Ian Desmond Spray Chart MLB Stats & Career Totals

He hits lefties and righties about the same

Desmond puts up a .660 OPS against right-handers and .973 against left-handers.

283 plate appearances against right-handers, 197 against left-handers.

There is one situation he is at his most dangerous in

Desmond is at his best against left-handers, with the bases empty, on offspeed pitches: a 1.305 OPS there against .789 overall.

26 plate appearances in that situation.

His power holds up against both hands

The power is one-sided: Desmond slugs .377 against right-handers and .626 against left-handers.

283 plate appearances against right-handers, 197 against left-handers.

There is one situation he simply cannot handle

Desmond is at his worst against right-handers, on offspeed pitches: a .221 OPS there against .789 overall.

23 plate appearances in that situation.

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

Desmond pulls 23.2% of his batted balls and goes the other way with 30.3%, a spread a defence cannot cheat on.

76 pulled, 152 up the middle and 99 the other way over 327 located batted balls.

The big spots do not change his strikeouts either way

Desmond strikes out in 18.7% of his trips with a runner in scoring position and 26.6% with the bases empty.

123 plate appearances with a runner in scoring position, 357 with the bases empty.

He hits the ball far harder than his batting average suggests

Judged on how hard and at what angle he hits it, Desmond should be hitting .269, 85th percentile in the league.

480 plate appearances in 2019. 85th percentile among qualified hitters in 2019, 99th in MLB.

When he connects, the ball leaves in a hurry

Desmond hits the ball hard: 91.4 mph off the bat on average, 86th percentile in the league.

480 plate appearances in 2019. 86th percentile among qualified hitters in 2019, 91st in MLB.

His contact is about the same with runners on

37.3% of Desmond's contact with a runner in scoring position is hit hard, against 48.2% of it with the bases empty.

123 plate appearances with a runner in scoring position, 357 with the bases empty.

He strikes out about the same against both hands

Desmond strikes out in 28.3% of his trips against right-handers and 19.3% of them against left-handers.

283 plate appearances against right-handers, 197 against left-handers.

There is real damage in his bat

Desmond is slugging .480, 80th percentile in the league.

480 plate appearances in 2019. 80th percentile among qualified hitters in 2019, 133rd in MLB.

He squares the ball up as well as almost anyone

10.6% of Desmond's batted balls are barrelled, the batted-ball class that turns into extra bases more often than not. 79th percentile.

480 plate appearances in 2019. 79th percentile among qualified hitters in 2019, 136th in MLB.

There is one pitch he punishes whenever he sees it

Desmond does his damage against breaking balls: a .897 OPS against them, against .743 on fastballs.

139 plate appearances ending on breaking balls, 284 on fastballs.

Everything that leaves the yard leaves to his pull side

6 of Desmond's 20 home runs have gone to his pull side and 3 of them the other way.

20 tracked home runs in 2019.

A huge share of his contact is the hard kind

45.3% of Desmond's contact leaves the bat at 95 mph or more, 77th percentile in the league.

480 plate appearances in 2019. 77th percentile among qualified hitters in 2019, 153rd in MLB.

One pitch is where all his power comes from

Desmond slugs .580 against breaking balls and .428 against fastballs.

139 plate appearances ending on breaking balls.

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

Desmond averages 7.9 degrees off the bat: 26.6% of his contact is in the air and 48.8% of it is on the ground.

301 batted balls with a tracked launch angle.

His walks do not change much with runners on

Desmond walks in 8.9% of his plate appearances with a runner in scoring position, against 6.2% with the bases empty.

123 plate appearances with a runner in scoring position, 357 with the bases empty.

There is one part of the field he lives in

Desmond hits it hardest up the middle: 92.8 mph on average there, against 88.8 the other way.

143 batted balls up the middle, 89 the other way.

He beats the ball into the ground too often

Desmond finds a productive launch angle on only 35.9% of his contact, 35th percentile.

480 plate appearances in 2019. 35th percentile among qualified hitters in 2019, 424th in MLB.

He cannot get the bat on the ball in the big spots

With a runner in scoring position Desmond averages 89.8 mph off the bat, against 92.0 with the bases empty.

83 tracked batted balls with a runner in scoring position, 224 without.

His home runs almost all go to the same part of the park

11 of Desmond's 20 located home runs have gone to centre field, the longest of them 486 feet.

20 tracked home runs in 2019.

Which hand is pitching changes where he hits the ball

Desmond pulls 19.8% of what he puts in play against right-handers and 27.6% of it against left-handers.

182 batted balls against right-handers, 145 against left-handers.

Ian Desmond

Contextual Splits

Crunching the Numbers