Before Chris Iannetta’s surprising demotion earlier this season, he had come under fire for not being aggressive enough. In particular, by one the Rockies’ tv commentators in a game about a week before being sent down. As a fan of patient hitting, I was pretty ok with Chris not chasing a low fast ball on the outside corner, that would have surely turned into a 4-6-3 double play if he had offered at it. The commentator was a lot quieter when Chris ended up with a base hit.
Having seen a lot of criticism about Chris being too patient, it got me wondering if the perception was true. Was he afraid to swing the bat? Looking at the following tables from Fangraphs, the answer up to this year was clearly NO.
| Season | O-Swing% | Z-Swing% | Swing% | Outside | Zone | Total |
| 2006 | 17.30% | 75.90% | 48.80% | 175 | 203 | 378 |
| 2007 | 17.90% | 70.60% | 46.20% | 432 | 502 | 934 |
| 2008 | 16.20% | 72.30% | 44.00% | 853 | 836 | 1689 |
| 2009 | 16.70% | 72.30% | 45.60% | 709 | 765 | 1474 |
| 2010 | 18.80% | 68.70% | 44.30% | 69 | 72 | 141 |
| Total * | 16.80% | 72.20% | 45.30% | 2239 | 2377 | 4616 |
| Season | O-Swing% | Z-Swing% | Swing% |
| 2006 | 23.50% | 66.60% | 46.10% |
| 2007 | 25.00% | 66.60% | 45.90% |
| 2008 | 25.40% | 65.40% | 45.90% |
| 2009 | 25.10% | 65.90% | 45.20% |
| 2010 | 28.30% | 63.90% | 45.10% |
The first of these tables shows Chris’s swing percentage outside and inside the zone (noted by O-Swing% and Z-Swing% respectively) as well as the total percentage of pitches swung at. The second part of the first table shows the number of pitches seen outside, inside, and total. This is all based on data up to Chris’s demotion.
Compare the first table to the second, which contains Major League averages of swing percentages over each year of Chris’s career. You’ll notice that Chris has been consistently good at not chasing pitches out of the strike zone, which shouldn’t surprise anyone. What me be surprising to some is that Chris is more aggressive on balls in the zone than the average major leaguer. It should be noted there was a slight decrease in pitches swung at in the zone. However, because of the sample size this means that he swung at only two fewer pitches than he normally would have. From Jim Tracy’s view that may have been all he needed to see, even if the stats don’t show the same urgency.
The next question we have to ask is “Has Chris become more aggressive since his recall?” The following table shows Chris’s swing rates since his recall.
| O-Swing% | Z-Swing% | Swing% | Outside | Zone | Total |
| 30.07% | 68.87% | 46.19% | 55 | 104 | 159 |
It practically jumps off the page. That outside zone swing percentage has gone up to over 30%. So Chris has become more aggressive, but not in a a good way. Strangely enough, his walk rate has been higher than usual at 21%. His K rate since then, also at 21%, is close to his career norm. Coincidentally or not, the one thing missing is the power. Chris has only 1 double in 36 pa’s since being recalled. Of course it’s probably too early to make any real conclusions out of that.
This is something worth following over the course of the year. Something tells me Chris won’t develop from a guy who has been criticized for being too patient, to someone who doesn’t see any pitches he doesn’t like.
