Leonys Martin and his Rough 2015 Season

Aug 1, 2015; Arlington, TX, USA; Texas Rangers center fielder Leonys Martin (2) and shortstop Elvis Andrus (1) chase down a ball during the game against the San Francisco Giants at Globe Life Park in Arlington. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

He’s Just Been Unlucky

Baseball is a cruel game, a game that will humble you, and a game that makes every hitter fail more than they succeed. If it was easy, everyone would be playing it and the challenging aspect of it is why we love the sport so much. But sometimes it can be cruel and in 2015 it has been nothing but cruel to Martin.

According to Fangraphs, in 2014 Martin had a hard hit ball percentage of 25.9%, a medium hit ball percentage of 53.7%, and a softly hit ball percentage of 20.3%. So far in 2015 his numbers haven’t been that much worse, as his hard hit ball percentage is 23.8%, his medium hit ball percentage is 52.5%, and his softly hit ball percentage is 23.8% as well. So while those numbers are indeed down from last year, they certainly don’t account for a .50-point reduction in someone’s batting average.

Maybe the most telling stat that I can give you to prove just how unlucky he has been this year is his infield hit percentage. It’s no secret that Martin is a speedster and infield hits are a byproduct of that. Last year, Martin had an infield hit percentage (the percentage of base hits he got on balls that stayed in the infield) of 8.6%. So far this year, Martin has a infield hit percentage of just 3.7%! That is so incredibly unlucky, especially for a guy with his speed. To put this in perspective for you, Prince Fielder has a better infield hit percentage this year at 5.0%.

Baseball is cruel and it has been nothing short of that to Leonys Martin so far this season.

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