Pebble Hunting
Bryce Harper's Toughest At-Bats
by Sam Miller
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=17224Go read this yourself, this is open for non-subscribers. And I do mean,
GO READ THIS. I was lying on the floor Saturday, throwing a pen up in the air and catching it, and wondering when Bryce Harper would face Clayton Kershaw so I could watch it. Typical Saturday stuff. And it occurred to me: Kershaw? Who cares about Kershaw? He’s the best pitcher in the National League, sure, but Kershaw over seven innings isn’t nearly as dominant as the most dominant relievers are in just one inning. Even without facing Kershaw, Bryce Harper has faced almost-impossible pitching in the majors. The five pitchers Harper has faced with the highest strikeout rates this year:
•Aroldis Chapman: 16.1 strikeouts per nine innings
•Jason Grilli: 15.8
•Craig Kimbrel: 14.2
•Kenley Jansen: 13.7
•Jonny Venters: 12.0
I’m going to ignore Grilli, because one of Harper’s plate appearances against him was sort of uninstructive and the other won’t play on my computer at the moment. The other four pitchers have thrown 93 innings with 146 strikeouts and a 1.74 ERA. They will do.
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