Hitting a baseball is not easy. In fact, it is one of the hardest tasks to do in all of sports. In this art, you can fail 70 percent of the time and still be considered a quality hitter. Historically speaking, quite a few of these hitters were built upon pulling the baseball and made a good living doing so. It did not matter if they were out in front, they still were able to make solid contact. Not only were these hitters capable of being dangerous even when fooled, they also put unique pressure on a pitcher to execute a game plan in a time where baseball was much less data driven. Essentially, a pitcher is forced to shrink their zone in half because any pitch that caught the middle inside of the plate was disposed of in a hard-hit manner. This decreases the margin for error drastically, and was not easy to cope with. In today’s game where data rules, the dominant extreme pull hitter is rapidly becoming extinct.
Let’s take a dive into the games most revered pull hitters. These three players set the standard for using dominant pull power to impact a game in ways never seen before. Ted Williams, Harmon Killebrew, and Hank Aaron defined and shaped the age of the dominant pull hitter. All three were known for their front foot power and ability to pull the baseball in any count and almost any pitch. This set the tone for a time in baseball where power numbers began to spike up until the steroid era, where there was gigantic leap. Starting in the late 80s and into the 90s, the game became littered with strong specimens with the unmistakable ability to hit the ball out of the ballpark. Power hitters Jose Canseco, Gary Sheffield, Steroid Bonds, David Ortiz, Adam Dunn and Albert Pujols all made a lot of dollars pulling the baseball out of the park. More recently, Joey Gallo, Matt Carpenter, Anthony Rizzo and Jose Ramirez come to mind as dominant pull hitters.
The common denominator among these recent players is that none of them are exactly known for hitting for a high average. The dominant pull hitter is going extinct. Shifting, pitch selection/location, and new age analytics make these types of hitters much less effective. Pitch velocity is at an all-time high while fastball percentage is at an all-time low. Secondary pitches are more commonly used while hurlers trickle in fastballs to keep a hitter honest. The dominant pull hitter once was known for dominating the strike zone as the pitcher walked on egg shells. Now hitters are seeing their strengths used against them and weaknesses exposed by advanced statistics. Pitchers are executing their scouting report and make it incredibly difficult to be comfortable in the box. They are no longer afraid to throw inside to these hitters because the defense is aligned correctly behind them. The impact this has on the mentality of both the hitter and pitcher cannot be overlooked. It gives the pitcher even more of advantage as pitchers are well studied in how to get a player out. The data flashes percentages: based on a player’s swing. From this, a team positions the defense based on where the player is most likely to hit it to. The hitter, and more specifically the dead pull hitter are forced to adapt on the fly. These quick adjustments are not optimal for a hitter who pulls the ball to one area time after time.
Due to the data revolution, front offices are no longer trading off the downsides of a player who makes his money pulling the ball. Instead, they are seeking more complete, unique type players that perform well at other aspects of the game. This brings up the question on whether shifting truly works in minimizing an opposing team’s offenses. The data is starting to swing towards the hitter when it comes to shifting. Yes, shifting is extremely effective against extreme pull hitters but it is not the same when facing a lineup of dynamic whole field hitters.
In order to counteract shifting and analytical player positioning, hitters are more focused on launch angle, using the whole field, and hit speed. The next generation of players will be littered with such players. Meanwhile the dominant front-foot pull hitter is being phased out. What is next?