After watching about a month of Red Sox baseball, I've become curious as to whether the Lineup, as a whole, was putting the ball in play enough. I've decided to take a look at the Contact Rates for the Sox lineup. Contact Rate measures a batter's ability to get wood on the ball and hit it into the field of play. Those batters with the best contact skill will have levels of 90% or better, while the hackers will have levels of 75% or less.
Below are the Contact Rates for the 2006 Red Sox:
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I figured the best way to get a feel for this would be to compare the 2005 and 2006 Contact Rates for each player. Below are the 2005 Contact Rates for the current lineup:
Surprisingly, the results aren't quite what I had expected. What shocked me most was how Mike Lowell actually had an 88% contact rate in 2005. Clearly, last season, he was putting the bat on the ball, but his power had completely dissipated.
Nixon and Varitek, the usual #5 hitters vs righties and lefties, respectively, are consistently getting wood on the ball. Considering the superb contact rate of Mark Loretta, the lineup should be hit its stride once Manny (and Ortiz to a lesser extent) hit their groove.
Right now, the lineup is really troubled by having to employ Alex Gonzalez, and one of Dustan Mohr, Wily Mo Pena, and Willie Harris on a nightly basis. The Sox, as a whole, are putting the ball in play a meager 79% of the time.
Tomorrow, I will take a closer look at the Isolated Power of the Sox lineup.
Nixon and Varitek, the usual #5 hitters vs righties and lefties, respectively, are consistently getting wood on the ball. Considering the superb contact rate of Mark Loretta, the lineup should be hit its stride once Manny (and Ortiz to a lesser extent) hit their groove.
Right now, the lineup is really troubled by having to employ Alex Gonzalez, and one of Dustan Mohr, Wily Mo Pena, and Willie Harris on a nightly basis. The Sox, as a whole, are putting the ball in play a meager 79% of the time.
Tomorrow, I will take a closer look at the Isolated Power of the Sox lineup.
