Batting Title

[thewupk]

Freeman at 323
Neck at 321

Next closest is Yelich at 309.

Which Brave is taking it home this year?

[Acuña’s Bat Flip]

My vote goes to Neck!

[bravesfanMatt]

FF will go on one of his insane runs and pull away.

[Tapate50]

Ill be pretty happy for either, but for some reason I’d like Nick the Stick to take it home.

[thewupk]

Ill be pretty happy for either, but for some reason I’d like Nick the Stick to take it home.

I'm thinking Freeman as it would bolster his MVP chances with some writers.

[UNCBlue012]

I think Freeman takes. Man, we're so fortunate to have the opportunity to watch him night in and out.

[bravesfanMatt]

Ramos for the win. Dude will never get out again.

[Mad Dog Murph]

Ramos for the win. Dude will never get out again.

Triple crown. Might even win the Cy Young.

[Acuña’s Bat Flip]

Y'all are probably right!

[cajunrevenge]

Seems like light competition this year. I hope Freeman wins, it will bolster his hall of fame chances. With Markakis it will just up his price in free agency.

[CyYoung31]

Seems like light competition this year. I hope Freeman wins, it will bolster his hall of fame chances. With Markakis it will just up his price in free agency.

But if Markakis wins that means we’re probably going to the playoffs, because that’ll mean he’s still raking and not plummeting back to Earth. We know Freeman will be right there anyway barring injury.

[57Brave]

Looking at the improved numbers is it out of the realm of possibility Swanson will one day challenge for a batting title ?

Wondering what others think --

[thewupk]

Looking at the improved numbers is it out of the realm of possibility Swanson will one day challenge for a batting title ?

Wondering what others think --

Yes. Swanson strikes out too much.

[UNCBlue012]

Looking at the improved numbers is it out of the realm of possibility Swanson will one day challenge for a batting title ?

Wondering what others think --

No, he will likely become the GOAT.

[NinersSBChamps]

Some lower numbers than years past. Justin Morneau his .314 or something in 2014.

[Hudson2]

Looking at the improved numbers is it out of the realm of possibility Swanson will one day challenge for a batting title ?

Wondering what others think --

Georgia Trout

[Acuña’s Bat Flip]

Just no on Swanson winning a batting title.

[Enscheff]

Over the last 3 season, only 30 players have posted a .310 BA or higher (contenders for a batting title):

https://www.fangraphs.com/leaderssplits.aspx?splitArr=&strgroup=season&statgroup=2&startDate=2015-8-22&endDate=2018-8-21&filter=AVG%7Cgt%7C0.31,PA%7Cgt%7C500&position=B&statType=player&autoPt=true&players=&pg=0&pageItems=30&sort=5,1

Only 3 of those players had a K% of 20% or more. The highest was 23.1% by JDM this season.

All of those seasons relied on BABIPs of .312 or higher, and most relied on BABIPs much higher than that.

Swanson has run a K rate of about 23%, and a BABIP a bit over .300.

Batting titles are pretty meaningless, but if you care about them, Swanson is a poor bet to win one.

[NinersSBChamps]

Having the best average in your league is meaningless?

[thewupk]

Having the best average in your league is meaningless?

In terms of offensive production it is.

[NinersSBChamps]

In terms of offensive production it is.

So Wade Boggs and Tony Gwynn weren’t productive hitters?

[JxnMissFan]

So Wade Boggs and Tony Gwynn weren’t productive hitters?

No. They sucked. They were just lucky to have sustained an unstainable BABIP for twenty seasons. Oh and that Williams guy that hit .400 He should have changed his launch angle to hit more home runs. Didn’t he realize only home runs matter.

[50PoundHead]

Some lower numbers than years past. Justin Morneau his .314 or something in 2014.

The lowest I can recall (and it was before most of you were born) was Carl Yastrzemski's .301 in 1968. Great hitter who radically changed his batting stance mid-career.

For the record, if you read Ted Williams' Science of Hitting, he briefly talks of launch angle although not in those exact words. He advocated having the bat path elevate slightly through the swing. The influential Charlie Lau school (well, it used to be influential) went the other direction. His The Art of Hitting .300 is also an interesting book.

If Ted Williams hadn't spent five prime years of his career in the military, it's not out of the realm of possibility that he would have broken Babe Ruth's career HR mark before Hank Aaron. He's probably the best hitter of all time.

[CyYoung31]

No. They sucked. They were just lucky to have sustained an unstainable BABIP for twenty seasons. Oh and that Williams guy that hit .400 He should have changed his launch angle to hit more home runs. Didn’t he realize only home runs matter.

Straw man, come together with your hand. Save me.

[thewupk]

So Wade Boggs and Tony Gwynn weren’t productive hitters?

They were. But I wouldn't use their batting average to justify that argument.

[Enscheff]

No. They sucked. They were just lucky to have sustained an unstainable BABIP for twenty seasons. Oh and that Williams guy that hit .400 He should have changed his launch angle to hit more home runs. Didn’t he realize only home runs matter.

Actually...

Gywnn's .341 career BABIP is perfectly in line with what we would expect from a guy who sprayed the ball all over and hit a lot of line drives. Couple a high BABIP with an all time great K rate of 4.2%, and a career BA of .338 is exactly what you would expect.

Boggs' .344 career BABIP is also perfectly reasonable from a guy who sprayed the ball around and hit a lot of line drives. He also had an elite K rate of 6.9%. His career BA of .328 lines up perfectly with what you'd expect from a guy who K'd more than Gwynn, but had a similar BABIP.

There is nothing mystical about what Gwynn and Boggs did. We understand it perfectly. Everything they did falls exactly in line with the analytical understanding of the game today.

The question becomes: how much more productive would these guys have been had they known to alter their launch angle a bit to generate more power at the expense of a few more Ks? We know now they would have likely benefited greatly, if only the stigma surrounding the K didn't exist.

[Southcack77]

It was tough to figure out which thread to drop this in...let's just go with this one:

https://sports.theonion.com/baseball-statisticians-unveil-new-analytics-model-measu-1828577747

[CyYoung31]

Markakis is coming back down to Earth, finally. It’s Freddie’s to lose.