2001 was considered by some to be one of the height years of the steroid era.
Barry Bonds hit 73 home runs.
64 players hit at least 25 home runs.
Last year, 65 players hit 25 homers or more.
Of those 65 hitters, only nine struck out under 100 times.
26 0f the 64 home run hitters in 2001 had less than 100 k's
25 hitters batted .300 last year.
ONE of those hitters struck out 150 times (Freddie Freeman-171)
Only five of these .300 hitters drew 70 bases on balls.
The five hitters that drew 70 BB's also hit 25 home runs.
In 2016, Bartolo Colon struck out 128 hitters, but had an ERA of 3.43 and 1.21 WHIP
In 2001, Bartolo Colon struck out 201 hitters, but had an ERA of 4.09 and 1.39 WHIP
Rougned Odor had 33 home runs and 67 extra base hits.
He walked 19 times.
Matt Kemp, 35 home runs
Matt Kemp, 36 walks
When pitching in high school and College, I did not like the thought of giving any hitter an intentional walk.
First, I would plead my case with my coach. If I lost, I would hit the batter.
(WHIP-wise, a man before my time!)
I bring this up because I thought a couple of pitchers did the same thing to a certain hitter last year.
Here is the top 8 list of batters receiving intentional walks....
Harper 20
Freeman 18
Ortiz 15
Goldy 15
MCabrera 15
Votto 15
Trout 12
Espinoza 12
It's not hard to figure out who sticks out on that list. Espinoza was a loose cannon hitting eighth. A switch hitter with power is easily passed to face the pitcher.
Still, that doesn't mean that pitchers LIKED to walk him.
Espinoza was hit by a pitch 20 times last year. More than Anthony Rizzo and the third most in all of baseball.
Here are MVP Kris Bryant's four big category numbers .292/121/39/102
Here are Robinson Cano's numbers from his last year .298/107/39/103
Mets fans are happy that Yoenis Cespedes re-signed with their team.
Rumors are that the Mets are trying hard to trade Jay Bruce.
Cespedes .280/72/31/86
And Bruce .250/74/33/99
Bruce had 66 extra base hits
So did Mike Trout
George Springer had 63 extra base hits
And 155 more plate appearances than Bruce
Trea Turner had 307 at bats last year.... and only 14 walks
Not a soul complained
Chris and Khris Davis bopped 80 homers this year
Three more than Pudge and Peds Rodriguez in 2001
Micheal Pineda fanned 207 batters last year
Pineda won six games
Chien-Ming Wang struck out 30 batters
Wang won six games
Martin Perez wins the 'Innings Eater' award
198.6 innings, 4.39/10/103/1.41
Is this the good, the bad, or the ugly?
Patrick Corbin's numbers last year were a poor 5.15 ERA and astronomical 1.56 WHIP
Corbin also led the league with 20 unearned allowed.
Edinson Volquez allowed 124 runs last year. He struck out just 15 more than that.
Edinson Volquez was the only pitcher to finish in both top 10's of hits allowed and BB's allowed.
Edinson Volquez just signed a two year deal for 22 million dollars.
Baseball players and politicians can be really bad at their jobs and still be offered more money or power because of it.
Mere mortals receive reprimends or are fired.
Jake Arrieta walked 76 batters last year. Easily, the most in his career.
The year before, Arrieta walked 48 batters .....and threw 32 MORE innings.
Cole Hamels walked 77 batters last year. Easily, the most in his career.
The year before, Hamels walked 62 batters......and threw 12 MORE innings.
Yovani Gallardo started 23 games last year.
Never had a game without walking a batter
Last year, David Robertson was blown up for four and six earned runs in one inning
Zack Britton gave up four earned runs all year
Should be "Great Stuff." Thanks for putting it together--loved it!