That is negative and positive at the same time. You’d be lying if you said you didn’t crack a smile and pump a fist or two. Unlike Vanilla Ice and Milli Vanilli, Jose Iglesias of the New York Mets is not a one-hit wonder. He has 36 this season and 1,087 in his 12-year MLB career. He started all four games coming out of the All-Star break and was one of the biggest additions this past week. Let’s dig in.
Jose Iglesias is 34 years old, 5-foot-11, 195 pounds, and bats right-handed. He defected to Cuba in 2008 and signed with the Boston Red Sox the following year. In 2013, Iglesias was traded to the Detroit Tigers and played five seasons. After that one-year deals started piling on top of each other: Orioles, Angels, Red Sox, Rockies, Marlins, Padres, and finally now the Mets.
Iglesias only spent two years in the minors before being called up to The Show. The production didn’t make us sing OMG, but the strikeout rate was low and he stole double-digit bases. Power was essentially non-existent, and ISO was generally below .100.
In 2013, he made 382 plate appearances with the Red Sox and slashed .303/.349/.386 with three home runs and five stolen bases. The walk rate was 3.9%, the strikeout rate was 15.7% and the ISO was .083. In his entire MLB career, he eclipsed 10 home runs only once and stole double-digit bases twice, with 11 and 15 hits respectively.
In 100 plate appearances this season, the slash is .387/.430/.591 with three home runs and two stolen bases. The walk rate is 5%, the strikeout rate is 9% and the ISO is a whopping .204! That’s a career high and there’s only been one other time his ISO has been above .120, when it was .183 in 150 plate appearances with the Orioles in 2020.
Despite a solid ISO number, the BABIP jumps off the page, as it says .407. We should expect Iglesias to return to what he is, but let’s make sure that there are no significant changes that need to be considered.
Statcast numbers show that he is covering the ball, as his exit velocity is 87.3 mph. Throughout his career, Jose Iglesias has often slumped in the 83-84 range, but back in that 2020 season with the Orioles, the EV was 86.2 mph. The launch angle is 10.1 degrees, and he posted a double-digit mark in the front, and a barrel rate of 3.6%.
The pass rush rate has been consistently high, and is at 38.9% this season. He is swinging at 64.7% of pitches in the zone, above a career average of 59.5%. Contact rates have also been very low, and the 93.5% strikeout rate is not far from the historical norm. The swing strike is only 7%, and within the range of the previous one.
Iglesias is in the 82nd percentile in pass rush and has been able to record a few here and there, but at 34 years old, I doubt he runs very often.
Jose Iglesias has a lot of fitness, which is fun to think about, and he uses a heater. But, but, but….just like the stock market, we are on a steep slope and I see a Wile E. Coyote-esque fall.
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