Low BABIP, Low Strikeouts

Paul Hoynes reviews Edwin Encarnacion‘s career at Cleveland.com. Hoynes picks up on Encarnacion’s ability to keep his strikeouts low:

Two things have impressed Jacoby about Encarnacion – his ability to make contact and drive in runs. In an age when no one seems to care how many times a power hitter strikes out, Encarnacion consistently puts the ball in play.

“He was pretty much a free swinger as a kid,” said Jacoby. “In Toronto, he found himself.”

In the last five years, when Encarnacion has averaged 39 homers and 110 RBI per season, his 138 strikeouts last season are the only time he’s struck out more than 100 times. In his career, he’s struck out more than 100 or more times just twice in 12 years.

Encarnacion needs to strike out less, because he owns a low career BABIP. He is a fairly extreme fly ball hitter, and fly balls that don’t leave the park tend to come down in an outfielder’s glove. If he struck out a lot, Encarncacion would be a Rob Deer type hitter, an effective by low dimensional offensive player. By keeping his Ks low, Encarnacion keeps his batting average at a decent level, so he does more than just hit home runs and walk.

That said, his strikeouts were way up in 2016. He is not a young player, and he peaked very late. If his strikeouts continue to rise, we could see a quick fall in his offense.

from baseballmusings.com http://ift.tt/2hN1YWa