Luis Valbuena Spray Chart MLB Stats & Career Totals

There is one pitch he punishes whenever he sees it

Valbuena does his damage against offspeed pitches: a .841 OPS against them, against .301 on breaking balls.

36 plate appearances ending on offspeed pitches, 77 on breaking balls.

His walks do not change much with runners on

Valbuena walks in 11.3% of his plate appearances with a runner in scoring position, against 3.9% with the bases empty.

80 plate appearances with a runner in scoring position, 206 with the bases empty.

There is one situation he simply cannot handle

Valbuena is at his worst against right-handers, with the bases empty, on breaking balls: a .234 OPS there against .583 overall.

47 plate appearances in that situation.

One pitch is where all his power comes from

Valbuena slugs .452 against offspeed pitches and .158 against breaking balls.

36 plate appearances ending on offspeed pitches.

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

Valbuena trades contact for damage: top-end barrel rate, bottom-end strikeout rate: 83rd percentile barrel rate, 16th percentile strikeout rate.

286 plate appearances in 2018. both percentiles among qualified hitters in 2018.

He squares the ball up as well as almost anyone

10.4% of Valbuena's batted balls are barrelled, the batted-ball class that turns into extra bases more often than not. 83rd percentile.

286 plate appearances in 2018. 83rd percentile among qualified hitters in 2018, 109th in MLB.

His contact is about the same with runners on

35.1% of Valbuena's contact with a runner in scoring position is hit hard, against 46.7% of it with the bases empty.

80 plate appearances with a runner in scoring position, 206 with the bases empty.

He is not hitting the ball with any authority this season

Valbuena's quality of contact only supports a .188 expected average, 21st percentile in the league.

286 plate appearances in 2018. 21st percentile among qualified hitters in 2018, 507th in MLB.

The strikeouts are the thing holding his season back

Valbuena strikes out in 35% of his trips, 16th percentile.

286 plate appearances in 2018. 16th percentile among qualified hitters in 2018, 539th in MLB.

There is one part of the field he lives in

Valbuena hits it hardest to his pull side: 92.5 mph on average there, against 86.3 the other way.

66 batted balls to his pull side, 32 the other way.

He does not get on base enough to help

Valbuena is on base at a .248 clip, 22nd percentile in the league.

286 plate appearances in 2018. 22nd percentile among qualified hitters in 2018, 503rd in MLB.

There is one situation he is at his most dangerous in

Valbuena is at his best against right-handers, on offspeed pitches: a .841 OPS there against .583 overall.

36 plate appearances in that situation.

A huge share of his contact is the hard kind

43.9% of Valbuena's contact leaves the bat at 95 mph or more, 77th percentile in the league.

286 plate appearances in 2018. 77th percentile among qualified hitters in 2018, 150th in MLB.

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

With a runner in scoring position Valbuena averages 86.1 mph off the bat, against 90.6 with the bases empty.

36 tracked batted balls with a runner in scoring position, 115 without.

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

Valbuena averages 17.6 degrees off the bat: 45.3% of his contact is in the air and 37.8% of it is on the ground.

148 batted balls with a tracked launch angle.

When he connects, the ball leaves in a hurry

Valbuena hits the ball hard: 89.7 mph off the bat on average, 72nd percentile in the league.

286 plate appearances in 2018. 72nd percentile among qualified hitters in 2018, 180th in MLB.

He is not producing at the plate this season

Valbuena's OPS+ of 61 sits 29th percentile among hitters this season.

286 plate appearances in 2018. 29th percentile among qualified hitters in 2018, 453rd in MLB.

He hits lefties and righties about the same

Valbuena puts up a .570 OPS against right-handers and .661 against left-handers.

246 plate appearances against right-handers, 40 against left-handers.

He beats the ball into the ground too often

Valbuena finds a productive launch angle on only 33.8% of his contact, 27th percentile.

286 plate appearances in 2018. 27th percentile among qualified hitters in 2018, 470th in MLB.

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

5 of Valbuena's 8 located home runs have gone to right field, the longest of them 432 feet.

8 tracked home runs in 2018.

He strikes out about the same against both hands

Valbuena strikes out in 35.4% of his trips against right-handers and 32.5% of them against left-handers.

246 plate appearances against right-handers, 40 against left-handers.

He almost never walks, which limits how he helps

Valbuena walks in only 5.9% of his plate appearances, 35th percentile.

286 plate appearances in 2018. 35th percentile among qualified hitters in 2018, 416th in MLB.

The power is not there this season

Valbuena is slugging .335, 36th percentile in the league.

286 plate appearances in 2018. 36th percentile among qualified hitters in 2018, 412th in MLB.

His fly balls travel about as far as anyone's

Valbuena's fly balls travel 297 feet on average, and his longest of the season went 432.

74 tracked balls hit at 20 degrees or more.

Luis Valbuena

Contextual Splits

Crunching the Numbers