Data for this entry came via Baseball-Reference.com.
Here’s a look at the Yankees pitchers in 2008 – with respect to their BABIP (Batting Average on Balls In Play).
First, some context. In 2008, the overall BABIP mark, in the American League, when pitching at home was .293 – and, overall, for Yankees pitchers working at home it was .298. What follows are the individual “home” BABIP marks for the Yankees hurlers this past season:
PITCHER PA BABIP J Albaladejo 38 .478 A Pettitte 452 .351 C Britton 55 .350 P Hughes 62 .326 J Veras 134 .324 M Mussina 479 .315 S Ponson 175 .310 R Ohlendorf 84 .309 K Farnsworth 101 .305 D Robertson 62 .303 I Kennedy 61 .302 D Rasner 234 .299 J Chamberlain 213 .298 L Hawkins 95 .280 E Ramirez 129 .265 C Wang 213 .263 B Traber 32 .259 M Rivera 145 .255 C Pavano 66 .250 D Marte 37 .238 D Giese 120 .233 A Aceves 53 .231 B Bruney 53 .167 P Coke 24 .125 H Sanchez 3 .000
Observation: The Yankees defense, while at Yankee Stadium, did not really help Andy Pettitte this season.
Next, some further context. In 2008, the overall BABIP mark, in the American League, when pitching on the road was .306 – and, overall, for Yankees pitchers working on the road it was .320. What follows are the individual “road” BABIP marks for the Yankees hurlers this past season:
PITCHER PA BABIP K Igawa 24 .542 B Traber 48 .433 R Ohlendorf 103 .377 P Hughes 95 .366 D Robertson 69 .364 D Marte 43 .364 J Chamberlain 204 .354 C Pavano 88 .354 I Kennedy 133 .352 M Mussina 340 .335 L Hawkins 77 .333 S Patterson 7 .333 H Sanchez 5 .333 D Rasner 279 .332 A Pettitte 429 .324 S Ponson 185 .324 D Giese 66 .306 C Wang 189 .301 P Coke 28 .300 J Veras 119 .282 E Ramirez 105 .279 K Farnsworth 84 .275 C Britton 50 .263 A Aceves 67 .235 J Albaladejo 20 .214 B Bruney 84 .204 M Rivera 114 .173
Observation: On the whole, when on the road, the Yankees “defense” didn’t really help their starting pitchers at all – sans Alfredo Aceves (who was also pretty “lucky” at home).
And, at first blush, this begs the question “What’s so different on the road?” To that question, the first thought is “Rightfield is bigger, on the road, compared to Yankee Stadium.”
This ties back to an earlier thought that I had here – regarding the shortcomings in Bobby Abreu’s defense.
Just some more food for thought…in regard to what the Yankees need next season…
Add “A Right Fielder Who Is Not A Defensive Liability” to the Yankee wish-list for 2009.
One Response to “Yankees Pitchers 2008 BABIP Splits”
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October 5th, 2008 at 11:20 pm
The other observation to make with BABIP is in making predictions about how pitchers will do next year. Unless a pitcher has some unique ability to induce pop-ups and weak grounders (some do, like Rivera, most do not), in general an extreme BABIP regresses to the average, and pulls the pitcher’s ERA with it. So a pitcher who has a high BABIP and ERA in 2008 should see better luck on batted balls in 2009 and therefore a lower ERA. For my part, this is how I pick pitchers in fantasy baseball, to good result…
One should note the very high BABIP for pitchers like Andy Pettitte and Phil Hughes indicate a correction for next season, along with lower ERAs. By contrast, the very low values for Al Aceves, Edwar Ramirez, and LaTroy Hawkins beg for correction in the wrong direction next season.
Of course, when making conclusions about a pitchers’ BABIP, one should probably not break it down home-away, thus losing statistical power. But, I know that wasn’t your main objective here.