There is no such thing as a baseball subject that will get me extra excited than swing range. A participant’s swing is sort of a fingerprint: No two are the identical. However even related swings can yield extraordinarily totally different outcomes. There are numerous methods to check swings, however as a result of Vertical Bat Angle (VBA), the angle of the bat at contact relative to the bottom, is probably the most accessible (thanks, SwingGraphs), it’s been my go-to proxy for the final yr or so. In fact, you possibly can all the time use your eyes to visually analyze swings, however having the information to substantiate it helps inform the analysis.
Currently, my video evaluations have centered on hitters with steep VBAs, and even amongst this group there’s a ton of swing range. Some take golf-like swings to get to their steep planes and others make use of one among my favourite types: the chicken-wing swing.
Intuitively, it is smart that hitters with steeps paths are extra vulnerable to whiffs than those that have flatter swings. Even so, among the sport’s finest contact hitters have swings as steep as a few of those that are probably the most whiff susceptible. Luis Arraez, for instance, has a swing that’s simply as steep as J.D. Martinez’s, at the very least in line with VBA. With out the information to substantiate, it’s onerous to know if the identical holds true for Assault Angle (AA), the angle of the bat’s path at impression.
To point out you precisely what I imply, I’ll examine pairs of hitters with practically an identical common VBAs, however totally different offensive profiles. A couple of weeks in the past, Davy Andrews wrote about Edouard Julien and the weird nature of his platoon splits (and a tune to associate with it). His complete offensive profile drastically adjustments relying on if he’s going through a lefty or righty. It’s fascinating. After I learn the piece, I used to be instantly curious as to how these tendencies would possibly relate to Julien’s swing path. At 40 levels, Julien has one of many steepest VBAs within the majors. It’s nearly an ideal diagonal. Listed below are just a few gradual movement swings that showcase that:
Irrespective of how excessive or low the pitch is, Julien manages to get his bat on a diagonal, which final yr helped him run an xwOBACON of .443, nicely above common. His diagonal angle additionally permits him to crush fastballs. He had a .408 wOBA towards heaters however struggled mightily (.287 wOBA) vs. breaking balls. Manufacturing towards totally different pitch sorts is the place you are inclined to see some deviation between hitters with related VBAs. Like Julien, Freddie Freeman can be a lefty batter with a steep VBA (41.7 levels), but regardless of their related angles, Julien ran a 44.3% whiff fee towards breaking pitches, whereas Freeman’s whiff fee vs. breaking balls was 27.7%. There are swing elements apart from VBA that contribute to how such divergence can occur. However earlier than attending to that, let’s try a few of Freeman’s swings from 2023:
Man, Freeman is easy. As a result of each he and Julien arrange with excessive fingers, they’ll create a steep path at totally different pitch heights. This setup permits them to drop their barrel simply and depend on altering posture to regulate to places. How they do it, although, is the place their swings differ. Julien makes use of extra aggressive actions to get to totally different pitch heights, whereas Freeman shifts his shoulder airplane and avoids extra drastic physique changes. His chicken-wing fashion is a little more handsy and fewer reliant on altering his eye stage, and in consequence, he has wonderful plate protection. His contact charges on pitches on the high, backside, and outer thirds of the zone outpace Julien by about eight proportion factors in every location.
Two different elements, which aren’t publicly obtainable, additionally possible contribute to Freeman’s superior plate protection: Horizontal Bat Angle (HBA), the horizontal angle of the bat at impression, and bat pace. Freeman, who we’ve already established has a steep VBA on common, seems to be higher at altering his swing speeds when crucial, which lets him manipulate his bat angle to cowl pitches all through the zone. You may see this within the third video above, on the changeup breaking down and away from him.
Freeman’s strategy additionally helps him produce towards lefties (profession 120 wRC+), which is one thing he has improved upon as he has gotten older (139 wRC+ over the past three seasons). In the meantime, Julien’s daddy-hack strategy typically limits his capacity to change his swing speeds and angles, which may usually result in poorly timed swings or mishits and explains why he’s vulnerable to hitting groundballs (50.2% final yr) regardless of his steep swing. These points are extra obvious when he faces lefties (22 wRC+, 80% groundball fee), although as Davy identified in his Julien piece, he has made solely 48 plate appearances towards lefties within the massive leagues — an extremely small pattern measurement.
That brings us to the following hitter, Tim Anderson. Even together with his steep 39.5-degree VBA, Anderson had a groundball fee above 60% final yr. A batter’s contact level must be extraordinarily deep to tug that off. Listed below are some swings from him as an instance that:
Most hitters would wrestle to place the ball in play after letting it journey this deep, however TA’s steep barrel and really feel for contact within the zone allowed him to pound the ball into the bottom over and again and again final season. The sweeping breaking ball from Wealthy Hill is the precise sort of pitch Anderson would have elevated in years previous. Usually, having a steep bat path towards an opposite-handed breaking ball is an ideal recipe for a really perfect launch angle distribution, however in case you’re making deep contact, that is all you will get out of the swing.
Chas McCormick was the anti-Anderson final season, when he largely refused to hit the ball on the bottom towards opposite-handed pitching. He can do that due to how he marries his steep, 38.2-degree VBA with ultimate contact factors. In 2023, he had a 25.6 GB% towards left-handed pitchers. That was the third lowest in baseball behind Jorge Soler and Mookie Betts. Unsurprisingly, by wRC+, they have been three of the six best right-handed hitters towards lefties final yr. Listed below are just a few swings from McCormick vs. lefties that present his capacity to raise regardless of the zone or pitch:
Even on the well-executed curveball from MacKenzie Gore, McCormick’s barrel was on an upward slope at contact as a result of he linked with the pitch out in entrance of the zone. That is the kind of pitch that Anderson would have pounded into the bottom regardless of the same steepness at contact, as a result of he would’ve let the pitch get deeper earlier than swinging.
McCormick’s closed stride places him in an amazing place to raise any pitch in the midst of the plate, even when it makes it harder for him to sq. up inside pitches within the high half of the zone. That mentioned, as you possibly can see within the video of his swing towards Cole Ragans, he can nonetheless get to up-and-in pitches when he holds his posture. The primary takeaway is that regardless of the zone, his barrel is engaged on an upward slope via contact, which permits him to do extra harm.
Though their swings are equally steep, these 4 hitters have totally different swing sorts that generate totally different outcomes. VBA is a good software to make use of, nevertheless it solely tells one a part of the story.