for 11th best in MLB.
While Bichette is doing a bit better with two strikes early this season compared to last, he has struggled mightily early in counts. Last season he had a 33.9% Well-Hit rate in non-two strike counts last season. This year? It is just 16.0%.
Freddie Freeman is slugging just .208 on fastballs this season -- third worst in MLB. He slugged .619 (195 total bases in 315 ABs) on fastballs last season -- fourth best in MLB.
Freddie Freeman is batting just .125 on inside fastballs this season -- tied for seventh worst among hitters with at least 34 total PA's. He batted .339 (41-for-121) on inside fastballs last season -- 13th best among hitters with at least 241 total PA's.
Freeman’s struggles on the fastball in the early part of the 2024 season could be concerning for Dodgers faithful. He is currently chasing 4.2% more fastballs out of the zone this season compared to last. The miss rate is also up 3.4% from last season. 30.9% of his at-bats that end on a fastball are out of the zone, up from 28.9% last season.