Editorials

Breaking Down Dodgers Yasiel Puig’s Swing And Player Comparisons

Yasiel Puig has amazed everyone around baseball with his incredible power to all fields, his cannon arm and his ability to steal bases.

However, the San Diego Padres figured out over the weekend that Puig is susceptible to off-speed pitches and started throwing him sliders and curve balls off the plate.



When looking at his swing, Puig stands far off the plate and has been able to kill pitches on the inner-half. With more time at the big league level, he will be able to recognize pitches better and be able to lay off the junk.

John Brenkus of Sports Science via ESPN.com, compiled data regarding Puig’s swing and compared it to other major league power hitters:

  • 140: Degrees Puig bends his back leg, giving him a straighter stance than most sluggers, who bend at 120 degrees on average and rely more on the lower body for power. MLB comparable: Chris Davis
  • 85.9: Max speed, in mph, of Puig’s swing — above average but not elite. It’s his bat control that has allowed him to go yard on four pitch types, ranging from 72 to 94 mph. MLB comparable: Albert Pujols
  • 675: Peak angular velocity, in degrees per second, of torso rotation during Puig’s home run swing — simply wicked. No surprise that his dingers have averaged nearly 400 feet. MLB comparable: Giancarlo Stanton

When you break down Puig’s swing, he has a great shift from back to front before the pitch is thrown as he loads up as much power as he can.

The 140 degrees angle that he sets when he starts into his swing allows him to generate more power from his legs and is a main reason for the mammoth home runs he hits.

It’s not hard to see that he swings incredibly hard and his swing speed of 85.9 mph is above league average which allows him to hit home runs on all types of pitches.

Lastly, when you examine his swing and the way his torso moves the bat through the strike zone, at a 675 peak angular velocity aka the amount of torso rotation he creates, Puig is a monster.

At three different phases of his swing, Puig is compared to power hitters like Chris Davis, Albert Pujols and Giancarlo Stanton while the scary thing is, he can definitely get better.

Here is a GIF of Puig’s incredible swing:

 

 

Ross Gasmer

Ross Gasmer is a Social Media Producer for @TheHerd and was a contributing writer and editor for Dodger Nation. Follow him on Twitter @Ross_Gasmer12

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