“Who is the most feared batsman in baseball?” I’m not the question to answer. That’s too easy! Step 1: Write “Judge Aaron”. Step 2: Make a confused laugh. Apparently Judge Aaron. Who would commission such a stupid article? Step 3: Have lunch. I must admit, it does sound tempting, but it’s not this article. This is a bit strange.
I first ask the opposite question: “Who is the least popular batsman in baseball?” I have a simple idea of how to test it. Take a look at the pitch rate of the pins seen by each batsman behind the count – more hits than the ball. A batsman sees a lot of balls in the middle in a bad situation, which is not a person who scares his opponent. The pitchers aren’t afraid that they will pitch under Broadway even when that is the least needed and most disadvantageous situation.
The answer to a specific expression of this question is Alex Call. He is the least terrifying perfect storm. He rarely chases. Oops, he rarely swings. His 50.7% regional swing ranks second in the profession. He is a hitter carrying a card, and the bat speed at the bottom of the bat and the hard numbers can prove it. The pitcher threw one of his balls on the heart of the plate when he was 31.5%.
Here is another most unpopular indicator: Which batsman saw the least amount of lost balls when he led the number of times – more than a strike? That’s a ball in the garbage area, not competing and unlikely to attract swings. A throw-off from the batsmen is a sure sign of respect, so there aren’t many bats who can barely see these courts in terms of pitching. While I like Thomas Saggese as a representative example, too many players can’t count the bill. He is a light, swinging utility infielder. So he saw an opportunity wasted 113 times before.
If these two measures indicate batsmen who are not usually worried by the MLB pitcher population, the most worried batsmen will fall on the other end of the spectrum. Salvador Perez, for example, is ranked second in baseball. He is devastatingly powerful, willing to swing on any statistics and hope to deal damage when tearing apart. The slider that bounces occasionally in a 2-0 count is good. Perez walks so little that his thunder is a good thing when he connects.
You will notice that Perez is second on this list, not first. first place? This is the most frightening batsman in baseball (by this very specific definition): Noelvi Marte. Marte faced 157 products during the counting lead period. Of these, 15, 9.6%, are not competitive. Of course, not all of this is intentional, but it shows a pitching strategy. Even when Marte was leading the pitcher was willing to waste pitching, just as he was Salvador Perez’s second arrival.
Just question whether this does indicate “fear” or whether it is a compromise between fear of power and fear of walking. In fact, it is more likely to be the latter. So let’s go back to our other metric, pitching in the middle when the batsman is behind. If the call is the least popular batsman, then his opposite number, that is the player who sees the smallest heart zone ball when the number is behind, should be the biggest concern. Who is that? Dominic Canzone.
Wait, dangit, this is not a good story. Let’s try again: Who is ranked second on the list? Noelvi Marte! He is only the second in one percent; Canzone saw 28 intermediate products (13.0%) in 216 opportunities, while Marte had 24 of 184 opportunities (13.0%). No matter how the pitchers feel, they do the opposite when they see Marte in the batsman’s box. When he was behind, they avoided the center of the strike zone, such as the Plague – the lowest heart zone rate in baseball. When he leads in numbers, they avoid plague-like strike zone centers – the highest waste zone rate in baseball.
“Wait, Ben,” I can hear you say. “Isn’t this a zone rate?” After all, we’re talking about low strike rates in one case and high ball rates in the other, and both cases are at the same zone rate. However, it is not exactly the same. Marte’s area speed is low, but it’s not even close to the baseball’s lowest level. His regional rate is 48.7%, which is close to the league average than the 43.1% score of league leader Bryce Harper.
The reason I like this more granular data is to capture the pitcher’s intentions. Area rate is a blunt tool. The pitcher does not know where the ball is going, and most pitches are targeted at the general vicinity of the edge of the area. You can learn more from where the pitcher is willing to miss, here are my two split metrics. If the pitcher throws the ball in the middle while leading the numbers, he may miss it. If the pitcher throws a ball in the garbage area, it is a non-competitive ball and he will definitely miss it when he falls. But the pitcher’s willingness to make mistakes tells us a lot about his fear and what he can live with.
Of course, when a pitcher hits a ball than on the ball, he prefers to play on his bat, hit the ball, stuff him in his hand, or let him get low and leave. But what are they afraid of? Leave him. What can they live with? Heaters on the street. Instead, the pitcher wants to throw Marte on the edge of the area or just on the edge of the area. But what are they afraid of? His level 85 bat speed and aggressive approach in the strike zone. He was there trying to cause harm. What can they live with? Missing area. He has a walking rate of 4.3%, so he probably won’t walk anyway.
Now take other situations, more balls than strike. On batsmen like Saggese and Call, pitchers can live with anything in the area. What they can’t stand is a non-competitive pitch. Therefore, very low waste zone rates; pitchers strongly want to pour it in the middle rather than bite and risk bounce. On the other hand, the Marte can almost stand out from the shoes. He swung with 84% of the middle-class field, taking the numbers, leading the league average of 74% of miles. Again, this is not what he walks a lot. Even if you are behind, it is better to waste the occasional pitch occasionally than to leave him a cookie.
Standardize both aspects of both behaviors to Z scores, add them to Z scores, and you will receive a number I call the fear factor. For individual batsmen, it can measure the distance of opposing pitchers on the side of avoiding avoiding avoiding protests with avoiding avoiding protests. Marte is the number one bullet:
Seeing Castellanos and Perez on this list made me feel good about it. If you live at the top of this list, the pitcher will do everything he can to avoid you. You can learn a lot about batsmen from their pitching style, and Marte’s pitching is like the freest swinger and biggest Boppers in the game. As a side note, I checked if Marte just faced a wilderness than the average pitching team, but that wasn’t the case: He faced a walking rate of 8.6%, while the league-wide walk rate totaled 8.4%.
Will it continue? I hope at least with a broad attitude. Why do you want to interact with Marte on purpose? That was his happy place. The opposite is true. Why are players messing up with the lowest fear factor in the profession when you are facing the phone? Let him strike and move on. This number may not explain every hitter in baseball – but I think this is done well in both extreme players, with pitchers having a well-known book. Here is the full list you have read carefully. But, even if you don’t read it, keep this in mind: Noelvi Marte is the most frightening batsman in a very special baseball.
