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Should Mike Trout swing at more pitches?


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I was doing some research and trying to find plate discipline stats on Trout over the last month because I feel/felt like they just aren't pitching to him and Strad pointed out how often he whiffs looking.  While I could not find anything for that time frame, what I did realize is kind of interesting.  

Pitchers throw pitches in the zone to Mike 42.5% of the time.  Tying him for 80th among qualified leaders which squarely in the middle of the pack.  

He swings at pitches out of the zone 21% of the time.  Good for 6th best.  

He swings at pitches in the zone 58.9% which is 9th lowest in baseball.  

His contact rate on pitches in the zone is 90.9%.  33rd highest

His contact rate out of the zone and overall are 70.5% and 84.2%.  good for 43rd and 28th respectively.  

Here's something I was shocked about.  He's got the 15th lowest swinging strike rate at 5.9%.  

So, should he swing more?  

 

 

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Depends on the situation. If he’s in a position to drive in runs, then by all means. He doesn’t need to chase, but in those instances he also doesn’t need to be taking a pitch trying to walk if it’s an inch low or an inch outside.

 

There have been plenty of at bats where there’s been a man in scoring position and two outs, with first base open, and he ends up walking. Not because they pitched around him by not giving him anything to hit, but because he got the benefit of the calls on pitches that could have gone either way, but were extremely hittable especially for him. He’s got to realize that working a walk there doesn’t help especially with the struggles of the guy behind him. I’d rather him take a shot at driving a ball that’s barely out of the zone low than letting it go, taking a walk, and they end up not scoring anyway. 

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On first pitches? Yes. Pitchers almost always throw him straight heat because the know he'll almost certainly not swing. He might as well confuse them by swinging more often.

In general? I'd say no, both because it is hard to knock his approach because he is--aside from his recent slump--so successful at what he does, and you just never know how one thing might effect the overall performance (sort of like the time travel paradox, or thinking about stuff you wish you could do differently...change one thing and, bam, your child doesn't exist).

And of course there's the fact that if a player were to walk every single plate appearance like Trout did last night, he'd have the greatest offensive season in baseball history.

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9 minutes ago, Jeff Fletcher said:

Look up his stats when he puts pitches out of the zone into play. 

And you’ll have your answer. 

I'm talking about him swinging at more balls in the zone.  9th lowest % yet middle of the pack in the number he sees.  On all at balls in the zone, he's hitting .347.  On balls below the zone he's hitting .333.  

I feel like sometimes he pre-decides that he's not gonna swing.  I wonder if you could ask him that.  

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If he is not going to swing the bat more then just move him to the leadoff spot.  I am only half joking.  If he is perfectly fine taking walks, and like I said in the other thread, he strikes out looking on a ton of borderline pitches, which tells me he doesn’t mind the walk, then give him more at bats by moving him up in the line up.  

I know this is a separate issue, but Simmons is not good in the two spot in the line up.  He is batting .222 in the two spot.  

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his average would go down, his power numbers would go up.......on this team with not much around him in the line up --- I'd say YES. Start swinging.

There once was a Halo who wore Number 27 who swung at everything and it landed him in the HOF (in a HALO's UNI !!)

Once Vlad is in the Hall - does Trout get a new number ???

Amazing - Vlad is the ONLY HALOs jersey in the HOF and he's not even the best player with his team's HOF uni/ number.

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3 hours ago, Troll Daddy said:

J.D. Martinez 

39 BB

Trout

91 BB

There’s your answer

ps J.D. has Mitch Moreland as lineup protection lol

The entire Red Sox lineup is his protection...you know the one leading the entire MLB in runs...Astros are 30 runs behind in 2nd

Oh, and Mitch Moreland is hitting .274 .349 .847 OPS 122 OPS+ 

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13 hours ago, Dochalo said:

I'm talking about him swinging at more balls in the zone.  9th lowest % yet middle of the pack in the number he sees.  On all at balls in the zone, he's hitting .347.  On balls below the zone he's hitting .333.  

I feel like sometimes he pre-decides that he's not gonna swing.  I wonder if you could ask him that.  

He doesn’t like to swing at the first pitch. He has said that many times. 

I think on the first pitch he pretty much decides he’s taking it unless it’s a very specific area of the zone. 

People have gotten on him about this forever. I think if this is how he’s comfortable hitting, it’s worked out pretty well. 

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1 minute ago, Jeff Fletcher said:

He’s hitting about .310 and the major league average is about .248.

Actually he’s hitting .305  no one is saying he isn’t a great hitter. He’s capable of hitting much higher ...  the gap between OBP and AVE is huge. 

The OP was simply asking a question ... I prefer a more aggressive approach at the plate. Trout’s approach is what works for him and you can’t argue with the results. 

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6 minutes ago, Jeff Fletcher said:

He’s hitting about .310 and the major league average is about .248.

Well there is Luis Valburna dragging the average down. :D

Seriously, we see how damn good Trout is as a ballplayer and then say he should be better forgetting what the majority of ballplayers can only hope to achieve.

Like going to Farrell's, ording up a Zoo then asking for a couple more scoops, more chocolate sauce and three more cherries. And one spoon. Gluttony at it's finest. Meanwhile at the other table, Padre fan is eating his single scoop and is envious. 

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