In the 2007 season, Prince Fielder of the Milwaukee Brewers had an incredible sophomore season at age 23, tearing the leather off of the ball with a ridiculous 50 home runs and 119 RBI. He hit a solid .288 and got on base 39.5 percent of the time. His OPS was 1.013 and baseball fans everywhere were ready for the left-handed slugger to mash for years to come.
Fielder doesn’t have the trimmest body-type ever and his first base defense and speed suffered immensely. Many experts were calling him a first baseman that can’t play first base or a career designated hitter.
Brewers 1B, Prince Fielder
So Fielder made the smart move for his career and for his long-term health. He went vegetarian after the 2007 season. When news of bean burgers and tofu dinners hit the mainstream media, pandemonium ensued.
Los Angeles radio hosts were predicting a 15 home run season. Fantasy baseball players were dropping him down their draft boards and everybody from agents to Brewers media was begging the young prodigy to go back to his old meat-eating ways. Well, all of this pressure got to the Prince and he struggled for the first month of the season, hitting .250 with ONLY four home runs. He followed that month up with a pedestrian .296 BA in May and another four home runs.
Was Fielder destined for mediocrity? Apparently he wasn’t. He then went on to strike 26 home runs over the last four months of the season, making his final stat line .276/.372/.507 with 34 home runs and 102 RBI. Not bad for a wimpy vegetable eater.
After this decrease in power and overall numbers, Fielder stuck to the game plan and continued to get in better shape while signing a two-year extension with the Brew Crew. He showed up to Spring Training ready to go and has been playing the best all-around game of his life.
2009 stats: .298 BA, .430 OBP, .596 SLG, 1.026 OPS
His 15 home runs have him on pace for a 45 HR-type of season and his 54 RBI are tied for the National League lead. This doesn’t tell the whole story of what Fielder has been doing this year though. Take another look at that 2009 stat line and notice his amazing .430 on-base percentage. WOW. He’s hitting for power, for average, and getting on base at an incredible rate.
What is the secret to his new success? Don’t worry; I’m not going to say arugula or brussels sprouts.
It’s plate patience!
His swing percentage outside of the strike zone is down from 27.9 percent to an amazing 20.1 percent and his overall swing percentage is down from 47.1 percent to 40.0 percent.
He’s swinging less at curve balls and absolutely crushing the fastball.
Walk percentage: 13.6 percent in ‘07, 12.5 percent in ‘08, and 18.2 percent in ‘09.
His strikeout percentage has increased by 3.5 percent, but his walk percentage increased by 5.7 percent, so it’s a very nice trade off. Also, when you consider that hitters tend to fail the majority of the time, his added plate selectivity seems even more beneficial.
“I think he wanted to become a more complete hitter, not just a power hitter. He wanted to become a better defensive player and you can really see it. He has worked hard at it and is reaping the benefits,” said fellow slugger and teammate Ryan Braun.
Pitches per plate appearance:
‘06-3.60
‘07-3.80
‘08-3.89
‘09-4.16!!!
Fielder hasn’t just been taking walks and waiting for good pitches, he’s improved his defense and speed as well. He’s already matched his career season-high for triples with two.
First base defense ultimate zone rating (UZR):
2006: -10.5
2007: -8.8
2008: -8.8
2009: -4.1
He’s made consistent improvements and at just age 25, and with the right mind frame, his defense could get even better.
At 25, Fielder is one of the best young players in baseball
“He really has been unbelievable,” said Braun. “He has played well defensively as well. You can tell that he’s taking pride in getting better in all parts of his game.”
Fantasy baseball drafters should be ashamed of letting him slip down to the middle of the third round on a consistent basis at the beginning of the season. He’s a premiere hitter that will help your fantasy team in every category but stolen bases and he could even nab a few bags as well. I have a feeling that his run-scoring rate will increase as the season progresses because he only has 35 runs to go with that awesome .430 OBP, so the king of Milwaukee may even be a buy-low candidate in your fantasy league.
In future drafts, he’s a mid-second round pick at the very least.
This all-around improvement is nothing but good news for everyone involved with Mr. Fielder and some people may be regretting their decision to hate on the veggie-man when he decided to make a smart long-term move for his health and his career.
Young hitters, such as the San Francisco Giants’ Pablo Sandoval, that are looking for a model for all-around improvement, should study the ways of the Prince and jot down some notes, because this guy is going to be tearing up the league for a while.
Prince Fielder #2 in 1B All Star Votes
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2009 NL Batting Leaders (Based on OPS)
RNK OPS AVG RBI AB H BB TB OB SLG 1 Albert Pujols, STL 1.116 .327 51 196 64 44 131 .448 .668 2 Raul Ibanez, PHI 1.062 .329 54 219 72 20 148 .386 .676 3 Adrian Gonzalez, SDP 1.059 .281 43 199 56 47 127 .421 .638 4 Prince Fielder, MIL 1.026 .298 54 198 59 44 118 .430 .596 5 Chipper Jones, ATL 1.018 .331 30 157 52 34 89 .451 .567 6 Brad Hawpe, COL 1.009 .337 43 172 58 23 103 .410 .599 7 Justin Upton, ARI .991 .320 34 194 62 23 116 .393 .598 8 Carlos Beltran, NYM .990 .342 33 193 66 31 107 .436 .554 9 Chase Utley, PHI .987 .296 38 186 55 37 102 .438 .548 10 Ryan Braun, MIL .963 .310 38 203 63 27 112 .412 .552 11 Adam Dunn, WAS .955 .264 44 197 52 44 110 .397 .558 12 David Wright, NYM .948 .345 34 200 69 37 100 .448 .500 13 Hunter Pence, HOU .944 .342 25 202 69 29 106 .419 .525 14 Hanley Ramirez, FLA .930 .330 27 212 70 21 113 .397 .533 15 Ryan Zimmerman, WAS .926 .320 39 225 72 29 120 .393 .533 16 Mike Cameron, MIL .918 .278 30 187 52 32 100 .383 .535 17 Ryan Howard, PHI .915 .259 47 220 57 24 127 .337 .577 18 Miguel Tejada, HOU .905 .354 33 226 80 6 119 .378 .527 19 Carlos Lee, HOU .903 .321 38 212 68 19 112 .374 .528 20 Kosuke Fukudome, CHC .891 .290 20 155 45 34 73 .420 .471
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