Under the hood: the first pitch of an at bat

There are pitchers counts and there are batters counts, but with batters overall hitting .254 at this point of the season, we can see as per usual at .336 that the first of pitch of an at bat is definitely a hitters count.

Batting averages by count

Split	PA	AB	H	HR	BA
First Pitch	11929	11209	3762	504	.336
1-0 Count	7310	7088	2356	305	.332
2-0 Count	2729	2658	889	147	.334
3-0 Count	2208	168	59	16	.351
0-1 Count	9846	9481	2961	261	.312
1-1 Count	9387	9134	3023	306	.331
2-1 Count	5614	5508	1928	270	.350
3-1 Count	4767	2277	793	160	.348
0-2 Count	9371	9210	1404	96	.152
1-2 Count	15776	15539	2598	218	.167
2-2 Count	14868	14670	2652	270	.181
Full Count	13740	9696	2103	251	.217

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 7/17/2013. 

First pitch hitting stars 

• Miguel Cabrera has 32 hits
• Robinson Cano has 31 hits
• Carlos Gomez has 29 hits
• Anthony Rizzo has 26 hits
• Yadier Molina and Freddie Freeman have 25 each
• Jason Kipnis, 10-18, is hitting .556
• Nelson Cruz, 21-42, Mitch Moreland, 9-18, and Joe Mauer, 6-12, are each hitting .500.
• Michael Young, 22-45, is hitting .489.
• Desmond Jennings, 21-43, and Howie Kendricks, 20-41, are each hitting .488.
• Miguel Cabrera and Edwin Encarnacion each have hit nine homers
• Chris Davis has eight homers
• Mark Trumbo and Jose Bautista have seven homers each
• Chris Davis has 16 extra-base hits
• Anthony Rizzo has 15 extra-base hits
• Carlos Gomez has 14 extra-base hits
• Nelson Cruz has 13 extra-base hits
• Freddie Freeman and Edwin Encarnacion have 12 extra-base hits each 

Nine to Know: First pitch pitching stars 

• Batters are hitting .209 against Hiroki Kuroda
• Batters are hitting .222 against Kris Medlen
• Batters are hitting .228 against Travis Wood
• Batters are hitting .235 against Clayton Kershaw
• Batters are hitting .239 against Adam Wainwright
• Batters are hitting .240 against Hyun-jin Ryu
• Batters are hitting .242 against Justin Verlander
• Batters are hitting .245 against Stephen Strasburg
• Batters are hitting .250 against Bartolo Colon and Felix Doubront 

First pitch hitting stiffs 

• Adam Lind is 1-13, .055.
• Matt Joyce is hitting .130, 3-23.
• Alejandro De Aza is hitting .176, 3-17.
• Brandon Phillips is hitting .190, 8-42.
• Chase Headley is hitting .200, 8-40.
• Josh Hamilton and Carlos Gomez have swung and missed on 50 first pitches.
• Chris Davis has swung and missed on 47 first pitches.
• Pedro Alvarez, Ian Desmond and Freddie Freeman have swung and missed on 45 first pitches.
• Dustin Pedroia has taken 203 called first pitch strikes.
• Matt Carpenter has taken 197 called first pitch strikes.
• J.J. Hardy has taken 194 called first pitch strikes.

First pitch pitching stiffs

• Ryan Dempster has a .524 BAA on first pitches.
• Batters are hitting .500 against Barry Zito and Rick Porcello on first pitches.
• Batters are hitting .463 against Joe Blanton on first pitches.
• Batters are hitting .457 against Lucas Harrell on first pitches.
• Matt Harvey has a .450 BAA on his first pitches.
• CC Sabathia has allowed seven first-pitch homers
• Ryan Dempster, Joe Blanton, Jason Marquis, Hisashi Iwakuma, and Ervin Santana have each allowed five homers on their first pitches.
• R.A. Dickey has thrown 232 first pitch balls.
• Jason Marquis has thrown 229 first pitch balls.
• James Shields has thrown 228 first pitch balls.
• Tim Lincecum has thrown 227 first pitch balls.
• Yovani Gallardo has thrown 225 first pitch balls.

First pitches - Team Stats

• The Texas Rangers are hitting .393 on first pitches.
• The Colorado Rockies are hitting .375 on first pitches.
• The St. Louis Cardinals are hitting .371 on first pitches.
• The Cincinnati Reds are hitting .296 on first pitches.
• The San Diegoe Padres are hitting .301 on first pitches.
• The Arizona Diamondbacks are hitting .310 on first pitches.
• Batters are hitting .273 against the Oakland A's on first pitches.
• Batters are hitting .282 against the Kansas City Royals on first pitches.
• Batters are hitting .291 against the LA Dodgers on first pitches.
• Batters are hitting .393 against the Seattle Mariners on first pitches.
• Batters are hitting .369 against the NY Mets on first pitches.
• Batters are hitting .367 against the Milwaukee Brewers on first pitches.