The Boston Red Sox only swung 43% of all pitches they’ve seen this season. On first pitches, they’re even more selective – only swing 20% of the time. Both of these figures are the lowest in baseball.
Because of their patience, the Red Sox have seen 25,177 pitches this season – easily the most in baseball. It goes without saying that they’ve played some long games this year, with 110 of their 159 games easily exceeding the 3-hour mark.
But is the patient approach the reason why the team is having a phenomenal season offensively? Pundits always talk about how a patient approach at the plate is a major key to success. It’s fairly obvious that the Red Sox are intentionally employing this strategy. It’s not an accident when a team sees that many pitches over the course of a year.
That said, the only way the patient approach helps the Red Sox is knocking out starters early. Because they see a lot of pitches, starters leave the game early and the Red Sox get to face the opponents’ bullpen. This probably explains – to a degree – why they’ve had so many comeback victories this season.
Other than that, being patient doesn’t really matter in terms of individual plate success. When swinging at the first pitch, the Red Sox hit .276/.360/.443. When they don’t swing at the first pitch, the Red Sox hit an almost identical .275/.360/.444.
Also, the team that has seen the second most pitches this season is the Minnesota Twins and they’re an atrocious team. This goes to show that it’s not about how many pitches a player takes, but how efficient they are. Red Sox hitters know what they’re doing when they’re at the dish. They swing at the right pitches.
That being said, they may want to take a more free-swinging mentality in the postseason when they take on Detroit or Oakland. These are two teams that throw plenty of first pitch strikes. In fact, 61% of both teams’ first pitches are strikes. If Boston is taking a patient approach and laying off nice pitches just because it’s the first pitch of the count, they will fall behind early in counts.
The numbers show that the first pitch makes a huge difference in an at-bat. After 1-0 counts, the entire league is hitting .269/.378/.433. After a first pitch strike, the league is hitting .224/.264/.339. Falling behind early and often may be a detriment in Boston’s chances of winning important playoff games.
So swing away, Boston. Sure, knocking out starters like Max Scherzer or Bartolo Colon is important. However, letting them get into a groove in a playoff series is not what the Red Sox want. Teams know that the Sox are not going to swing on the first pitch and would love to get that 0-1 advantage. The Red Sox must make them pay.