I was driving on the 10 freeway in Los Angeles during rush hour the other day when I had another urge to cosplay Michael Douglas in Falling Down. Being the responsible citizen that I am, I cut off multiple cars to exit, ran a red light then made my way back onto the freeway from a non-turn lane. I turned off the A/C and opened the window so I could feel alive by breathing in all the smog and CO2. Destination? Anaheim! After four hours of hell, made worse by hearing Grey cackle through the speakers, I finally made it. And boy, what a trip it was! Like eating a pound of mushrooms trip. I saw giant mice and ducks terrorizing little children. I saw angels hovering in the outfield. I went to a bar and overheard people saying the Angels once had Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani on the same team and sucked. I needed to come down from this trip, so I somehow managed to find a hospital and told them to hook me up to an IV pronto, any IV. Hey! Why is this bag glistening like gold? As I started to regain sanity, I heard some muttering. I looked to my left and saw some guy in a strait-jacket, repeating “45” over and over again. On his forehead was taped his information: Taylor Ward. Here’s his story:
Ward is 31 years old, 6-foot, 200 pounds, and bats from the right side. The Angels selected him with the 26th overall pick in the 2015 MLB Draft.
Early in his minor league career, Ward showed really good plate discipline but with little power or speed. After three years of development and experience, Ward became an all-around offensive threat, slashing .349/.446/.531 with 14.6% walk rate, 21.1% strikeout rate, and .181 ISO. He finished with 14 home runs and 18 stolen bases in 446 plate appearances.
Ward made his MLB later that year and predictably struggled. The strikeout rate ballooned to 30.6% while the slash was .178/.245/.333 in 147 plate appearances. He did rack up six home runs and two stolen bases.
2022 is when Ward became a significant part of the team, receiving 564 plate appearances. He slashed .281/.360/.473 with a 10.6% walk rate, 21.4% strikeout rate and .192 ISO. He finished with 23 home runs and five stolen bases.
Last season, Ward hit 25 home runs and stole six bases. The walk rate was 9.5% while the strikeout rate was 24.6%. The ISO was .179 with a .246/.323/.426 slash. Considering that he hit .253 in 409 plate appearances during the 2023 season, that .281 season seems like the outlier, especially since the BABIP was .325 that season.
In 45 plate ap….AHHHHHH! 45. 45. 45. 45.
….pearances to start this season, Ward is slashing .190/.222/.214. Gross. The ISO is .024!
The average exit velocity is 89.5 mph with a maxEV of 110.3. In the prior three seasons, the average exit velocity was in the 90 mph range. The maxEV got to a high of 112.4 mph. The launch angle is 14 degrees after being 17.4 last season. The barrel rate of 5.3% is way below the 13% mark last season. The hard hit rate is still above 40%, though.
Looking at the batted ball data, Ward is pulling the ball and hitting it into the ground more. The GB/FB is 1.33. In the prior three seasons, it never reached 1.
The plate discipline numbers look fine. The chase rate of 19.5% is a career low while the contact rate of 88.1% in the zone is well above the career number. The swinging strike rate is a paltry 5.5%. The numbers that stand out to me are the first strike percentage, swing percentage and outside-the-zone contact rate.
Ward is seeing a 64.4% first strike rate. That number was 61.4% last season and in the mid-to-high 50% range the prior two seasons. Couple that with a 59.5% swing rate and Ward is falling behind in the count a little more frequently. Ward had a swing rate of 62.5% last season and was over 60% in the prior two seasons.
The final piece to the puzzle is the outside-the-zone contact rate of 81.3%. It was 47.6% last season and in the mid-50% range the prior two seasons. This explains the .024 ISO and .229 BABIP, which ties into the lowered barrel rate. Taylor Ward is making great contact on pitcher’s pitches, resulting in outs. I don’t think it’s a timing issue, as the chase rate would likely be elevated in that scenario.
I’m thinking that he’s falling behind in counts, putting him on his heels. I have a feeling that he will start being more aggressive earlier in the count and then adjust when the pitchers make the adjustment.
Ward is batting leadoff and it’s only a matter of time before he starts shedding the strait-jacket and swinging bombs into the outfield seats.
N Lowe or Otto?
Depends if you want speed or not. I don’t buy into the power of otto
OH MAN. Of COURSE, I had Ward on the bench for his first HR, and then dropped him for Nick Kurtz, missing Ward’s 3/4, 2HR game. Sigh
Everyone thanks you for your sacrifice
14 team h2h. I’ve put in waiver claim for Ward (to replace Robles in LF). Burleson is also LF eligible on my roster. OK to drop?
Go forth and prosper
What timing! Lad did great today.
He got hot before the piece went up. How rude!
Like clockwork
I have him in a RCL (my first effort in swimming with the sharks). So was excited. Now if Casas could hit the ball…
I’ve got Casas in a 30-teamer, so I’m on the train with you. In RCLs, names mean nothing. Outside of a few studs, everyone is named STREAM