A.J. Pierzynski Spray Chart MLB Stats & Career Totals

There is one pitch he punishes whenever he sees it

Pierzynski does his damage against offspeed pitches: a .884 OPS against them, against .471 on fastballs.

30 plate appearances ending on offspeed pitches, 163 on fastballs.

There is one situation he is at his most dangerous in

Pierzynski is at his best against right-handers, on offspeed pitches: a .948 OPS there against .547 overall.

28 plate appearances in that situation.

This is the kind of hitter he is, in one line

Pierzynski trades damage for contact: he rarely strikes out and rarely barrels one: 21st percentile barrel rate, 96th percentile strikeout rate.

259 plate appearances in 2016. both percentiles among qualified hitters in 2016.

He puts the ball in play, strikeouts are not his problem

Pierzynski strikes out in only 11.2% of his trips, 96th percentile.

259 plate appearances in 2016. 96th percentile among qualified hitters in 2016, 25th in MLB.

There is one situation he simply cannot handle

Pierzynski is at his worst against left-handers: a .216 OPS there against .547 overall.

37 plate appearances in that situation.

One pitch is where all his power comes from

Pierzynski slugs .517 against offspeed pitches and .256 against fastballs.

30 plate appearances ending on offspeed pitches.

He does not get on base enough to help

Pierzynski is on base at a .243 clip, 18th percentile in the league.

259 plate appearances in 2016. 18th percentile among qualified hitters in 2016, 516th in MLB.

His walks do not change much with runners on

Pierzynski walks in 6.1% of his plate appearances with a runner in scoring position, against 1% with the bases empty.

66 plate appearances with a runner in scoring position, 193 with the bases empty.

He almost never walks, which limits how he helps

Pierzynski walks in only 2.3% of his plate appearances, 9th percentile.

259 plate appearances in 2016. 9th percentile among qualified hitters in 2016, 578th in MLB.

He rarely catches the ball flush

Only 1% of Pierzynski's batted balls are barrelled, 21st percentile.

259 plate appearances in 2016. 21st percentile among qualified hitters in 2016, 497th in MLB.

He is not producing at the plate this season

Pierzynski's OPS+ of 48 sits 21st percentile among hitters this season.

259 plate appearances in 2016. 21st percentile among qualified hitters in 2016, 501st in MLB.

There is one part of the field he lives in

Pierzynski hits it hardest to his pull side: 90.0 mph on average there, against 85.1 the other way.

65 batted balls to his pull side, 44 the other way.

The big spots do not change his strikeouts either way

Pierzynski strikes out in 15.2% of his trips with a runner in scoring position and 9.8% with the bases empty.

66 plate appearances with a runner in scoring position, 193 with the bases empty.

He has been unlucky, and the hits should start falling

Pierzynski's batting average is .219 but the quality of his contact projects .243, a gap of .024 in his favour once the bounces even out.

259 plate appearances in 2016.

The power is not there this season

Pierzynski is slugging .304, 25th percentile in the league.

259 plate appearances in 2016. 25th percentile among qualified hitters in 2016, 477th in MLB.

The shape of his contact says what kind of hitter he is

Pierzynski averages 7.8 degrees off the bat: 24.1% of his contact is in the air and 51.8% of it is on the ground.

199 batted balls with a tracked launch angle.

He hits the ball far harder than his batting average suggests

Judged on how hard and at what angle he hits it, Pierzynski should be hitting .243, 63rd percentile in the league.

259 plate appearances in 2016. 63rd percentile among qualified hitters in 2016, 235th in MLB.

He hits about the same with runners on as without

With a runner in scoring position Pierzynski has an OPS of .633; with the bases empty it is .519.

66 plate appearances with a runner in scoring position, 193 with the bases empty.

His fly balls travel about as far as anyone's

Pierzynski's fly balls travel 286 feet on average, and his longest of the season went 394.

64 tracked balls hit at 20 degrees or more.

He beats the ball into the ground too often

Pierzynski finds a productive launch angle on only 35.7% of his contact, 35th percentile.

259 plate appearances in 2016. 35th percentile among qualified hitters in 2016, 409th in MLB.

He is a pull hitter, and defences can set up for it

Pierzynski pulls 33.9% of his batted balls and goes the other way with 22.2%, a spread a defence cannot cheat on.

75 pulled, 97 up the middle and 49 the other way over 221 located batted balls.

His contact is about the same with runners on

34.7% of Pierzynski's contact with a runner in scoring position is hit hard, against 38.4% of it with the bases empty.

66 plate appearances with a runner in scoring position, 193 with the bases empty.

A.J. Pierzynski

Contextual Splits

Crunching the Numbers