BAA Leading off an inning (in)effectiveness – 2015 MLB Pitching Stats
Twins righthander Ricky Nolasco was happy with his three scoreless innings yesterday against the Cardinals but he was annoyed that leadoff hitters kept reaching base against him.
Sounds legitimate to me.
Last season, in nine games (eight starts), batters hit .321 against Nolasco made worse that those leading off an inning went 13-38 (.342).
This got me thinking…
Pitchers with under .200 BAA leading off an inning (100 AB minimum) in 2015
| Rk | Player | IP | BB | SO | HBP | PA | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chris Archer | .153 | 56.1 | 15 | 58 | 1 | 219 | 203 | 31 | 3 | 0 | 2 | |
| 2 | Jake Arrieta | .167 | 61.1 | 9 | 72 | 1 | 232 | 222 | 37 | 3 | 0 | 1 | |
| 3 | Hisashi Iwakuma | .168 | 36.1 | 5 | 28 | 0 | 136 | 131 | 22 | 9 | 0 | 5 | |
| 4 | Zack Greinke | .174 | 59.2 | 6 | 46 | 1 | 226 | 219 | 38 | 4 | 1 | 0 | |
| 5 | Jacob deGrom | .176 | 50.1 | 7 | 57 | 1 | 196 | 188 | 33 | 10 | 0 | 4 | |
| 6 | Max Scherzer | .179 | 61.0 | 8 | 65 | 1 | 233 | 224 | 40 | 10 | 0 | 7 | |
| 7 | Hector Santiago | .183 | 47.1 | 13 | 46 | 5 | 193 | 175 | 32 | 8 | 0 | 6 | |
| 8 | Matt Harvey | .190 | 49.0 | 9 | 43 | 0 | 193 | 184 | 35 | 5 | 0 | 5 | |
| 9 | Chris Young | .192 | 32.0 | 8 | 23 | 0 | 128 | 120 | 23 | 5 | 0 | 5 | |
| 10 | Taijuan Walker | .194 | 42.0 | 15 | 39 | 3 | 178 | 160 | 31 | 4 | 0 | 3 | |
| 11 | Justin Verlander | .194 | 34.1 | 6 | 29 | 1 | 136 | 129 | 25 | 4 | 0 | 2 |
Pitchers with over .300 BAA leading off an inning (100 AB minimum) in 2015
| Rk | Player | IP | BB | SO | HBP | PA | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Matt Wisler | .375 | 22.0 | 11 | 13 | 0 | 115 | 104 | 39 | 13 | 0 | 4 |
| 2 | Michael Lorenzen | .373 | 23.0 | 9 | 13 | 0 | 119 | 110 | 41 | 14 | 0 | 6 |
| 3 | Matt Garza | .348 | 31.0 | 12 | 20 | 0 | 153 | 141 | 49 | 14 | 0 | 4 |
| 4 | Mike Pelfrey | .333 | 35.2 | 9 | 25 | 2 | 173 | 162 | 54 | 7 | 1 | 5 |
| 5 | Kyle Lohse | .327 | 33.0 | 8 | 27 | 2 | 157 | 147 | 48 | 13 | 0 | 6 |
| 6 | Jon Niese | .324 | 38.1 | 12 | 25 | 0 | 182 | 170 | 55 | 12 | 2 | 6 |
| 7 | Scott Kazmir | .319 | 40.1 | 7 | 26 | 1 | 190 | 182 | 58 | 14 | 0 | 10 |
| 8 | Johnny Cueto | .316 | 47.0 | 5 | 39 | 1 | 215 | 209 | 66 | 13 | 2 | 8 |
| 9 | Tim Hudson | .315 | 29.0 | 7 | 14 | 0 | 134 | 127 | 40 | 9 | 2 | 4 |
| 10 | Colby Lewis | .315 | 45.1 | 10 | 22 | 0 | 213 | 203 | 64 | 12 | 0 | 10 |
| 11 | Jeremy Hellickson | .313 | 33.2 | 5 | 22 | 1 | 153 | 147 | 46 | 14 | 0 | 6 |
| 12 | Wily Peralta | .311 | 23.0 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 113 | 103 | 32 | 7 | 0 | 4 |
| 13 | Joe Kelly | .311 | 30.0 | 11 | 24 | 1 | 144 | 132 | 41 | 9 | 1 | 3 |
| 14 | Josh Collmenter | .311 | 27.1 | 3 | 11 | 0 | 122 | 119 | 37 | 7 | 1 | 10 |
| 15 | Carlos Martinez | .310 | 39.0 | 14 | 40 | 1 | 186 | 171 | 53 | 10 | 3 | 4 |
| 16 | James Shields | .307 | 43.1 | 16 | 42 | 1 | 209 | 192 | 59 | 16 | 1 | 10 |
| 17 | Alex Wood | .305 | 43.0 | 8 | 32 | 0 | 198 | 190 | 58 | 13 | 0 | 2 |
| 18 | Chris Rusin | .305 | 30.0 | 8 | 17 | 0 | 136 | 128 | 39 | 11 | 1 | 5 |
| 19 | Alfredo Simon | .305 | 42.2 | 9 | 29 | 1 | 197 | 187 | 57 | 13 | 5 | 7 |
| 20 | Matt Shoemaker | .304 | 31.2 | 10 | 27 | 0 | 145 | 135 | 41 | 8 | 0 | 9 |
| 21 | Chris Tillman | .302 | 37.2 | 21 | 25 | 1 | 184 | 162 | 49 | 17 | 1 | 6 |
Relievers with over .300 BAA leading off an inning (50 AB minimum) in 2015
| Player | G | IP | BB | SO | HBP | PA | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jim Johnson | 63 | .339 | 13.0 | 7 | 12 | 0 | 66 | 59 | 20 | 4 | 0 | 1 |
| Fernando Rodney | 62 | .314 | 11.2 | 9 | 11 | 2 | 62 | 51 | 16 | 4 | 0 | 2 |
| Jonathan Papelbon | 58 | .310 | 13.0 | 5 | 13 | 0 | 63 | 58 | 18 | 5 | 0 | 2 |
| Blaine Boyer | 50 | .300 | 10.2 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 55 | 50 | 15 | 4 | 1 | 1 |
Nine to Know: Relievers with under .152 BAA leading off an inning (50 AB minimum) in 2015
| Rk | Player | G | IP | BB | SO | HBP | PA | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | David Robertson | 58 | .082 | 18.1 | 1 | 26 | 0 | 62 | 61 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 2 | Joaquin Benoit | 67 | .103 | 17.0 | 7 | 13 | 2 | 67 | 58 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 3 | Wade Davis | 63 | .121 | 17.0 | 5 | 19 | 0 | 63 | 58 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 4 | Pedro Strop | 58 | .123 | 16.0 | 2 | 18 | 0 | 59 | 57 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| 5 | Aroldis Chapman | 62 | .125 | 16.0 | 7 | 29 | 0 | 63 | 56 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| 6 | Craig Kimbrel | 60 | .130 | 15.1 | 6 | 21 | 0 | 60 | 54 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 7 | Fernando Rodriguez | 46 | .132 | 14.2 | 4 | 18 | 0 | 57 | 53 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 8 | Andrew Miller | 52 | .151 | 14.2 | 3 | 20 | 0 | 56 | 53 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | Darren O’Day | 56 | .151 | 14.2 | 4 | 20 | 1 | 58 | 53 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
