Josh Donaldson Spray Chart MLB Stats & Career Totals

He hits lefties and righties about the same

Donaldson puts up a .556 OPS against right-handers and .948 against left-handers.

137 plate appearances against right-handers, 52 against left-handers.

There is one situation he simply cannot handle

Donaldson is at his worst against right-handers, with a runner in scoring position: a .220 OPS there against .667 overall.

33 plate appearances in that situation.

He hits about the same with runners on as without

With a runner in scoring position Donaldson has an OPS of .459; with the bases empty it is .745.

55 plate appearances with a runner in scoring position, 134 with the bases empty.

His power holds up against both hands

The power is one-sided: Donaldson slugs .322 against right-handers and .660 against left-handers.

137 plate appearances against right-handers, 52 against left-handers.

A huge share of his contact is the hard kind

51.3% of Donaldson's contact leaves the bat at 95 mph or more, 95th percentile in the league.

189 plate appearances in 2023. 95th percentile among qualified hitters in 2023, 33rd in MLB.

There is one part of the field he lives in

Donaldson hits it hardest to his pull side: 97.1 mph on average there, against 87.9 up the middle.

44 batted balls to his pull side, 55 up the middle.

He has been unlucky, and the hits should start falling

Donaldson's batting average is .152 but the quality of his contact projects .204, a gap of .052 in his favour once the bounces even out.

189 plate appearances in 2023.

He squares the ball up as well as almost anyone

14% of Donaldson's batted balls are barrelled, the batted-ball class that turns into extra bases more often than not. 92nd percentile.

189 plate appearances in 2023. 92nd percentile among qualified hitters in 2023, 50th in MLB.

There is one situation he is at his most dangerous in

Donaldson is at his best against left-handers, with the bases empty: a 1.052 OPS there against .667 overall.

30 plate appearances in that situation.

He does not get on base enough to help

Donaldson is on base at a .249 clip, 11th percentile in the league.

189 plate appearances in 2023. 11th percentile among qualified hitters in 2023, 527th in MLB.

When he connects, the ball leaves in a hurry

Donaldson hits the ball hard: 92.1 mph off the bat on average, 94th percentile in the league.

189 plate appearances in 2023. 94th percentile among qualified hitters in 2023, 35th in MLB.

He is not hitting the ball with any authority this season

Donaldson's quality of contact only supports a .204 expected average, 17th percentile in the league.

189 plate appearances in 2023. 17th percentile among qualified hitters in 2023, 494th in MLB.

He beats the ball into the ground too often

Donaldson finds a productive launch angle on only 25.4% of his contact, 5th percentile.

189 plate appearances in 2023. 5th percentile among qualified hitters in 2023, 563rd in MLB.

He takes his walks and makes pitchers come to him

Donaldson walks in 11.6% of his plate appearances, 84th percentile.

189 plate appearances in 2023. 84th percentile among qualified hitters in 2023, 93rd in MLB.

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

With a runner in scoring position Donaldson averages 88.6 mph off the bat, against 93.3 with the bases empty.

30 tracked batted balls with a runner in scoring position, 87 without.

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

9 of Donaldson's 13 located home runs have gone to left field, the longest of them 472 feet.

13 tracked home runs in 2023.

The big spots do not change his strikeouts either way

Donaldson strikes out in 30.9% of his trips with a runner in scoring position and 24.6% with the bases empty.

55 plate appearances with a runner in scoring position, 134 with the bases empty.

There is one pitch he punishes whenever he sees it

Donaldson does his damage against breaking balls: a .741 OPS against them, against .613 on fastballs.

58 plate appearances ending on breaking balls, 119 on fastballs.

Which hand is pitching changes where he hits the ball

Donaldson pulls 32.5% of what he puts in play against right-handers and 50% of it against left-handers.

83 batted balls against right-handers, 34 against left-handers.

One pitch is where all his power comes from

Donaldson slugs .500 against breaking balls and .369 against fastballs.

58 plate appearances ending on breaking balls.

His walks do not change much with runners on

Donaldson walks in 14.5% of his plate appearances with a runner in scoring position, against 10.4% with the bases empty.

55 plate appearances with a runner in scoring position, 134 with the bases empty.

He is not producing at the plate this season

Donaldson's OPS+ of 78 sits 35th percentile among hitters this season.

189 plate appearances in 2023. 35th percentile among qualified hitters in 2023, 388th in MLB.

There is real damage in his bat

Donaldson is slugging .418, 64th percentile in the league.

189 plate appearances in 2023. 64th percentile among qualified hitters in 2023, 214th in MLB.

Everything that leaves the yard leaves to his pull side

9 of Donaldson's 13 home runs have gone to his pull side and 1 of them the other way.

13 tracked home runs in 2023.

The strikeouts are the thing holding his season back

Donaldson strikes out in 26.5% of his trips, 38th percentile.

189 plate appearances in 2023. 38th percentile among qualified hitters in 2023, 371st in MLB.

Josh Donaldson

Contextual Splits

Crunching the Numbers