Rain Delay: What if Atlanta Braves miss out on a star 3B?

Jung Ho Kang

The name that really stood out to me was Jung Ho Kang.

Kang’s legal issues and down season were well documented in the Affordable Third Base Options article. Yes, he hit .169/.222/.395 in 2019.

On the bright side, he probably won’t cost us anything to sign him.

Kang was still hitting the ball hard last season, of his 29 hits 10 were home runs.

Jung Ho Kang finished last season with a 92.2 average exit velocity, good for 14th best in the Major Leagues. Kang also had a hard-hit percentage of 46.0.

I’m sure rust was a factor, after missing nearly two full years. But how much of that was also bad luck?

Rust: Kang has a career 23.2% K-rate, last year it was 32.4%.

Luck: Kang had a miserable .184 BABIP despite putting a charge in the ball when he made contact.

The statistics show that hitting the ball hard will generally lead to good things.

Thanks to Nathan Dokken at Fantrax HQ for compiling the BABIPs on hit types for the 2017 season.

Take a look at the BABIPs for hard-hit vs. soft hit 

• Hard Hit Fly Balls: .235 / Soft Hit Fly Balls: .065
• Hard Hit Ground Balls: .445 / Soft Hit Ground Balls: .125

It doesn’t take an X-Wing scientist to figure out that hitting the ball hard is a good thing. Jung Ho Kang looks like a really, really good risk right about now.

Hopefully all of this is a moot point because word is about to come out that we have re-signed Josh Donaldson, but just in case…

What do you think is the best option should the Braves miss out on a star third baseman? Let us know in the comments below!