Contact% is defined as:

Strikes in play (ball hit fair) + Strikes hit foul (includes foul bunts) / Strikes Swinging + Strikes in play + Strikes hit foul = Contact%

Meaning that anytime you hit the ball it’s factored into the contact percentage.

Does contact % = connected swings (hit/out/foulball/bunt/etc.) divided by total swings?

Or.

Is contact % just the inverse of strikeout rate?

Am I making any sense?

Thanks for the link!

http://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2008/7/17/573443/short-post-of-the-day-hack

I agree with you on the strike zone comment, I’m not sure I believe it or not because Lewis has already struck out a good bit in his career. He struck out around 20% in his minor league career. Ultimately it’s not surprising to see him tack on an extra 5-7% in the majors, assuming that it’s the result of the higher quality of pitching.

I’m slightly scared that the Giants might try to make him more aggressive, which seems to be an organizational philosophy over the past few years. Weird for a team that had maybe the most patient hitter ever.

I usually really like Schulman but it was a weak article. One of the “encouraging” signs was that the club house is more relaxed or something.

Re. Freddie: Thanks for the analysis. It definitely confirms what we’ve all been seeing: lots of pitches, and an inordinate number of called third strikes. I don’t buy the “figuring out the strike zones of various umps” thing, but I do believe he’s still figuring “it” out (whatever “it” is).

If Freddie becomes a serviceable MLB player, he will certainly have exceeded my projections for him, and I hope to see him around for a long time.