The debate about the quality of Ichiro’s 1,278 hits in the Japanese Pacific League will always be a hot topic in baseball,
but discussing how remarkable of a career he has had with Seattle and New York is nothing to argue against.
In his first year with the Mariners, the 27-year-old led the majors with 242 hits and 56 stolen bases, brought home the
AL batting title with a .350 average, posted a .381 OBP and won the AL Rookie of the Year award and the MVP. To top off
a great career, he has now joined the 4,000 hit club from his professional career.
It’s no surprise that Ichiro knows how to hit a baseball, but just how easy he makes it look is something truly amazing
to watch. In 2013, Ichiro has struck out just 10% (MLB Avg: 17%) of plate appearances and has struck out looking only
5 times (1.1%). Additionally, he is one of the top two-strike hitters in the league and actually has more hits with two
strikes (48) than he does with one strike (36) or no strikes (32).
Something remarkable about Ichiro is that 30 of his 116 hits are infield singles with 5 of those being successful bunts.
With his softball-like swing, he is able to chop down on the ball and beat out high bouncers to any part of the infield.
His spray chart not only shows that he spreads his outfield hits to all parts of the field, but his infield hits are spread
out as well with more than half of them being to the right side of the mound.
As Ichiro has become older, his batting style has changed in that he has become much more selective at the plate. In 2009,
he had 225 hits, the fourth highest he has ever had in a season, and 93 of them (41%) were against pitches outside of the strike zone.
In 2013, only 30 of his 116 hits (26%) have been from pitches outside of the strike zone. Although he is not swinging as often
at pitches out of the zone, he is still 188th in the league in walks with only 20.
The statistics back up how great of a hitter Ichiro has been during his time in Major League Baseball and it would have
been exciting to see how his hitting stats would compare against Pete Rose and Ty Cobb had he played a whole career in the
majors. Even with a shortened MLB career, he is still the all time record holder for hits in a season with 262 and is the
all time hits leader for the Seattle Mariners (2,533). There is no doubt that Ichiro will go down as one of the greatest
players of all time.
NOTE: All statistics accurate as of 8/21/13
By Danny Malter
AriBall.com
