Batted Ball Splits
There was an excellent study done by Dave Studeman in the 2007 Hardball Times: Annual that looked at the run value of each event in baseball using linear weights. I thought it might be fun to look at your typical splits by batted ball type instead of by run value:
Type AB H 2B 3B HR RBI AVG SLG OPS FB 43439 11512 3434 483 5127 11734 .265 .720 0.978 GB 59246 13996 1212 67 0 4300 .236 .259 0.495 IFFB 5083 15 4 0 0 1 .003 .004 0.007 LD 26447 19005 4485 402 259 6028 .719 .948 1.663
And a few more stats:
Type ISO BABIP HR/Type RC RC/G FB .455 .167 11.47% 8227 6.70 GB .023 .236 0.00% 2614 1.44 IFFB .001 .003 0.00% 0 0.00 LD .229 .716 0.97% 17947 63.62
Clearly line-drives are the cream of the crop. Oddly enough, about 1% of line drives turn out being home runs, which means about 10.5% of all fly balls (including infield fly balls) end up being home runs.
Fly balls are a tricky one because as long as you’re hitting 11.5% of them out of the park, you’re better off hitting them than groundballs. But if you’re hitting them in the park, then it’s a completely different story. Fly-balls that aren’t home runs have a mere .167 batting average compared to groundballs that have a .236 batting average.
Infield fly-balls or pop-ups are completely worthless. Of all 5000 of them in 2006, only 15 landed for hits. Pretty amazing 4 of them were doubles. I’m not sure how that’s even possible. If you’re going to hit pop-ups all day long you’re better of just not swinging the bat and hope for a walk.
Anyway, that’s just a quick look at the aggregates. Not all players hit line-drives, fly balls, and ground balls the same as you’ll soon see. Let’s look at the best and worst fly ball batters first.
Name AVG SLG OPS ISO BABIP RC HR/FB RC/27 FB% Ryan Howard .507 1.824 2.309 1.316 .173 122 38.7% 45.1 36.2% Travis Hafner .448 1.425 1.873 0.978 .237 86 27.6% 31.2 40.3% Chris Duncan .418 1.463 1.868 1.045 .133 40 31.9% 26.5 35.2% Lance Berkman .435 1.367 1.780 0.932 .210 85 27.1% 25.1 41.8% Jim Thome .415 1.400 1.803 0.985 .160 77 29.5% 25.0 43.1% Manny Ramirez .406 1.256 1.639 0.850 .194 66 24.8% 20.3 42.0% Wilson Betemit .404 1.096 1.500 0.691 .273 42 18.1% 20.1 36.6% Adam LaRoche .396 1.245 1.624 0.849 .215 67 22.1% 20.0 40.9% Preston Wilson .414 1.103 1.503 0.690 .282 39 17.8% 19.5 26.7% Jacque Jones .388 1.155 1.540 0.767 .213 46 22.1% 19.4 25.5% David Ortiz .366 1.274 1.632 0.909 .119 86 27.4% 18.9 46.8% Alex Rodriguez .385 1.142 1.517 0.757 .202 64 22.4% 18.2 39.6% Carlos Beltran .376 1.194 1.554 0.818 .183 72 22.7% 17.8 46.6% Jermaine Dye .376 1.178 1.540 0.803 .176 68 23.3% 17.7 40.4% Derek Jeter .393 1.056 1.433 0.663 .280 36 15.1% 16.8 18.3% Richie Sexson .366 1.131 1.487 0.765 .192 62 21.0% 16.7 39.9% Andruw Jones .356 1.228 1.564 0.872 .111 63 26.0% 16.2 41.6% Nick Johnson .372 1.047 1.410 0.674 .243 50 16.7% 16.0 35.6% Vlad. Guerrero .377 1.017 1.386 0.640 .243 66 17.3% 15.9 37.2% Jason Bay .371 1.106 1.458 0.735 .219 68 18.4% 15.8 44.0%
On this list, four names really stand out to me: Preston Wilson, Jacque Jones and Derek Jeter. Even though Jeter hit fly-balls an extremely low 18.3% of the time, he really did make the most of them. I’ve written several times about Jacque Jones’ “hidden power”, and clearly when he gets the ball in the air he’s really quite successful. Same goes for Preston Wilson. Let’s have a look at the worst fly-ball batters.
Name AVG SLG OPS ISO BABIP RC HR/FB RC/27 FB% D. Eckstein .123 0.211 0.331 0.088 .107 3 1.7% 0.8 29.1% P. Polanco .119 0.284 0.402 0.165 .086 4 3.6% 1.0 27.9% Joey Gathright .114 0.314 0.417 0.200 .088 1 2.6% 1.0 16.9% Jason Kendall .148 0.235 0.376 0.087 .140 4 0.8% 1.1 25.9% Neifi Perez .133 0.267 0.396 0.133 .114 3 2.2% 1.1 41.0% Abraham Nunez .130 0.296 0.426 0.167 .096 2 3.7% 1.2 23.1% So Taguchi .145 0.303 0.444 0.158 .122 3 2.6% 1.4 30.5% Kenny Lofton .152 0.333 0.483 0.182 .132 7 2.2% 1.6 33.4% Nick Punto .168 0.307 0.467 0.139 .160 5 0.9% 1.6 30.1% Jack Wilson .139 0.391 0.525 0.252 .083 6 5.8% 1.7 30.3% Mark Loretta .167 0.312 0.475 0.145 .144 10 2.6% 1.7 37.6% Juan Pierre .153 0.343 0.496 0.190 .134 7 2.2% 1.7 23.8% Alf. Amezaga .156 0.377 0.530 0.221 .122 5 3.9% 1.9 32.6% Yadier Molina .159 0.373 0.530 0.214 .117 7 4.7% 1.9 39.1% Luis Castillo .163 0.370 0.531 0.207 .135 6 3.2% 1.9 20.8% Y. Betancourt .162 0.372 0.533 0.209 .121 9 4.7% 1.9 35.7% Clint Barmes .173 0.358 0.524 0.185 .141 10 3.6% 2.0 47.9% Brian Roberts .155 0.423 0.573 0.268 .101 11 5.8% 2.0 35.5% Aaron Miles .177 0.367 0.538 0.190 .156 5 2.4% 2.1 24.5% Brad Ausmus .179 0.358 0.533 0.179 .161 6 2.1% 2.1 28.1%
No surprises here really. These guys are not your power hitters and as mentioned before, if you’re not a power hitter, you’re better off hitting groundballs. Maybe Clint Barmes and Neifi Perez are trying to be something they’re not. Moving on to groundballs, here are the best groundball batters:
Name AVG SLG OPS ISO BABIP RC IFH% RC/27 GB% Rocco Baldelli .342 0.389 0.732 0.047 .342 19 10.1% 5.2 50.5% Carl Crawford .321 0.366 0.687 0.045 .321 28 10.6% 4.1 52.2% Hanley Ramirez .303 0.376 0.679 0.073 .303 23 10.6% 3.9 43.8% Esteban German .338 0.369 0.708 0.031 .338 13 7.7% 3.8 58.0% S. Victorino .316 0.354 0.671 0.038 .316 16 8.2% 3.8 44.5% Wily Mo Pena .355 0.382 0.737 0.026 .355 8 11.8% 3.7 39.8% Ichiro Suzuki .307 0.316 0.623 0.009 .307 30 13.0% 3.7 50.7% Ryan Freel .312 0.351 0.662 0.039 .312 15 12.3% 3.7 43.9% Daniel Uggla .310 0.330 0.640 0.020 .310 19 9.5% 3.6 41.0% Rickie Weeks .320 0.352 0.672 0.033 .320 12 9.8% 3.5 46.2% Ben Broussard .328 0.351 0.679 0.022 .328 13 3.7% 3.5 40.2% Chris Burke .324 0.353 0.676 0.029 .324 10 5.9% 3.4 36.0% Marcus Thames .273 0.333 0.606 0.061 .273 6 7.6% 3.4 25.7% Mike Lamb .328 0.351 0.679 0.022 .328 12 3.7% 3.2 40.5% Y. Betancourt .303 0.333 0.637 0.030 .303 20 6.8% 3.2 46.4% Chris Duffy .284 0.306 0.590 0.022 .284 11 10.5% 3.2 58.0% Alf. Amezaga .298 0.319 0.617 0.021 .298 12 11.4% 3.1 50.5% Mike Cameron .299 0.344 0.643 0.045 .299 13 12.3% 3.0 37.6% G. Matthews .284 0.321 0.604 0.037 .284 22 7.1% 3.0 51.0% Rafael Furcal .285 0.311 0.596 0.026 .285 21 6.4% 2.9 49.9%
The one name that really stands out for me here is Wily Mo Pena. He just hits the ball hard, so chances are it makes his groundballs just that much more difficult to field. The rest of these guys are pretty much groundball batters, many of them quite fast. And now the worst groundball batters:
Name AVG SLG OPS ISO BABIP RC IFH% RC/27 GB% Barry Bonds .135 0.135 0.271 0.000 .135 1 1.0% 0.2 30.3% Adam Dunn .136 0.146 0.282 0.010 .136 1 1.0% 0.2 27.8% Bengie Molina .153 0.153 0.307 0.000 .153 1 2.0% 0.3 38.7% Adam Kennedy .161 0.168 0.329 0.006 .161 2 2.6% 0.3 40.7% Yadier Molina .156 0.181 0.338 0.025 .156 2 3.7% 0.3 42.5% Gregg Zaun .168 0.189 0.358 0.021 .168 1 2.1% 0.3 37.6% Phil Nevin .168 0.192 0.360 0.024 .168 2 4.8% 0.4 42.7% Alex Cintron .157 0.165 0.322 0.009 .157 1 3.5% 0.4 46.0% Damian Miller .173 0.182 0.355 0.009 .173 1 5.5% 0.4 44.2% Dd. Navarro .171 0.184 0.355 0.013 .171 1 4.0% 0.4 35.0% B. Schneider .172 0.172 0.344 0.000 .172 2 3.1% 0.4 47.3% Brad Ausmus .183 0.198 0.381 0.015 .183 3 4.1% 0.4 53.2% Jason Giambi .171 0.200 0.371 0.029 .171 2 2.9% 0.5 30.3% Adr. Gonzalez .194 0.219 0.413 0.025 .194 3 1.0% 0.5 43.8% Khalil Greene .204 0.239 0.442 0.035 .204 2 0.9% 0.5 34.6% Kevin Millar .189 0.220 0.409 0.031 .189 2 3.9% 0.5 35.5% Russell Martin .187 0.192 0.379 0.005 .187 3 2.2% 0.5 50.4% Mike Lowell .194 0.230 0.423 0.036 .194 4 5.6% 0.6 37.8% Brian Giles .183 0.188 0.372 0.005 .183 4 4.1% 0.6 39.8% Eric Chavez .212 0.232 0.444 0.020 .212 3 2.7% 0.6 38.6%
It’s not often you find out that Barry Bonds is the worst at something. All in all, I find this a rather bizarre mix of players and I’m really not sure what to make of it. Let’s look at the best line-drive batters:
Name AVG SLG OPS ISO BABIP RC HR/LD RC/27 LD% Eric Hinske .875 1.188 2.063 0.313 .875 33 0.0% 224.4 16.2% J.D. Drew .865 1.216 2.081 0.351 .865 78 0.0% 210.2 18.8% Wily Mo Pena .872 1.179 2.029 0.308 .868 40 2.5% 177.9 20.9% Mig. Cabrera .842 1.123 1.965 0.281 .841 108 0.9% 161.7 24.2% Jason Bay .848 1.045 1.894 0.197 .844 59 3.0% 158.1 15.6% Austin Kearns .833 1.154 1.987 0.321 .831 75 1.3% 155.8 19.2% Brad Hawpe .829 1.134 1.963 0.305 .829 77 0.0% 148.7 21.7% G. Sizemore .810 1.170 1.980 0.360 .806 95 2.0% 134.7 19.8% Scott Spiezio .805 1.171 1.976 0.366 .800 39 2.4% 130.4 19.9% Russ. Martin .817 1.169 1.975 0.352 .814 67 1.4% 129.8 19.9% Matt Stairs .826 1.000 1.826 0.174 .826 38 0.0% 128.3 17.4% Jay Gibbons .809 1.085 1.894 0.277 .809 41 0.0% 123.7 15.9% Reed Johnson .808 1.055 1.863 0.247 .808 62 0.0% 120.0 19.7% G. Matthews .788 1.192 1.980 0.404 .781 93 3.0% 119.5 18.8% Jose Valentin .796 1.122 1.918 0.327 .796 44 0.0% 118.2 15.6% Chase Utley .804 1.118 1.914 0.314 .798 91 2.9% 117.2 19.5% Todd Helton .807 1.088 1.888 0.281 .805 100 0.9% 116.9 23.6% Matt Holliday .788 1.144 1.933 0.356 .780 94 3.9% 115.2 21.0% David Wright .824 1.033 1.839 0.209 .822 77 1.1% 115.0 19.5% Bill Hall .789 1.225 2.003 0.437 .783 68 2.8% 114.9 19.2%
Obviously there are a lot of solid to excellent players on this list, but nothing especially noteworthy. And last but not least, the worst line-drive batters:
Name AVG SLG OPS ISO BABIP RC HR/LD RC/27 LD% Cliff Floyd .540 0.740 1.280 0.200 .540 20 0.0% 23.5 18.1% David Bell .600 0.730 1.313 0.130 .596 43 1.0% 27.3 23.4% Endy Chavez .593 0.780 1.373 0.186 .593 27 0.0% 28.6 20.1% Juan Uribe .585 0.862 1.437 0.277 .578 32 1.5% 29.5 17.2% Rondell White .600 0.767 1.357 0.167 .593 27 1.6% 29.7 21.3% Alf. Amezaga .617 0.702 1.319 0.085 .617 20 0.0% 30.5 16.9% Ronny Cedeno .594 0.841 1.435 0.246 .594 34 0.0% 33.2 16.4% Chone Figgins .627 0.745 1.373 0.118 .627 48 0.0% 33.9 20.7% Carl Crawford .609 0.848 1.450 0.239 .609 47 0.0% 34.5 18.3% Moises Alou .594 0.906 1.500 0.313 .587 34 1.6% 35.8 20.1% Damon Hollins .600 0.940 1.528 0.340 .583 28 3.9% 35.9 19.0% Willy Taveras .620 0.817 1.437 0.197 .620 36 0.0% 35.9 17.5% B. Phillips .635 0.800 1.428 0.165 .635 43 0.0% 36.3 19.2% Chris Duncan .622 0.822 1.444 0.200 .622 23 0.0% 36.6 21.1% Jason Kendall .642 0.758 1.400 0.117 .642 58 0.0% 36.7 23.9% Aaron Boone .639 0.778 1.417 0.139 .639 36 0.0% 37.2 24.7% W. Betemit .643 0.857 1.478 0.214 .636 30 1.7% 37.4 21.3% Cory Sullivan .651 0.831 1.459 0.181 .651 44 0.0% 37.4 31.5% Joey Gathright .622 0.844 1.467 0.222 .622 24 0.0% 37.6 16.2% S.Hatteberg .651 0.779 1.423 0.128 .651 43 0.0% 37.9 20.8%
Line-drive percentage will fluctuate from year to year, but I wonder if how a player hits line-drives changes much from year to year. I suppose you could ask that question for any of the batted ball types. When I get the data I’ll be sure to take a look at that, but just thinking off the top of my head, I’ll bet the fly-balls and groundballs remain fairly constant, while line-drives do not.
Furthermore, at some point this season, we’re hoping to have batted ball splits available for all players for 2002 onward.
David Appelman is the creator of FanGraphs.
I find it interesting that Pierre and Polanco make the worst fly ball hitter lists. Those two never strike out, perhaps they are hitting balls they shouldn’t and are popping them up?