Contact and Power

Travis Sawchik uses game five of the World Series to make an important point about the Astros. They hit for power without striking out much:

Said Astros GM Jeffrey Luhnow of the approach to Tyler Kepner of the New York Times earlier this summer:

“Power’s exciting, power sells tickets and power wins games, at times,” Luhnow said. “But power usually comes at the expense of rally-killing strikeouts in other instances. It’s not a satisfying brand of baseball, and I don’t think it’s a winning brand of baseball, necessarily, to have 30-home run hitters with 200 strikeouts a year.

The Astros added that contact ability without sacrificing power. Said Astros hitting coach Dave Hudgens to the NYT: “I don’t want guys swinging at a pitch unless they can hit a homer.”

I hope this is a lesson Aaron Judge might absorb. If he combines his power with a low strikeout rate, he might hit .400.

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