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Hot spots, cold spots (cont.)

Posted: Wednesday May 17, 2006 11:20AM; Updated: Wednesday May 17, 2006 1:08PM
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By David Appelman, FanGraphs.com

Take a look at Adrian Beltre and Juan Encarnacion. While Beltre would have been included with the All-Stars back in 2004, his current chart looks nothing like any of the top power hitters. He still covers the upper half of the plate pretty well but has trouble with anything low. Encarnacion looks a little better than Beltre, but his chart is almost devoid of any of the hot spots that the All-Stars displayed.

enc_beltre_final2.jpg


Finally, two of my favorite whipping boys: Royce Clayton and Tony Womack. Womack seems to do OK with the occasional high pitch, but when it comes to pitches in the strike zone, he has only a few scattered bright spots. Clayton was probably the worst batter I could have picked, as there's barely anything resembling a hot spot on his graph. It's a wonder either of them found contracts in the offseason.

womack_clayton_final.jpg

Obviously there's a vast difference between the charts of the premiere players in the game and everyone else's, but it's interesting to look at how even the best players differ in style. Pujols' 2005 slugging percentage was .609, essentially identical to Lee's .614. But their PitchZone charts, while both excellent, tell very different stories, and that's not something you'll find in an individual statistic.


David Appelman is the creator of FanGraphs.com He can be contacted via e-mail at david@fangraphs.com


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