I was researching an article and stumbled on some information about Nick Castellanos that I thought was worth sharing. I know someone (chawson, maybe?) has mentioned his hard hit balls (95 mph or higher) before. He's 12th in all of MLB in that stat last season (via
Baseball Savant). What I also found that was extremely interesting was that he had more balls hit with a launch angle between 19-26 degrees than any other batter with 450 or more PAs last year. He was at the top of that list.
Why is that important? Well, Andrew Perpetua
goes into detail here (great read). JD Martinez is 42nd on the list, FWIW. But the most productive balls in play have a launch angle in that range so, combined with his rate of hard hit balls, I think I'm on the breakout bandwagon. The next range of launch angles tracked are 26-39 degrees (all via
xstats.org if anyone is interested enough to poke around), which is where most home runs will be found. J.D. Martinez leads that list, which probably isn't a shock. Castellanos is 27th (again out of hitters with 450 PA or more), which is still an excellent showing.
If the Tigers are willing to package him in order to move Miguel Cabrera, I think I'd be willing to eat that albatros of a contract to get him. Castellanos a monster waiting to happen. Of course, if I'm Detroit, he's off limits for virtually any price.
Speaking of Miggy, he was 70th on the list for balls with a launch angle between 26 and 39 degrees. He was 36th on the list for 19-26 degrees and 38th on the list of balls hit 95 mph or higher, so a bounce back next year wouldn't be surprising even if the back end of that deal is assured to be horrendous.