In MLB, and baseball in general, hitting with two strikes in the count is incredibly difficult.
Reaching two strikes puts the pitcher in control of the at-bat, as he takes more of an offensive approach to try and finish the at-bat with a strikeout.
To the contrary, the batter takes a defensive approach, just trying to survive and make contact even though its quality will probably not be the most ideal.
This is why batting average with two strikes is normally very, very low.
Not to San Diego Padres legend Tony Gwynn, though.
Winner of eight batting titles over his brilliant career, “Mr. Padre” sure knew how to hit in every situation, including with the count in two strikes.
“Best career batting average with two strikes (1988-2022): Tony Gwynn, .302; Wade Boggs, .262; Luis Polonia, .261; Juan Pierre, .260; Todd Helton, .258; Ichiro Suzuki, .253. Hitting .302 with two strikes against MLB pitchers over an entire career is just absolutely insane,” Codify Baseball tweeted.
Best career batting average with two strikes (1988-2022):
Tony Gwynn, .302 😮
Wade Boggs, .262
Luis Polonia, .261
Juan Pierre, .260
Todd Helton, .258
Ichiro Suzuki, .253Hitting .302 with two strikes against MLB pitchers over an entire career is just absolutely insane. pic.twitter.com/S9VgnDNbeu
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) January 20, 2023
Most hitters struggle to hit .300 in a season, let alone their entire careers.
Well, that’s Gwynn’s batting average with two strikes.
That has got to be one of his most impressive stats.
Just look at the gap between him and the second-placed player, Wade Boggs: .040 points!
Gwynn had legendary bat-to-ball skills, and while he didn’t have too much power, that didn’t stop him from being a true offensive machine thanks to his advanced contact.
Gwynn, who died in 2014, went down as one of the best pure hitters in MLB history.
His contact ability is second to none, and stats like these only strengthen that argument.
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