Squaring It Up

Interesting post from Dan Fox about the percentage of balls in the strike zone that are swung at and missed.

Some highlights:

• As of June 10, four players (in the limited sample of hitters Fox looked at), had yet to swing and miss at a pitch in the strike zone: Derek Jeter, Chone Figgins, Placido Polanco and Esteban German.
• Most of the hitters at the top of the list would be considered "contact hitters", but David Ortiz is way up there at #6 (98%).
• The big surprise at the bottom of the last for me is Carl Crawford, at only 77%.
• The overall average is pretty high. As Fox writes, "[t]he average is 87.2% which validates the feeling I always get, especially when attending a game in person, that when a pitch is in the strike zone a major league hitter usually takes advantage."