Minnesota Twins: Willians Astudillo has odd batting line

There has yet to be a pitch that Willians Astudillo does not like. The Minnesota Twins utility man is known for his ability to make contact with virtually anything that is near the plate, swinging away as he looks to spray the ball around the park.

That propensity to make contact and swing at everything has led to some interesting statistics for Astudillo. He has struck out just 16 times in his 373 plate appearances, an astonishingly low number considering how often batters strike out these days. On the other hand, he has drawn just seven major league walks, with his last one occurring on September 24, 2019.

Minnesota Twins utility man Willian Astudillo has unique batting line

That general refusal to take a walk has led to a strange batting line this season. In 56 plate appearances, he has posted a .291/.286/.436 batting line, hitting two homers and two doubles as the Twins slot him around the diamond.

It is not unusual for a player’s on base percentage to be lower than their batting average early in a season. They may have a sacrifice fly or a bunt or two before drawing a walk or being hit by a pitch, causing their on base percentage to drop below their batting average. But that typically changes quickly.

That has not been the case with Astudillo. He does not often see many pitches per plate appearances, finding a pitch close enough and making contact. In fact, over the course of his career, he has seen just 2.91 pitches per plate appearance, making him the antithesis of the modern game and the tendency to work a count.

Astudillo still has a long way to go before reaching the major league record for most plate appearances with a higher batting average than on base percentage. That record, as it were, is held by Ernie Bowman, who posted a .184/.181/.208 batting line in 1963. That was his final major league season, as he spent six more years in the minors but never got another call to the bigs.

Willians Astudillo has yet to meet a pitch that he does not like. The Minnesota Twins utility man has a strange batting line because of it.