DeviousDawg
06-20-2018, 07:44 AM
Throughout this postseason run, we have been making opposing pitchers pay with 2 strikes. Not to be cliche, but the team beats there chest twice before each 2 strike pitch, and through interviews with players it is known that this is Gautreau's thing, "chesting up with 2 strikes". Clearly, 2 strike hitting is very important to Gautreau as a hitting coach, and it is showing. First, you have MacNamee walk off with a 2 strike count against FSU, then you have MacNamee's second walk off bomb against Vandy, once again on a 2 strike count. Then Luke Alexander walks it off with an oppo double, 2 strikes, and finally yesterday, Westburg's Grand Slam with once again a 2 strike count. That's 3 walk offs, and a Grand Slam on the biggest stage, all with 2 strikes, and all in a 10 game stretch against the best of the best. So I decided to dive into the numbers, and found a few interesting things.
-The first set of stats is the overall team statistics over this 10 game postseason run, which can be used as a sort of control to compare 2 strike statistics against.
-The second set of stats is team statistics over the postseason with 2 strikes. The first row is all 2 strike at bats, the second row is all 2 strike at bats from the 8th inning on, and the third row is all 2 strike at bats from the 1st to 7th innings.
-The third set of stats is the individual statistics over the postseason with 2 strike counts
** ">|" = backwards K **
http://i67.tinypic.com/2csdq50.png
A few things stand out with the Team stats:
-A team combined 2-strike batting average of (.257) is insane. For reference sake, there are currently only 11 MLB players that are batting over that .257 mark with 2 strikes. Going into the Ole Miss series, our team batting average was (.256) which is lower than our postseason 2 strike batting average. INSANE.
-Not only are we clutch with 2 strikes, but we are even more clutch with 2 strikes late in the game (8th inning and beyond, including extra innings). This postseason, from the 8th innings and beyond, we are batting an unbelievable (.295), with a OPS at (.822), and 11 RBI's in only 44 late inning 2 strike AB's. That's 13 hits and 5 walks compared to only 17 late inning 2 strike AB's that ended in a strike out. To go even further, our late inning 2 strike batting average, is just better than our postseason team batting average of (.293), while that is still great.
-In 10 postseason games, we have hit twelve home runs, while five of them were 2-strike Bombs.
Individually, there are a few shockers:
-
The top three postseason 2-strike batting averages come from the bottom 3 guys in the order with Skelton (.429), Westburg (.375) and Luke Alexander (.318). Then there are 5 guys who still have a good to great 2-strike batting average with Stovall(.267) Foscue (.250), Rowdy (.240), MacNamee (.240) and Mangum (.235), these are still very good numbers. Then we have Tanner Allen at (.125).
-LA, Skelton, and Westburg are just on fire with 2 strikes, all 3 owning an elite postseason 2-strike BA/OBP/SLG slash line, hope they can keep it up.
-Foscue is batting (.250) with 2 strikes, while striking out at the same rate of (.250), this is impressive. While owning a middle of the pack (.250) 2 strike BA, he also owns the highest OBP of (.471), that's insane! He is getting on base nearly every other at bat where he faces 2 strikes. This tells me he is seeing the ball very well right now and is most likely poised for a break out game in the near future. Foscue gets the least amount of publicity out of the freshmen, but he is a sleeping giant in the field at 3B, and has real power potential. He is gonna be a star.
-Mangum's numbers are baffling. He has a good, but not great(by his standards), 2-strike batting average of (.235). He is in the bottom third in almost all the major statistics and for a guy that can't help but swing at everything, he has an uncharacteristically high K-rate and even a more anomalous backwards k rate of (.176). I feel like he feels like he needs to do too much. He is due for a 3-4 hit game.
-Rowdy and MacNamee have the exact same slash line with 2 strikes this postseason of (.240/.269/.480). You can live with the higher K-rates around 40% with these guys, because they can change the game in a swing of a bat, as we all know, and as the difference in their AVG and SLG% shows. One is a freshmen, the other a veteran Junior. Rowdy is going to be something special.
-Now, Tanner Allen. It definitely looks a lot uglier than it actually is because this is just focusing on 2-strike AB's and ignoring all other AB's, he has had some big hits for us this postseason, and a couple moon shots, he does like to rip the first good pitch he sees. However, 2 strike hitting is a part of the game, and he has been just awful this postseason. He has a (.125/.192/.208) slash line in 2-strike AB's this postseason. On top of that, he is striking out nearly 60% of the time when he gets 2 strikes, and even worse, is striking out looking 25% of the time. Can't have this from your 3-hole guy. I'm sure Tanner and Gautreau are working on this, and if they can get it figured out, our lineup will have the potential to carry us all the way. Not to mention the fact that our pitching is looking better now than it has at any point in the last 2 years.
3 more wins, that's the only number that really matters.
-The first set of stats is the overall team statistics over this 10 game postseason run, which can be used as a sort of control to compare 2 strike statistics against.
-The second set of stats is team statistics over the postseason with 2 strikes. The first row is all 2 strike at bats, the second row is all 2 strike at bats from the 8th inning on, and the third row is all 2 strike at bats from the 1st to 7th innings.
-The third set of stats is the individual statistics over the postseason with 2 strike counts
** ">|" = backwards K **
http://i67.tinypic.com/2csdq50.png
A few things stand out with the Team stats:
-A team combined 2-strike batting average of (.257) is insane. For reference sake, there are currently only 11 MLB players that are batting over that .257 mark with 2 strikes. Going into the Ole Miss series, our team batting average was (.256) which is lower than our postseason 2 strike batting average. INSANE.
-Not only are we clutch with 2 strikes, but we are even more clutch with 2 strikes late in the game (8th inning and beyond, including extra innings). This postseason, from the 8th innings and beyond, we are batting an unbelievable (.295), with a OPS at (.822), and 11 RBI's in only 44 late inning 2 strike AB's. That's 13 hits and 5 walks compared to only 17 late inning 2 strike AB's that ended in a strike out. To go even further, our late inning 2 strike batting average, is just better than our postseason team batting average of (.293), while that is still great.
-In 10 postseason games, we have hit twelve home runs, while five of them were 2-strike Bombs.
Individually, there are a few shockers:
-
The top three postseason 2-strike batting averages come from the bottom 3 guys in the order with Skelton (.429), Westburg (.375) and Luke Alexander (.318). Then there are 5 guys who still have a good to great 2-strike batting average with Stovall(.267) Foscue (.250), Rowdy (.240), MacNamee (.240) and Mangum (.235), these are still very good numbers. Then we have Tanner Allen at (.125).
-LA, Skelton, and Westburg are just on fire with 2 strikes, all 3 owning an elite postseason 2-strike BA/OBP/SLG slash line, hope they can keep it up.
-Foscue is batting (.250) with 2 strikes, while striking out at the same rate of (.250), this is impressive. While owning a middle of the pack (.250) 2 strike BA, he also owns the highest OBP of (.471), that's insane! He is getting on base nearly every other at bat where he faces 2 strikes. This tells me he is seeing the ball very well right now and is most likely poised for a break out game in the near future. Foscue gets the least amount of publicity out of the freshmen, but he is a sleeping giant in the field at 3B, and has real power potential. He is gonna be a star.
-Mangum's numbers are baffling. He has a good, but not great(by his standards), 2-strike batting average of (.235). He is in the bottom third in almost all the major statistics and for a guy that can't help but swing at everything, he has an uncharacteristically high K-rate and even a more anomalous backwards k rate of (.176). I feel like he feels like he needs to do too much. He is due for a 3-4 hit game.
-Rowdy and MacNamee have the exact same slash line with 2 strikes this postseason of (.240/.269/.480). You can live with the higher K-rates around 40% with these guys, because they can change the game in a swing of a bat, as we all know, and as the difference in their AVG and SLG% shows. One is a freshmen, the other a veteran Junior. Rowdy is going to be something special.
-Now, Tanner Allen. It definitely looks a lot uglier than it actually is because this is just focusing on 2-strike AB's and ignoring all other AB's, he has had some big hits for us this postseason, and a couple moon shots, he does like to rip the first good pitch he sees. However, 2 strike hitting is a part of the game, and he has been just awful this postseason. He has a (.125/.192/.208) slash line in 2-strike AB's this postseason. On top of that, he is striking out nearly 60% of the time when he gets 2 strikes, and even worse, is striking out looking 25% of the time. Can't have this from your 3-hole guy. I'm sure Tanner and Gautreau are working on this, and if they can get it figured out, our lineup will have the potential to carry us all the way. Not to mention the fact that our pitching is looking better now than it has at any point in the last 2 years.
3 more wins, that's the only number that really matters.