Nick Swisher's Odd Splits

Yesterday, I wrote about Curtis Granderson's interesting HR/FB rates, and I was curious as to how another Yankee outfielder's splits would stack up. Nick Swisher came into last year essentially as the backup RF and 1B. Some wanted him to start right away, but it appeared he would have to share a role with Xavier Nady. Of course after Nady went down for the year, Swisher was thrown into the starting role and exceeded most expectations.

Swisher seemed to struggle mightily at home in 2009 last season (as far as home runs go) but at the same time, seemed to hit a home run in just about every away game last year. His totals (21 HR away vs 8 at home) support my theory. While his batting average also fell greatly when he returned home (.268 away vs. .226 at home), his batting average on balls in play (BABIP) did not. His .274 home mark was just slightly below his .280 away mark. This certainly wouldn't be the reason to explain his huge dropoff in average. His ISO saw perhaps the most stark contrast, a robust .316 away from Yankee Stadium, but only .168 back at home.

Perhaps the most odd part of the difference in average is the type of balls that he hit. He managed more line drives at home (18.1% vs. 14.8% on the road) and hit less ground balls (35.5% compared to 40.2%). The largest difference in his batted ball stats actually came in his infield fly ball percentage: 18.2% at home vs. only 6.2% away. Swisher carries a career 11% IFFB rate, so both numbers seemed to deviate from the mean quite drastically. Some might attribute his high home number to trying to pull the ball over the short porch in RF as teammate Johnny Damon seemed to make a living off last year. 

Swisher's HR/FB% also took a hit when he was at home this past year: 22.3% vs. 10.4%. Swisher's career rate is 14.9%, so these too seemed to stray from the mean more than was expected. It's hard to believe, but there doesn't appear to be much of a good reason for Swisher's struggles at home and his mashing on the road. Intangibles might come into play such as feeling the pressure of the media and fans in New York and feeling the need to succeed. As mentioned before, the ability for seemingly anyone to hit a HR to right field in Yankee Stadium could also have played a large role. If Swisher's begin to return to his career averages, we should see more of a balance in his 2010 home vs. away stats.