There’s nothing fairly as iconic as a giant dude stepping as much as the plate and whacking a baseball over the fence by swinging a bat very, very onerous. Smaller gamers can hit residence runs, too. But it surely’s the actually huge dudes who immediate everybody to lean ahead of their seats just a bit extra in hopes of seeing the physics of pressure, mass, and acceleration lead to a memento for somebody sitting within the outfield bleachers.
Vinnie Pasquantino is a kind of giant people. Listed at 6’3” and 245lbs, he’s of an analogous construct to a number of the greatest sluggers in baseball like Pete Alonso, Brent Rooker, and Matt Olson. He, alongside the co-holders of the Royals franchise residence run document, Salvador Perez and Jorge Soler, are constructed just like the Chevy Silverado that was a goal within the Kauffman Stadium outfield earlier than the 2008 renovation.
However Vinnie isn’t a slugger. Yeah, I can hear you. “After all he’s a slugger! He’s received unbelievable bat velocity! He hits the ball onerous on a regular basis! I imply, simply have a look at him!”
It’s true that an preliminary have a look at Vinnie could yield “huge dude slugger,” however at his greatest his bat is one thing else totally. And in case you have been a Royals fan earlier than they went to back-to-back World Collection, this entire dialogue will remind you of one other participant, one whom Vinnie ought to emulate extra: Billy Butler.
Butler was extremely productive throughout his five-year peak from 2009 by means of 2013. Throughout 3,370 plate appearances, Butler hit .302/.372/.469—good for a 126 wRC+. He was onerous to strike out and usually received on base by any means mandatory.
Sadly for Butler, these years have been a very completely different time the place there was nonetheless a break up between the Moneyball groups and the non-Moneyball groups, and “stroll fee” and “on base share” have been undervalued issues a hitter dropped at the desk. Butler was listed at 260 lbs, which undoubtedly screams “huge dude slugger.” However Butler hit greater than 21 residence runs in a single season solely as soon as in his profession, and he by no means hit 30 in a single season. A whole lot of Royals followers due to this fact gave Butler a number of shit for not being the ability hitter he seemed like he must be. These followers weren’t sensible, however the sentiment remained.
So, why was Butler good? Put merely: Butler might simply hit, and will drive the ball to all fields. The beneath video is an instance of the traditional Butler swing. It was a 2-1 depend, so Billy had taken a few pitches. He selected an ideal pitch to hit—a 94 MPH, belt-high fastball on the skin half of the plate. And he put a managed however fast swing on the ball to ship it to the alternative discipline.
To be much more particular on why he was good: Butler was an absolute doubles machine. The above video occurred to be a house run, however a number of these candy swings resulted in doubles. For his profession, Butler hit 5.7 doubles per 100 plate appearances regardless of an, ahem, deliberate working velocity. That’s the next fee than Eric Hosmer (4.6 doubles per 100 PAs) and Alex Gordon (4.9) and Bobby Witt Jr. (5.3) and proper on par with George Brett, one of many best pure hitters of all time.
This brings us again to Vinnie in modern-day. See, Vinnie’s rookie season was a remarkably Billy Butler-esque season. Regardless of hitting absolutely the snot out the ball, Vinnie solely posted a .155 remoted slugging share—proper according to Butler’s profession .151 mark. That yr, Vinnie pulled the ball the least he has in his profession and it hit it within the air the least he’s had in his profession. Moreover, he was extra selective, which resulted within the least quantity of sentimental contact and his highest stroll fee to this point. And talking of stroll fee—Vinnie has been in constant decline for 3 years.
So what’s occurring this yr? Effectively, Vinnie is pulling the ball greater than he ever has, particularly within the air. It’s simple to see why he would wish to do this: per Statcast, solely 17.5% of batted balls counted as “pulled airballs” however that subset was answerable for a whopping 66% of residence runs. In 2022, Vinnie pulled the ball within the air 18.6% of the time, so proper round league common. This yr, to this point, Vinnie is pulling the ball within the air 30.4% of the time, which might have been sixth-highest amongst all certified batters final yr.
It’s totally doable this strategy will find yourself working. To begin with, it has been chilly and depressing for lots of the Royals’ video games to this point this yr, which is horrible for energy hitters. in search of residence runs. Second, Vinnie hits the ball onerous sufficient for it to work. And third, if Vinnie generates extra residence runs out of the deal, that may greater than cowl up a drop in on base share.
However I don’t assume it’s the optimum match for Vinnie. Vinnie’s strengths are that he has a improbable eye, is difficult to strike out, and has an ideal command of the strike zone. Moreover, Vinnie hits in Kauffman Stadium, one of many worst locations to hit residence runs in the entire league, for half of his plate appearances. And at last, Vinnie hits behind Bobby freakin’ Witt Jr., who runs just like the wind and may rating while not having a protracted ball to take action.
Vinnie could appear to be “huge dude slugger,” however his true skillset—the pure hitter, on base doubles machine—is a lot much less widespread. Unleash your inside Billy, Vinnie. Hunt doubles within the Kauffman Stadium meadows.
