Pittsburgh Pirates: Two Batters Benefitting From a High Batting Average on Balls in Play

A high BAbip has benefited these two Pirate players since their promotions

Jul 19, 2023; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA;  Pittsburgh Pirates third baseman Jared Triolo (19)
Jul 19, 2023; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates third baseman Jared Triolo (19) | Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
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Jared Triolo

The first of these two hitters is utility infielder Jared Triolo. Triolo came through the minor leagues as a highly touted defensive player, winning multiple minor league Gold Glove Awards at third base. However, the power has never been there for Triolo as he was always a high-contact/on-base hitter in the minors.

Thus far in the majors, the lack of power has once again been an issue. Through his first 127 MLB plate appearances, Triolo has hit for a .270/.331/.287 slash line. He has also struck out in 30.7% of his trips to the plate. The lack of power and high strikeout rate has led to Triolo owning a 74 wRC+ and a 71 OPS+ thus far.

Due to the lack of power the overall offensive numbers from Triolo thus far have not been anything special. Sure, a .331 on-base percentage is slightly above average and on the surface a .270 batting average looks fine. However, Triolo is a fine example of why solely using batting average to judge a hitter is silly.

Triolo only has one extra base hit since being promoted to the majors and that is a double. He has a negative offensive WAR at -4.0.

Triolo's numbers have come on the back of a .403 BAbip. A number that likely is unsustainably high. This indicates that Triolo is due for offensive regression. Once Triolo's BAbip starts to level back out, his offensive numbers could become very poor.

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