Hitting the ball hard is a desirable outcome in MLB, for obvious reasons.
If you hit a soft grounder, the chances you will be out are very high.
However, if you hit a screaming line drive, the opposing team will have a hard time fielding it and it will likely be a hit.
In short, it’s much easier to make a play on a ball hit at 85 mph than on a ball hit at 102 mph.
Statcast has established the threshold for hard-hit balls at 95 mph or higher.
With that in mind, there is a member of the Cleveland Guardians who is hitting the ball hard in more than half of his batted-ball events.
No, it’s not Jose Ramirez, and it’s also not Josh Naylor.
Perhaps it’s a name you wouldn’t imagine: Tyler Freeman.
“Cleveland Guardians (Hard Hit%) leaders: Tyler Freeman 53.1%, Will Brennan 50.0%, Bo Naylor 47.4%, Estevan Florial 45.8%, David Fry 43.8%, Josh Naylor 42.0%. * Hard Hit% (Balls put in play over 95.0 mph),” Guardians Prospective tweeted.
Cleveland Guardians (Hard Hit%) leaders:
Tyler Freeman 53.1%
Will Brennan 50.0%
Bo Naylor 47.4%
Estevan Florial 45.8%
David Fry 43.8%
Josh Naylor 42.0%* Hard Hit% (Balls put in play over 95.0 mph)
— Guardians Prospective (@CleGuardPro) April 29, 2024
Yes, that’s right: the Guardians center fielder is leading the team in hard-hit rate, or percentage of balls hit at 95 mph or higher.
This makes his .215/.308/.380 line and .687 OPS bound to improve.
His expected stats are much better than his actual stats because he is hitting the ball hard consistently and not seeing the results, at least not yet.
If he maintains a similar hard-hit rate over a long period of time, you will see his batting average, slugging, and OPS numbers increasing.
Not only is he doing a terrific job at a new position in center field, but he is also improving when it comes to offense.
The numbers might not show it yet, but Freeman is having a very solid year all things considered.
NEXT: Guardians Show Up Near Top Of Elite MLB Ranking
