|
The Cubs' Alfonso Soriano is not your
classic leadoff hitter. He does have tremendous speed,
and that is useful at the top of the order, but his low
walk percentage is not. Moreover, he has the power of a
middle-of-the-order hitter. Nevertheless, he wants to
bat leadoff because he says he gets more fastballs.
Do leadoff
hitters really get more fastballs? The batting slot that
gets the most fastballs is not the leadoff slot, but the
number nine slot in the National League with 67% of
pitches thrown being fastballs. This is not surprising;
when facing a pitcher at the plate, throwing fastballs
is the most efficient way to get them out. After that,
Soriano is correct. Leadoff hitters get fastballs 65% of
the time.
Here are the
2006 Major League Baseball fastball percentages by
lineup slot, by league.
National League
|
Batting Slot |
Percentage |
|
1 |
65% |
|
2 |
63% |
|
3 |
61% |
|
4 |
59% |
|
5 |
59% |
|
6 |
59% |
|
7 |
59% |
|
8 |
60% |
|
9 |
67% |
American
League
|
Batting Slot |
Percentage |
|
1 |
65% |
|
2 |
63% |
|
3 |
59% |
|
4 |
59% |
|
5 |
58% |
|
6 |
58% |
|
7 |
59% |
|
8 |
61% |
|
9 |
63% |
|
