Under The Radar: Ben Revere

Twins fans have known this for awhile, but it’s starting to become apparent to all baseball fans; Ben Revere is a great player.

The 5’ 9” right fielder has quietly been having a career year, batting .315 with a .348 OBP and .724 OPS while stealing 30 bases. Revere has been causing havoc for opposing teams all season. His plate discipline means he strikes out rarely (only 6.2% of his at bats end in a strikeout) and once he’s on base his speed and ability to steal mean the pitcher is always going to have something else on his mind.

Revere’s strikeout percentage isn’t even his most impressive stat. Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports wrote a very interesting article titled: 25 Things You Didn’t Know About Baseball – in which he points out just how good Ben Revere is at hitting balls in the strike zone. Revere has made contact with a ball in the zone 98.2% of the time he swings. That means only 15 (15!) times this year has Revere swung at a ball in the zone and missed. As you might have guessed, that is the best rate in baseball.

Twins fans who follow the team’s minor league players will tell you this is nothing new. In each level of the farm system, Revere has managed to hit for average, steal bases and generally be a nuisance to the opposing pitching staff. In fact, Revere has hit over .300 in every level he’s reached professionally (.379 in 2008 A-ball, .311 in 2009 A+ ball, .305 in 2010 AA ball, .303 in 2011 AAA ball) and has been a base stealer at each level (44 in 2008, 45 in 2009, 49 in 2010, 42 in 2011 – 34 in MLB, 8 in AAA).

Calling this season a career year is a disservice to Revere. It technically is a career year simply because his career has consisted of only two seasons – but if previous trends tell us anything about future results, Revere is going to keep putting up these numbers year in and year out.

Revere’s detractors like to claim that much of Revere’s success this season has been based entirely on luck. His bloop singles and infield hits are merely the result of a good bounce or a lucky break and can not be expected to continue in the coming years.

While it’s true that there is certainly luck in play with any ball put in play for a hit, arguing away Revere’s success as mere “luck” is shortsighted. Revere’s speed means that many balls hit to the infield are going to have a chance to become hits. You can’t knock Revere for using what is a large part of his game – his speed. The fact that a ball hit sharply to the short stop has a chance to become a hit for Revere is not luck – it’s a testament to his talent.

The other argument that is thrown out against Revere is that he’ll never hit for power. This much is true, Revere is likely to get his first home run by drilling a ball into the right field corner and running like heck rather than hitting one over the fence. That being said, every player doesn’t have to hit for power. So he’s not a five tool guy – what he does do is get on base, are we really going to nitpick over how he gets there?

The largest qualm Revere’s detractors have is with his arm. It is true that his arm is the weakest aspect of his overall game. However, if you’ve stuck around throughout this season to watch Twins games, you’ve likely noticed something. Revere’s arm seems to be improving. While subbing for the injured Denard Span in center field a few weeks ago, Revere made a couple of lighting bolt ‘strikes’ from center to second base, once even catching a very surprised base runner who though he had an easy double.

The easy solution to Revere’s weaker arm is to move him from right field to center – where he is more natural anyway. However, with Denard Span locked in at center, it looks like Revere will be sticking it out in right field for the foreseeable future.

All in all, the Twins have a dangerous outfielder on their roster that can score runs and get into the opposing pitcher’s head. His defense tracks down balls that would otherwise be doubles into the corner and his exuberant personality and enthusiasm for the game are infectious and fan friendly. Factor in his ability to contend for a batting title and you can see why Twins fans are expecting great things from Ben Revere.

The baseball world might not know who he is yet, but they will soon.