Bill James Online:  2021 MLB Year-End Awards

The Hard-Hitter Award

Sports Info Solutions charts every batted ball as hard-, medium- or soft-hit, based on the ball’s location and velocity. The winner of the Hard-Hitter Award is the player who had the highest percentage of batted balls that were hard-hit among those batters with a minimum of 350 plate appearances.

For the second straight year, our winner is Fernando Tatis Jr., who recorded a hard-hit ball on 48% of his batted balls in 2021. He edged out Aaron Judge (47%) for the overall lead. Miguel Sano, Patrick Wisdom, Shohei Ohtani, and Joey Votto (all at 46%) rounded out the top six.

The Dodgers led the majors in team hard-hit rate for the third straight season with 35% of their batted balls classified to be hard-hit. They were followed by the Twins, Reds, and Blue Jays (34%).

The Contact Minimizer Award

The Contact Minimizer goes to the pitcher who most limited hard contact in 2021 (minimum 100 innings pitched).

The winner is Zack Wheeler, who allowed hard contact in 22% of the batted balls against him. He was followed by Brewers teammates Adrian Houser and Corbin Burnes (both 25%). Six pitchers were at 26%, a list that included up-and-comers Alek Manoah, Ryan Yarbrough, Ranger Suarez, and Logan Webb, as well as standouts Max Fried and Wade Miley.

The Dodgers (29%) edged out the Giants, Astros, Phillies, and Yankees (each at 30%) for the lowest hard-hit rate among team pitching staffs.