Thoughts on Hunter Pence

Although I generally don't have a lot of warm, fuzzy thoughts about players on opposing teams who play against the Giants, there are sometimes individual players who catch my eye and make me say, "you know, I wish the Giants had a player like that!"  Of course a few years ago, one of those players was AJ Pierzynski, so what do I know?  On the other hand, I can also count Angel Pagan and Marco Scutaro in that category, so it isn't all bad.

One such player who I have admired since he broke into MLB is Hunter Pence.  Here are some of the things I like about Hunter Pence:  His size.  His rawboned athleticism.  His intensity.  His combination of power and speed.  There is one more thing that I love about Hunter Pence that sets him apart from other good MLB players.   He chokes up on the bat!   Yes! He is a power hitter who chokes up on the bat!  Do you know who else choked up on his bat?  Yep!  Barry Bonds!  In fact, I believe watching Barry Bonds hit, is where Hunter Pence got the idea to choke up on his bat!  

I have never figured out why more power hitters don't choke up on the bat.  I know, choking up is for banjo hitters and slap and dash guys. It's all about gaining bat control and placing Texas leaguer hits, hitting 'em where they ain't, Wee Willie Keeler.  Power hitters want to be down at the bottom of the bat getting every inch of leverage they can out of their swing.  I happen to believe that is the wrong way to look at it.  Right now, there is nobody in baseball hitting the ball farther than Hunter Pence.  Before him, nobody hit the ball farther than Barry Bonds. Do you think those two get some speed into that bat head?  

Here is what I think choking up did and does for Barry Bonds and Hunter Pence:  1.  It allows them to extend their arms for maximum muscle leverage while exposing less of the bat handle to the ball.  2.  It creates more rotational bat speed allowing them to get around on an inside pitch faster while also maximizing the force of the bat on the ball at point of contact.  Think of it this way:  What happens when a figure skater is spinning with their arms extended and then pulls them in?  That's right, they spin faster!  Hitting a baseball is all about the radial spin of a bat around a central anchor just like those figure skaters.  In addition to choking up on his bat, Barry Bonds used a bat that was noticeably shorter than most.  Nobody got around on a pitch like Barry Bonds!  That added rotational speed allows the batter to wait longer before starting his swing giving him an extra split second for pitch recognition.

One more thing I love about Hunter Pence is his remarkable consistency.  Yes, he is a streaky hitter.  He's got those long arms and legs that sometimes get all out of sync and he can go 0 for 20 or 30 before you know it.  The other side of that, though is he gets into hot streaks that are awesome to behold and can carry a team.  When all is said and done at the end of a 162 game schedule, his season stat line looks remarkably similar from year to year(All stats start in the year 2008 and run through 2013, a total of 6 seasons):

HR:  25, 25, 25, 22, 24, 27.

RBI:  83, 72, 91, 97, 104, 99.

Runs:  78, 76, 93, 84, 87, 91.

Still not convinced?  Here is his slash line from 2013:  .283/.339/.483.  Here is his slash line season average for his career:  .285/.339/.476.

The dude is just a machine!  I have often just stared at his career stat sheet marveling at the consistency of it.  His MLB career is now over 1000 games and 4000 AB's.  I think you can take your wRC+ scores and  your OPS+ and any others you think might have predictive value.  With a track record like that, I would rather look at real runs crossing the plate.  You can pencil this guy in for 90 runs, 25 HR and 95 RBI's and be quite confident you will be very close in all categories at the end of the season.

So, there you have it:  Athleticism, Tools, Intensity, Choking up on the bat, Consistency.  Those are the things I like about Hunter Pence.  So it was an overpay by a couple of $ M/year.  BFD!  Are we really going to quibble over it?  Larry Baer went on the TV broadcast with Kruk and Kuip and addressed the overpay issue head on.  He said the Giants are a classy organization.  They do not try to take advantage of a player who wants to play for them.  There is a reason why players want to play for the Giants.  If the Giants want a player and there is mutual interest, they want the player to feel wanted and will do what it takes to get it done and not worry about whether it is a modest overpay.

I am totally on board with that as long as it does not become a roadblock to the acquisition of other needed players, but I defy anyone to show that any contract has ever become such a roadblock for the Giants!  Hunter Pence is a Giant, something I could only dream about when he was a young player breaking in with Houston.  I really don't give a rat's behind what the overpay was.  I like Hunter Pence as a player and am very happy I will get to watch him play for the team I root for over the next 5 seasons!