Category Archives: Baseball

Baseball, Commentary, News, Paid Content, Yusei Kikuchi

Slow and steady for Kikuchi

Leave a comment

Upon arriving at Narita Airport on Sunday, new Mariners lefty Yusei Kikuchi told reporters he wanted to be ready to throw at full power from the start of spring training.

We’ll see how that plays out, since major league spring training can be a daunting mental challenge for Japanese players used to starting on Feb. 1, going through long, all-day workouts for four or five days straight and then getting a day to recover.

Everyone who goes now knows what’s coming, but knowing and feeling in your bones that an unfamiliar workout pace is right for you are two radically different things.

That aside, the interesting take from Kikuchi’s media availability at the airport was his belief that last May’s shoulder stiffness was due to his not throwing until January. For that reason, Kikuchi resumed playing catch in December and was working out in the States while negotiations were going on with his agent.

“Ahead of last season, I began throwing in January, and was forced to pick up the pace and that led to my problem,” he said. “I want to do it gradually this year, so I will be fit enough to throw at full strength in camp.”

Read the full story on Kyodo News HERE.

Baseball, Commentary, Paid Content, Research

NPB left in the lurch

Leave a comment

This is the third part of an observation of how NPB’s hitting populations are different from how they are in the majors.

After Tom Tango (@tangotiger) commented that the populations of left-handed and right-handed hitters in MLB are essentially the same when batting with the platoon advantage since 2011, I began looking at NPB that way, comparing performances only with the platoon advantage.

In the previous studies, I excluded foreign hitters, switch hitters and pitchers (sorry Shohei). To get a broader look at how MLB and NPB compare left to right, I’ve included everyone.

Big numbers

Org.LHB+ PARHB+ PALHB+ Percentage
NPB233,586286,96944.9
MLB629,795846,83542.7
LHB+ includes switch hitters batting against RHP, while RHB+ includes switch hitters batting against LHP.

The table below show how similar MLB’s left- and right-handed hitting populations are with the platoon advantage since 2011. Right across the board, the slash lines for hitters with platoon advantages are about as close as you can get.

MLB LHB, RHB with platoon advantage, 2011-2018

PAABH2B3BHRBBKBAOBPSLGOPSHBPSF
RHB+286,427256,01966,60613,7371,1968,31624,65256,712.260.328.421.7481,9231,856
LHB+511,532454,808117,17123,6082,97214,27147,03399,412.258.330.417.7473,6723,305
These numbers came from Baseball Reference.

While the home run frequency in NPB is significantly lower all around, it is particularly obvious among batters swinging from the left side of the plate. The isolated power (slugging average minus batting average) of RHBs and switch hitters vs LHP is .139. For LHBs and switch hitters vs RHP, the isolated power is .111.

NPB LHB, RHB with platoon advantage, 2011-2018

PAABH2B3BHRBBKBAOBPSLGOPSHBPSF
RHB+91,49480,28620,4223,7652982,2797,77916,373.254.323.394.717667521
LHB+177,531156,91740,9976,7929802,86814,93430,842.261.329.372.7001,281968
Results of individual plate appearances by LHB and switch hitters vs RHP, and RHB and switch hitters vs LHB in NPB from 2011 to 2018

Playing the percentages

The following table shows how left-handed hitters with a platoon edge compare percentage-wise with right-handed hitters. The categories are: Singles, doubles, triples and home runs as a percentage of hits, strikeouts as a percentage of plate appearances, and at-bats per home run.

MLB percentages

MLB1B pct2B pct3B pctHR pctK pctHR rate
RHB+.65.21.018.125.19830.8
LHB+.65.20.025.122.19431.9
Percentage of total hits by: singles, doubles, triples, home runs. Strikeouts per PA. ABs per HR.

NPB percentages

NPB1B pct2B pct3B pctHR pctK pctHR rate
RHB+.690.184.015.112.17935.2
LHB+.741.166.024.070.17454.7
Percentage of total hits by: singles, doubles, triples, home runs. Strikeouts per PA. ABs per HR.