Whit Merrifield Spray Chart MLB Stats & Career Totals

There is one pitch he punishes whenever he sees it

Merrifield does his damage against fastballs: a .698 OPS against them, against .350 on offspeed pitches.

199 plate appearances ending on fastballs, 44 on offspeed pitches.

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

4 of Merrifield's 4 located home runs have gone to left field, the longest of them 374 feet.

4 tracked home runs in 2024.

There is one situation he simply cannot handle

Merrifield is at his worst against left-handers, with the bases empty, on offspeed pitches: a .203 OPS there against .625 overall.

25 plate appearances in that situation.

His swing is slower than almost anyone's

Merrifield swings it at 59.7 mph, 1st percentile bat speed in the league.

335 plate appearances in 2024. 1st percentile among qualified hitters in 2024, 577th in MLB.

He hits about the same with runners on as without

With a runner in scoring position Merrifield has an OPS of .409; with the bases empty it is .691.

77 plate appearances with a runner in scoring position, 258 with the bases empty.

Too much of his contact is weak

Just 21.7% of Merrifield's contact reaches 95 mph, 4th percentile.

335 plate appearances in 2024. 4th percentile among qualified hitters in 2024, 559th in MLB.

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

Merrifield trades damage for contact: he rarely strikes out and rarely barrels one: 10th percentile barrel rate, 89th percentile strikeout rate.

335 plate appearances in 2024. both percentiles among qualified hitters in 2024.

Everything that leaves the yard leaves to his pull side

4 of Merrifield's 4 home runs have gone to his pull side and none of them the other way.

4 tracked home runs in 2024.

He does not hit the ball hard, and it shows

Merrifield averages 82.9 mph off the bat, 7th percentile in the league.

335 plate appearances in 2024. 7th percentile among qualified hitters in 2024, 544th in MLB.

His contact is about the same with runners on

12.1% of Merrifield's contact with a runner in scoring position is hit hard, against 24.7% of it with the bases empty.

77 plate appearances with a runner in scoring position, 258 with the bases empty.

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

Merrifield strikes out in only 15.5% of his trips, 89th percentile.

335 plate appearances in 2024. 89th percentile among qualified hitters in 2024, 63rd in MLB.

He rarely catches the ball flush

Only 1.6% of Merrifield's batted balls are barrelled, 10th percentile.

335 plate appearances in 2024. 10th percentile among qualified hitters in 2024, 527th in MLB.

The power is not there this season

Merrifield is slugging .314, 24th percentile in the league.

335 plate appearances in 2024. 24th percentile among qualified hitters in 2024, 442nd in MLB.

His fly balls travel about as far as anyone's

Merrifield's fly balls travel 261 feet on average, and his longest of the season went 386.

100 tracked balls hit at 20 degrees or more.

He strikes out about the same against both hands

Merrifield strikes out in 17.3% of his trips against right-handers and 12.4% of them against left-handers.

214 plate appearances against right-handers, 121 against left-handers.

He takes his walks and makes pitchers come to him

Merrifield walks in 10.4% of his plate appearances, 79th percentile.

335 plate appearances in 2024. 79th percentile among qualified hitters in 2024, 123rd in MLB.

One pitch is where all his power comes from

Merrifield slugs .351 against fastballs and .190 against offspeed pitches.

199 plate appearances ending on fastballs.

He has been unlucky, and the hits should start falling

Merrifield's batting average is .222 but the quality of his contact projects .246, a gap of .024 in his favour once the bounces even out.

335 plate appearances in 2024.

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

Merrifield pulls 27.3% of his batted balls and goes the other way with 28.6%, a spread a defence cannot cheat on.

67 pulled, 108 up the middle and 70 the other way over 245 located batted balls.

There is one situation he is at his most dangerous in

Merrifield is at his best against right-handers, with the bases empty, on fastballs: a .789 OPS there against .625 overall.

102 plate appearances in that situation.

He is not producing at the plate this season

Merrifield's OPS+ of 76 sits 33rd percentile among hitters this season.

335 plate appearances in 2024. 33rd percentile among qualified hitters in 2024, 391st in MLB.

He hits the ball far harder than his batting average suggests

Judged on how hard and at what angle he hits it, Merrifield should be hitting .246, 63rd percentile in the league.

335 plate appearances in 2024. 63rd percentile among qualified hitters in 2024, 218th in MLB.

There is one part of the field he lives in

Merrifield hits it hardest to his pull side: 84.9 mph on average there, against 81.1 up the middle.

67 batted balls to his pull side, 107 up the middle.

His walks do not change much with runners on

Merrifield walks in 9.1% of his plate appearances with a runner in scoring position, against 10.9% with the bases empty.

77 plate appearances with a runner in scoring position, 258 with the bases empty.

Which hand is pitching changes where he hits the ball

Merrifield pulls 24.3% of what he puts in play against right-handers and 32.3% of it against left-handers.

152 batted balls against right-handers, 93 against left-handers.

Whit Merrifield

Contextual Splits

Crunching the Numbers