Jake McCarthy's Resurgence

Jake McCarthy is having another breakout season. Here is how he is doing it and why it is so important for the Diamondbacks.

Jake McCarthy continues to amaze in 2024 with an incredible series against the Phillies which included his first career multi-homer game. The season he is having is a pleasant surprise considering the disappointing campaign he had just last year. Now, his revival in 2024 has made him one of the Diamondbacks' most valuable players.

McCarthy hit .283/.342/.427 in 2022, his first year in the majors. He was considered a bright spot in an underwhelming year in which they went 74-88. McCarthy was primed to contribute in an important year for the Diamondbacks.

Instead, he ran into a sophomore slump that saw his OPS drop 125 points. This, plus the addition of Tommy Pham, led to him bouncing between the Diamondbacks and Reno Aces. This drop-off was made up for by the fantastic season that Corbin Carroll and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. had.

2024 though, has been a different story. With Corbin Carroll having a down year and Alek Thomas suffering from hamstring problems, the Diamondbacks needed an outfielder to step up. Jake McCarthy was exactly the guy the Diamondbacks needed.

In 99 games this year, he is slashing .303/.375/.451 which makes for an OPS of .826. He has been a catalyst on offense with his ability to get on base. His ability to swipe bags and “create chaos” has been invaluable.

So the question is, what changed from 2023 to 2024 that led to Jake’s success? The most obvious stat is his insane reverse splits this year. McCarthy is batting .369 against lefties this year which is a massive contrast from his .206 average against lefties in 2023. McCarthy has helped platoon with Carroll and Thomas when a lefty is starting and he has excelled.

McCarthy has the same average exit velocity as last year but his average launch angle jumped from 7.5 to 13.1. This is almost certainly why his xBA climbed from .242 in 2023 to .277 this year. McCarthy has also been much better against fastballs this year. He has hit .336 off fastballs this, almost 90 points higher than last year.

His whiff rate and strikeout rate are down around 3% from 2023. That is key for McCarthy because his excellent speed puts pressure on the defense and we have seen him force plenty of defensive mishaps on seemingly routine plays.

McCarthy credits Joc Pederson with helping him with his approach and the value of getting on base. When asked about his talks with Pederson, McCarthy claimed “I wouldn’t say it’s like one particular thing…I hear a lot of his input on his approach.” He also said, “He just talked to me about…the value of me just getting on base.”

McCarthy went a little more in-depth about the importance of getting on base, “He was just like…if you get on base, I’ve played against you…whether it’s a single, whether it’s a walk, whether it’s seeing a lot of pitches. That wears down the other team.”

Jake McCarthy will continue to be an important factor as the season gives way to the postseason. Entering this series against the Phillies, McCarthy had just 3 home runs all season. He has doubled that total in the last four games with a homer on Thursday and two homers on Saturday. He also had a bases clearing triple on Sunday. It will be interesting to see if some newfound pop could be the next step in his development.