IS A FULL COUNT A PITCHERS COUNT?
Do you regard a full-count to be a pitcher’s count? I always felt it was a batter’s count. I always felt that batter would do pretty well in light of the fact that a pitcher was forced to throw a ball in the strike zone.
Well, since I’m not of the school that a walk is as good as a hit, my gut here was wrong. While batters have an .812 OPS on full-counts, it is primarily because of a high OBP because of walks. Batters only slug .353 on full-counts and only hit .210.
| Split | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First Pitch | 7809 | 7432 | 1493 | 2574 | 519 | 36 | 393 | 1397 | 0 | 0 | .346 | .354 | .584 | .938 |
| 1-0 Count | 4619 | 4494 | 888 | 1470 | 325 | 23 | 263 | 854 | 0 | 0 | .327 | .330 | .585 | .915 |
| 2-0 Count | 1762 | 1728 | 406 | 641 | 132 | 9 | 129 | 394 | 0 | 0 | .371 | .371 | .682 | 1.052 |
| 3-0 Count | 1437 | 105 | 67 | 39 | 9 | 1 | 7 | 66 | 1325 | 0 | .371 | .949 | .676 | 1.625 |
| 0-1 Count | 6250 | 6028 | 981 | 1965 | 367 | 34 | 251 | 931 | 0 | 0 | .326 | .336 | .523 | .859 |
| 1-1 Count | 5925 | 5779 | 1031 | 1943 | 408 | 46 | 274 | 978 | 0 | 0 | .336 | .340 | .565 | .905 |
| 2-1 Count | 3448 | 3383 | 619 | 1158 | 223 | 23 | 201 | 592 | 0 | 0 | .342 | .346 | .600 | .946 |
| 3-1 Count | 3259 | 1486 | 371 | 543 | 110 | 12 | 114 | 369 | 1744 | 0 | .365 | .705 | .686 | 1.390 |
| 0-2 Count | 6272 | 6160 | 413 | 939 | 158 | 18 | 82 | 387 | 0 | 3203 | .152 | .159 | .224 | .383 |
| 1-2 Count | 10653 | 10509 | 734 | 1685 | 315 | 29 | 189 | 688 | 0 | 5056 | .160 | .168 | .250 | .417 |
| 2-2 Count | 10360 | 10227 | 849 | 1783 | 329 | 25 | 219 | 813 | 0 | 4675 | .174 | .180 | .276 | .456 |
| Full Count | 9872 | 6715 | 785 | 1410 | 307 | 30 | 197 | 753 | 3096 | 2535 | .210 | .459 | .353 | .812 |
A full-count on Jose Bautista is exactly what pitchers want
Take a look at the numbers of the batters with the 10 most 3-2 counts this season. Take a really good look at how Jose Bautista, a seasoned veteran is struggling (unlike Paul Goldschmidt) and the plate discipline of super-rookie Aaron Judge who has more Total Bases on his hits than any other batter. Don’t forget to show a little love to Anthony Rendon as well.
| Player | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | TB | GDP | BAbip |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jose Bautista | 65 | 43 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 22 | 25 | .093 | .400 | .186 | .586 | 8 | 0 | .176 |
| Brandon Belt | 60 | 36 | 3 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 24 | 15 | .222 | .533 | .361 | .894 | 13 | 0 | .350 |
| Khris Davis | 59 | 42 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 17 | 22 | .167 | .407 | .429 | .835 | 18 | 1 | .235 |
| Aaron Judge | 59 | 38 | 6 | 13 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 12 | 21 | 19 | .342 | .576 | .789 | 1.366 | 30 | 2 | .600 |
| Paul Goldschmidt | 58 | 36 | 4 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 20 | 9 | .361 | .603 | .611 | 1.215 | 22 | 0 | .440 |
| Matt Carpenter | 57 | 40 | 5 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 16 | 17 | .225 | .456 | .475 | .931 | 19 | 0 | .300 |
| Edwin Encarnacion | 54 | 35 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 19 | 18 | .171 | .463 | .286 | .749 | 10 | 1 | .313 |
| Joey Gallo | 53 | 34 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 19 | 25 | .147 | .453 | .353 | .806 | 12 | 0 | .429 |
| Anthony Rendon | 53 | 29 | 3 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 23 | 2 | .345 | .623 | .517 | 1.140 | 15 | 2 | .333 |
| Eric Thames | 53 | 29 | 5 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 24 | 6 | .241 | .585 | .552 | 1.137 | 16 | 1 | .238 |
Nine to Know: Pitchers with the most full-counts this season
| Rk | Player | PA | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | TB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wade Miley | 63 | 40 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 12 | .125 | .444 | .150 | .594 | 6 |
| 2 | Jose Quintana | 62 | 40 | 13 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 22 | 11 | .325 | .565 | .675 | 1.240 | 27 |
| 3 | Johnny Cueto | 60 | 45 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 15 | 15 | .200 | .400 | .400 | .800 | 18 |
| 4 | Gio Gonzalez | 58 | 40 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 13 | .200 | .448 | .275 | .723 | 11 |
| 5 | Robbie Ray | 58 | 41 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 17 | 23 | .220 | .448 | .415 | .863 | 17 |
| 6 | Yu Darvish | 57 | 42 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 20 | .143 | .368 | .238 | .607 | 10 |
| 7 | Jon Lester | 56 | 40 | 14 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 16 | 13 | .350 | .536 | .625 | 1.161 | 25 |
| 8 | Lance Lynn | 56 | 45 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 18 | .133 | .304 | .289 | .592 | 13 |
| 9 | Ricky Nolasco | 54 | 43 | 15 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 11 | .349 | .481 | .605 | 1.086 | 26 |
