When there is a home run in MLB, the first thing that comes to our minds is that the pitcher must have made a mistake and left the ball near the heart of the zone.
That’s mostly true, but only to some extent.
Not every home run comes off a bat, middle-middle pitch: MLB hitters are talented enough to make loud contact on pitches that are way out of the strike zone, too.
It doesn’t happen often, but it does happen more than you would think.
“Over 90% of @MLB homers are on in-zone pitches. Here are the 20 this season on pitches that were the farthest from the middle of the zone,” the always interesting Codify Baseball Twitter account posted.
Over 90% of @MLB homers are on in-zone pitches. Here are the 20 this season on pitches that were the farthest from the middle of the zone. pic.twitter.com/DJ7HQwydXs
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) September 27, 2022
MLB Have The Best Hitters In The World, Capable Of Belting Impossible Home Runs
As a pitcher, there shouldn’t be anything more frustrating than throwing a quality pitch and still watching how the batter drives it for a home run.
The video above is the perfect proof that no pitcher is immune to giving up a long ball every once in a while.
It’s part of the game.
In fact, some players have a reputation for being “bad ball hitters”: they expand the zone but have incredibly good bat-to-ball skills and feel for hard contact, so hitting balls is usually not a problem for them.
Vladimir Guerrero Sr. and Robinson Cano are two notable examples.
Hitting a baseball is actually one of the hardest things in sports, so watching these players reach pitches near the head or almost at the dirt and hitting them for home runs is truly amazing.
Pitchers’ job is becoming increasingly difficult.
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