BP Unfiltered: Some Home Runs Aren't Mistakes by Ben Lindbergh

Ivan Nova leads the major leagues with 46 extra-base hits allowed. Many of them were mistakes. This one, a solo homer by Kirk Niewenhuis in the third inning of the Yankees-Mets game on Saturday, was not. Nova would've liked that one back, of course, because of where it ended up. But you know how we always talk about putting process ahead of results-oriented analysis? That pitch's process was pretty sound. There's a perception that home runs always come on hangers, that a batter can't really make a pitcher pay beyond a bloop or a bleeder unless he misses his spot and leaves a pitch over the middle of the plate. Nieuwenhuis' homer shows that's not quite the case. In an article last month, R.J. Anderson quoted Greg Maddux as saying, "You know what makes you smart? Locate that fastball down and away. That's what makes you smart." Usually, it does. In fact, two pitches earlier in the at-bat, Nova threw Niewenhuis a nearly identical pitch, ...