Using Fangraph's leaderboards, here are the 10 players least likely to hack at a pitch outside of the zone:
Name | Team | O-Swing% |
Jack Cust | Athletics | 12.23% |
Marco Scutaro | Blue Jays | 12.81% |
B.J. Upton | Rays | 14.57% |
Troy Glaus | Cardinals | 14.66% |
Daric Barton | Athletics | 14.72% |
Bobby Abreu | Yankees | 14.85% |
Chipper Jones | Braves | 14.94% |
Brian Giles | Padres | 15.57% |
Jason Giambi | Yankees | 15.62% |
Johnny Damon | Yankees | 16.62% |
And the 10 most likely:
Name | Team | O-Swing% |
Yuniesky Betancourt | Mariners | 34.62% |
Josh Hamilton | Rangers | 35.18% |
Ryan Braun | Brewers | 35.28% |
Jeff Francoeur | Braves | 35.66% |
Mike Jacobs | Marlins | 35.71% |
Bengie Molina | Giants | 36.67% |
Delmon Young | Twins | 38.52% |
A.J. Pierzynski | White Sox | 38.82% |
Carlos Gomez | Twins | 39.15% |
Vladimir Guerrero | Angels |
45.03% |
Is it just me or is there a difference between being "aggressive" and being "hacky"? For instance let's say a player has a 20% O-Swing, which is really good, but only sees 3.6 P/PA, not great, but if he's not swinging outside of the zone he's simply attacking the pitches inside of the zone early in the count. Meanwhile a player with a high O-Swing%, no matter the P/PA, is "hacky" to me. Does anyone else have similar definitions?