Pinstripe Alley · Dec 27, 2020
Why can’t Kyle Higashioka walk?
Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports One of the reasons why on-base percentage is a better metric than batting average is because there’s a whole host of possible outcomes that aren’t a hit or an out. Failing to fold those into our evaluation of a player misses a lot of what can make that player really valuable.
Unless you’re Kyle Higashioka — in which case, for the last two years, there has been almost no reason to look at your OBP. He hasn’t drawn a walk since August 30, 2018, hasn’t been hit by a pitch since the 19th of the same month, and if it weren’t for a single sacrifice fly, Higashioka would boast the exact same batting average as his OBP over the past two calendar seasons.