With about two months in the books of the 2023 MLB season, there have been plenty of surprising starts for hitters. Some have been hot and some have been cold, but these four hitters have experienced just plain old bad luck.
With limits to the shift and the new pitch clock, there has been a boom in offense in 2023 but these hitters haven’t been able to reap the benefits.
Using xBA (expected batting average) allows you to get a better idea of how unlucky a hitter truly is by using metrics like exit velocity and launch angle to compare the outcome of a batted ball to previous outcomes with similar metrics.
Keibert Ruiz, Catcher, Washington Nationals
The Nationals catcher might be the unluckiest hitter in all of baseball, hitting a paltry .224 on the season. But Ruiz is seeing a 60-point difference between his batting average and xBA, which checks in at .284.
With the ability to make consistent contact, Ruiz has not been rewarded for his efforts this year as the ball is not dropping with the defense always being in the right place to make the play.
A big piece of the deal that sent former ace pitcher Max Scherzer and shortstop Trea Turner to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2021, the Nationals will be hoping for better results at the dish for the young catcher.