There’s a joke that says, “Hits are garbage. The idea is that a bunch of singles don’t add up to the power of a single home run, which emphasizes the importance of a home run.
In baseball, it’s easier to hit a single than a home run, and that’s no surprise. Even Aaron Judge (31) of the New York Yankees, who broke the American League (AL) home run record with 62 home runs last year, had 87 doubles, far more than home runs.
But this season, there’s a player in Major League Baseball (MLB) who is shattering the conventional wisdom. It’s Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Kyle Schwarber (30).
As of today (the 5th), Schwarber has 96 hits in 614 at-bats – 39 singles, 16 doubles, and one triple – but he has a whopping 40 home runs. That’s more home runs than singles.
Schwarber is, in fact, a terrible contact hitter, which is why he strikes out so much. After striking out 200 times last year, he’s walked away from the plate 175 times this year.
But he has the power and vision to make up for it. Schwarber led the National League (NL) in home runs last year with 46, while also drawing 86 walks.
This year, it’s been a similar story. He’s second in the NL in both home runs and walks (109).
This makes for an unusual batting average. Schwarber’s batting average for the season is .193, which is less than two percent, but his on-base percentage is .342, which is more than a full point higher than his batting average. A slugging percentage that’s more than a percentage point higher than your batting average is considered good, and that’s beyond good.카지노사이트
What’s more, Schwarber is one of the league’s best long ball hitters, so his on-base percentage plus slugging percentage is a whopping 0.813 OPS. That’s an OPS of over 0.8 with a batting average in the high teens.
At this rate, he could become the first player in MLB to hit 40 home runs with a 1.0 OPS. The most recent player to come close was Joey Gallo (29) in 2021, who hit .199 with 38 homers and an OPS of .809.