There are a lot of new stats available to the public now. One of these is batted ball velocity, which allows us to quantify which players hit the ball the hardest. Nelson Cruz has the hardest-hit ball this year, with a speed of 119 mph, followed closely by Mike Trout (118) and Carlos Gonzalez and Mark Trumbo (117). In a bit of a surprise to me, the hardest-hit ball by a Met this year comes from Juan Lagares, who registered 113 mph with one of his trips to the plate.
Among players who’ve hit the ball at least 20 times, the Met with the slowest top batted ball velocity is Michael Cuddyer, with a mark of 101 mph. Cuddyer also holds the mark for weakest contact on a ball, with one hit that only went 40 mph. And to complete the trifecta, Cuddyer has the weakest average contact of 82.64 mph, the ninth-worst rate among those who’ve hit the ball 20 times.
In a mark that should surprise no one, Lucas Duda has the ball that traveled the furthest, with a ball that went 439 feet. Travis d’Arnaud is the only other player on the Mets to reach the 400 mark, with a ball that traveled 401 feet. And poor Cuddyer brings up the rear in this category, too, with his furthest distance being 340 feet.
WHO NEEDS THE PLATOON ADVANTAGE? – Much was made earlier this season about Jerry Blevins retiring all 15 batters he faced. Of these, 14 were LHB, which made people fret about how the team would handle him being out after the injury. Meanwhile, no one is saying anything about Jeurys Familia not allowing a hit to a lefty batter in 13 ABs. If people were going bonkers about a lefty reliever successfully retiring lefty batters – how come no one mentions Familia succeeding without the platoon advantage? Especially since LHB posted an .821 OPS against Familia in 2014?
Currently, the Mets have four righty relievers in the pen who’ve faced a lefty batter this year. Without the platoon advantage, this group has held LHB to just two hits in 25 ABs for a .080 AVG. Both of those hits were singles. Lefties have also tallied one walk and one sacrifice this year against the Mets’ righty relievers. So, these fearsome lefties in 25 PA have amassed a .080/.125/.080 slash line when they held the platoon advantage.
OFFENSE IS PICKING THINGS UP – After recording three runs or fewer in four of their first five games, the Mets have scored four or more runs in nine of their last 11 outings. In that span they’ve averaged 5.2 runs per game, despite not tallying more than seven runs in any contest. And the lineup is currently missing two starters and features three guys besides the pitcher with a sub .600 OPS. Overall, the offense ranks fourth in the NL with a 4.56 runs per game average and the feeling is that they can improve going forward.
OTHERWORLDLY K/BB RATES – The team’s top three starters – Bartolo Colon, Jacob deGrom and Matt Harvey – have combined for 64 Ks and 5 BB in 63.1 IP. That’s an unbelievable 12.7 K/BB ratio for the trio. They’ve actually allowed more homers (6) than walks and that’s with a solid 0.85 HR/9 rate. deGrom and Harvey will have their work cut out for them when they face the Yankees this weekend, as the Bronx Bombers are tied for the AL lead with 70 walks. As a whole, the Mets’ staff has allowed the second-fewest walks in the NL this year with 31. The staff also ranks second in both ERA (2.81) and WHIP (1.085).
RACE TO THE BOTTOM – Regardless of what kind of season you’re having, there’s always going to be the last player on the team to get a hit. Despite the Mets’ sparkling 13-3 record, they have two players who’ve yet to break into the hit column. Kirk Nieuwenhuis has been to the plate 14 times and is 0-for-12. Anthony Recker has been up 11 times and is 0-for-7. Nieuwenhuis holds an ugly 35.7 K% here in the early going and is not being bailed out by a super-high BABIP this time around.
BRING ON THOSE BASES LOADED SITUATIONS – You probably remember years where the Mets dreaded to come to the plate with the bases loaded. This year has been the exact opposite. The team has a 1.072 OPS with the bases juiced and has delivered 27 runs in 27 trips to the plate in this situation. That runs scored total is double that of the next-best teams, as three squads are tied with 13 runs scored with the bases loaded.
I think the whole idea of platoon advantage is over blown and causes bullpen burn out. There are occasions when it is justified but that should be based on if the batter has significant splits. The current Met bullpen is backing up this point.
My money is on Kirk to break the slide. I don’t want to see Abreu again!
Delivering with the bases loaded will lead to 11 game win streaks.
So will great pitching. Way to go Mets!
Brian, respectfully, I know your agenda is to bring a degree of reason to the knee-jerk reaction of “bring in the lefty.”
However, in your zeal you are using a small sample size to overstate the case. The fact is, platoon splits exist. Lefties tend to hit RHP better and so on. You know this. Gil Hodges knew this. So did Earl Weaver. How and when managers attack that reality is open to debate.
I think it’s an asset to have a lefty or two in the pen.
You were one of the guys trumpeting how great Blevins was before he got hurt. What Familia has done has been much, much, much more impressive. And no one talks about it. Why is it ok to fawn over Blevins but not give Familia any recognition at all?
Before he got hurt, Blevins was an asset. But the amount of hype his small-sample size of production received was way out of whack to reality.
Without checking the guys that each guy faced, i’d wager that the combined OPS of the lefties that Blevins has faced is higher than the ones that Familia has faced.
In fact, in general, i’d bet that the LHP in the pen have been getting the “better” lefties out and the lefties that the RHP face are the “easier” ones.
Perhaps but we also need to take into account splits, don’t we? They both retired AJ Pierzynski. But AJP has a career OPS 107 points higher versus RHP than LHP. Isn’t Familia retiring AJP more impressive than Blevins doing the same?
Here are the lefties that familia has faced this year. First number is career OPS, second is OPS vs righties
Familia:
Reid Brignac(2): 578/611
Jace Peterson(2) : 363/317
Cody Asche: 710/702
Mdd: 629/639
Dee Gordon: 668/694
Odubela Herrera: 774/606
AJ Pierzynzki : 746/771
Ben Revere : 658/643
Grady Sizemore: 811/870
Ichiro: 770/765
Christian Yelich: 751/783
Not exactly a good collection of hitters there. Aside from Yelich, most of the guys are youngsters with less than 3 yrs in the league who are fringe starters, and the other few are out of their prime veterans. Quite a few of them can also be classified as speedsters with weak bats.
Familia hasn’t really been tested yet against lefties.
Blevins has faced a slightly better collection of hitters, highlighted by Freeman, Harper, and Markakis, but it’s not exactly Murderer’s row either.
Dee Gordon(3), Nick markakis(2), Christian Yelich(2), Jeff Baker, Freddie Freeman, Bryce Harper, Odubel Herrera, Ryan Howard, AJ Pierzynski, Ichiro, Chase Utley
Just eye-balling it, i think this OPS vs lefties of this group is going to be higher than familia’s OPS vs righties
This is an amazing statistic and something I really want to learn more about, and see how it plays out over time.
The article on Kris Bryant was fascinating, and now applying it to the Mets, is really interesting.
Thanks, Brian.
It is really enjoyable “chatting” during the games, and this element is going to be something we will likely be talking a lot about. I’ve always known, from way back in my own playing days, which kids had the ball leap off the bat and which kids, even strong ones, did not.
The same was with those who threw a “heavy” ball. It is difficult to define, but when batting against a pitcher with a heavy ball, one always knew.
I wonder if this has a similar feel to it on the field, where guys intuitively know which hitters have the ball “leap” off the bat.
Great article.
I would bet every penny I own that guys on the field know whose bat the ball jumps off.
The one that surprises me is Campbell because his balls seem to be hard hit. But his highest mark is 107, which is just slightly above middle of the pack. He averages a 90.94 speed – second on the club behind Lagares’ 92.0 mark – so perhaps what he lacks in top end velocity is made up for with what he does consistently.
I’m still shocked about Lagares being the top mark. My selective memory recalls the bloops for hits. I wish there was an easy way to see balls on a specific date and what they registered. Was Lagares’ 113 mph ball an infield smash or one in the gap for extra bases?
On Cuddyer: That certainly corresponds with the eye test. I think I just mentioned yesterday or two days ago that he hasn’t been hitting the ball hard.
Interestingly, the old numbers suggested that he was “hot” — and the announcers were flashing his BA — and now some new numbers come along to support what the watchful eye should have already noticed.
JP— I’m on the Cuddyer has been “luckier than good” bus as well. The stats confirm the eyes.
Grandy?… “unluckier than bad”
While I’m sure batted ball speed will show it’s value over time, it does have some failings. Lagares for instance has made a knack of bad-ball hitting while lunging to get a ball just over the infielders’ heads. If it’s still a hit, and more importantly if it drives in a run or two, does it matter how hard he hits it? Just a thought.
I think this is where two stats working together might provide more value than individually. If Lagares has a high BABIP but also a high batted ball speed – it might be an indication that his BABIP is more earned than lucky.
Great stuff Brian. Enjoyed the read.
I’ve been impressed with Jon Niese’s presence at the plate this season, but Lucas Duda has looked really good, so far. Bring on Kershaw and Wainwright!
It’s amazing how an eleven game win streak can make an old man giddy even if it’s against weak sisters—–they’re all major league teams. LGM.
On the subject of batted ball velocity, Giancarlo Stanton’s line drive homer last night was a screaming rocket reminiscent of Dave Winfield.