Hey, remember Miguel Olivo?

Monday, August 10, 2009

Via the indispensable Stat of the Day blog at Baseball Reference, do you remember how awful Miguel Olivo was at getting on base? In 2006, he became the only player in MLB history to strike out over 100 times while walking less than 10 times. This year in Kansas City, Olivo has struck out 93 times with 8 walks, putting him on pace to duplicate his 2006 feat as long as he does not walk twice the rest of the season (I'd say he has a better than 50/50 shot).

Miguel was probably the biggest free-swinger on the team during 2006 and 2007. Rarely were there at bats in which he would take the first pitch. When he made contact on the first pitch, he was golden, hitting .444 with 11 home runs (he hit 16 total that year) with a 1.369 (!!) OPS. But if a pitcher got past the first pitch, Olivo wasn't that tough to retire, hitting .215 with a .555 OPS after the first pitch. Not surprisingly, the Marlins let Olivo walk after 2007, opting to go with anyone but Olivo, and eventually settling on John Baker, who could actually, you know, get on base...

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