When you think about the very best hitters you’ve ever seen, it’s possible – likely, even – that a particular trait comes to mind: there’s just no good way to beat them.
Sure, even Barry Bonds was going to strike out sometimes, and you might even get a couple whiffs in the process. But, by and large, he was not going to make a mistake in his plate appearances. And if you made a mistake, God help you.
To get even more specific here, when I talk about the best hitters being guys that just can’t be easily beat, I’m not so much talking about them succeeding against all pitcher types or pitch types, in all splits, and what-not. I’m more so thinking about the guys at the plate who just annoy the heck out of you, because they NEVER seem to swing at the pitcher’s pitch at the edge of the strike zone, and then when the pitcher comes back into the zone, they clobber it.
Albert Pujols stands out as a guy I used to particularly hate to watch against the Cubs, because it just seemed like he was ALWAYS spitting on pitches just outside the strike zone early in the count, and then ALWAYS hammering 2-0 pitches that came back in the zone. It was deeply and profoundly annoying.
That is all to say, I really enjoyed this clip from Lance Brozdowski on one of the many reasons new Cubs outfielder Kyle Tucker is such a nightmare for opposing pitchers:
Why does Kyle Tucker keep pitching coaches up at night? #Cubs Deep-dive on Tucker's "fingerprint" as a hitter and improvements at the plate. It includes a nugget from Caleb Cotham's experience trying to tame the beast. @WatchMarquee pic.twitter.com/cvwbogAZx5
— Lance Brozdowski (@LanceBroz) January 7, 2025We already knew from his overall results over the years that Kyle Tucker was a special hitter. But, as Brozdowski lays out, one of the reasons he does it is precisely what I was describing above: he won’t let you beat him just outside the strike zone, and he crushes the ball in so many different areas of the strike zone, itself.
Here’s the real whopper of a stat for you: using Pitch Info’s data, among all hitters with at least 300 plate appearances in 2024, NOT A SINGLE BATTER swung at fewer pitches outside the strike zone than Kyle Tucker (16.1%). He was LITERALLY the least-chase’y hitter in baseball, and he was also one of the best! Dude just was NOT going to let you beat him on your pitch.
Ah, but you think maybe he just doesn’t swing much at all, and so it’s less about him not chasing and more about him just being super passive.
NOPE!
Using the same data set, Tucker’s in-zone swing rate (67.0%) was higher than 165 other batters! It was HIGHER than the league-average mark (65.9%)!
So Kyle Tucker, who is NOT a pure just-make-contact guy (his .296 ISO was topped by literally only Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani), swung more often than the average hitter did at strikes … but swung less often at non-strikes than ANY OTHER HITTER IN BASEBALL.
Talk about a dude who has to annoy the hell out of other teams!
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Kyle Tucker Really Must Annoy the Heck Out of Other Teams )
Also on site :