A look at both first-pitch swings and working counts, plus links

It would probably not surprise an Orioles fan to know that their team was among the American League leaders in number of times swinging at the first pitch of an at-bat last season. It might surprise to know they fared pretty well at it.

In 2016, Orioles hitters swung at the first pitch 30.6 percent of the time, trailing only Houston at 34.7 percent and Tampa Bay at 32.8. Boston took the most first pitches, swinging just 20.9 percent of the time. The league average was a swing rate of 27.9 percent.

The Orioles ranked fifth in the AL in batting average when putting the first pitch in play at .359. Seattle ranked first at .384. O's hitters ranked third in OPS on the first pitch at 1.005 with Seattle first at 1.060. O's hitters led the AL with 50 first-pitch home runs with Tampa Bay second at 47.

Joey Rickard hit .500 (7-for-14) on the first pitch, while Chris Davis hit .492 (29-for-59) with 11 homers and an OPS of 1.596. Pedro Alvarez hit .457 (16-for-35) and Hyun Soo Kim hit .448 (13-for-29).

If you want to drive an O's fan crazy, make an out on the first pitch. But these numbers show that we perhaps forget the times something good happened. My take is the same - if the first pitch is very hittable, as in right down the middle, go get it. If it's on the corner or not a strike, let it go and wait for another chance.

The other side of that, which fans seem to love, is those players that work deep counts and draw walks. They make pitchers work harder and throw more pitches, and that is often a good thing.

The Orioles as a team saw an average of 3.86 pitches per plate appearance last year. That is nowhere near terrible, as some might have thought. In fact, the league average was 3.87.

AL team leaders, pitches per plate appearance, 2016:
4.03 - Toronto
3.94 - Boston, Minnesota
3.92 - Cleveland
3.89 - Seattle
3.87 - Chicago, Detroit, Tampa Bay

I have written before that new addition Seth Smith would have been among the leaders on the Orioles in 2016 in pitches per plate appearance. Here is ranking of Smith with last year's team with batters that had at least 100 plate appearances:

4.33 - Rickard
4.25 - Nolan Reimold
4.22 - Smith
4.13 - Alvarez
4.12 - J.J. Hardy
4.11 - Davis
4.05 - Caleb Joseph
4.01 - Kim

The Orioles that saw the fewest pitches were Jonathan Schoop (3.45), Adam Jones (3.47) and Matt Wieters (3.62).

It is interesting that some of the Orioles that saw the most pitches also produced some of the best stats when hacking at the first pitch. Could mean they knew a fat pitch when they saw it and were ready to hack at one as soon as they got in the box.

Conclusion: Smith could help the Orioles work the count better as they look to improve to league average or better in that department. At the same time, first-pitch swinging can produce some solid results. Just get the right pitch to swing at.

Links:

* MLBTradeRumors.com has a recap of Dan Duquette on MLB Network Radio on Sunday.
* This author sees Mark Trumbo's value going way up if he plays first base.
* If you are in Maine tomorrow, go see Ryan Flaherty at Portland House of Music & Events.