Batters: First Pitch of an At Bat

Entering play on Thursday, there had been 73,352 plate appearances and 282,213 pitches seen.

That averages 3.847 pitches per plate appearance.

Some batters see nine or 10 pitches in a plate appearances, some see only two. But the one thing we know, is that every time someone steps up to the plate, the batter sees at least one pitch.

That makes the first pitch of an at bat a pretty interesting variable. Not always statistically significant, but certainly interesting and really kind of fun.

Who swings?

Top 20 batters who swing at the first pitch

	P	Swng#
Carlos Gomez (MIL)	463	240
Miguel Cabrera (DET)	528	227
Freddie Freeman (ATL)	484	223
Josh Hamilton (LAA)	505	212
Adam Jones (BAL)	542	205
Ian Desmond (WSH)	510	198
Pablo Sandoval (SF)	448	195
Alexei Ramirez (CWS)	534	193
Chris Davis (BAL)	521	189
Jay Bruce (CIN)	542	186
Yadier Molina (STL)	413	185
Justin Morneau (MIN)	509	185
Mark Trumbo (LAA)	534	181
Hunter Pence (SF)	529	181
Andrew McCutchen (PIT)	525	181
Robinson Cano (NYY)	540	178
Anthony Rizzo (CHC)	532	178
Jose Altuve (HOU)	514	177
Marlon Byrd (NYM)	443	174
Matt Holliday (STL)	460	173

Created by BaseballAnalytics.org on 8/21/2013

Who gets hits?

Top 20 batters who get hits on the first pitch

	H	2B	3B	HR
Miguel Cabrera (DET)	39	3	0	13
Robinson Cano (NYY)	36	5	0	7
Freddie Freeman (ATL)	36	8	1	4
Carlos Gomez (MIL)	34	8	2	6
Adam Jones (BAL)	32	6	1	8
Anthony Rizzo (CHC)	31	9	1	7
Kendrys Morales (SEA)	30	6	0	6
Yasiel Puig (LAD)	29	5	1	5
Yadier Molina (STL)	29	9	0	2
Joey Votto (CIN)	29	5	1	5
Alexei Ramirez (CWS)	28	7	0	0
David Wright (NYM)	27	2	1	4
Andrew McCutchen (PIT)	27	9	1	1
Alcides Escobar (KC)	27	6	0	2
A. J. Pierzynski (TEX)	27	4	0	5
Yunel Escobar (TB)	26	5	0	3
Mark Trumbo (LAA)	26	2	0	8
Ian Desmond (WSH)	26	5	0	1
Hunter Pence (SF)	26	4	1	2
Gerardo Parra (ARI)	26	5	0	2

Created by BaseballAnalytics.org on 8/21/2013

Who hits homers?

Who hits homers on the first pitch?

	AB	HR
Miguel Cabrera (DET)	80	13
Chris Davis (BAL)	54	10
Edwin Encarnacion (TOR)	56	9
Pedro Alvarez (PIT)	48	8
Mark Trumbo (LAA)	67	8
Evan Longoria (TB)	44	8
Adam Jones (BAL)	79	8
Robinson Cano (NYY)	87	7
Anthony Rizzo (CHC)	79	7
Troy Tulowitzki (COL)	46	6
Kendrys Morales (SEA)	61	6
Josh Hamilton (LAA)	72	6
Jose Bautista (TOR)	37	6
Hanley Ramirez (LAD)	40	6
Chris Carter (HOU)	28	6
Carlos Gomez (MIL)	87	6
Bryce Harper (WSH)	49	6

Created by BaseballAnalytics.org on 8/21/2013

Who misses?

Who swings and misses first pitches?

	Swng#	Miss#	Miss%
Carlos Gomez (MIL)	240	65	27.1%
Josh Hamilton (LAA)	212	63	29.7%
Jay Bruce (CIN)	186	62	33.3%
Mark Trumbo (LAA)	181	61	33.7%
Ian Desmond (WSH)	198	61	30.8%
Freddie Freeman (ATL)	223	61	27.4%
Chris Davis (BAL)	189	61	32.3%
Pedro Alvarez (PIT)	156	59	37.8%
Adam Jones (BAL)	205	56	27.3%
Marlon Byrd (NYM)	174	55	31.6%
Dan Uggla (ATL)	154	54	35.1%
Miguel Cabrera (DET)	227	53	23.3%
Todd Frazier (CIN)	165	50	30.3%
Justin Upton (ATL)	149	50	33.6%
John Buck (NYM)	167	50	29.9%

Created by BaseballAnalytics.org on 8/21/2013

Who takes strikes?

Who takes called strikes on first pitches?

	P	Strk#	ClStk#	ClStk%
Dustin Pedroia (BOS)	577	335	278	53.5%
Matt Carpenter (STL)	549	334	266	55.3%
J. J. Hardy (BAL)	496	301	250	56.2%
Martin Prado (ARI)	521	305	248	53.4%
Alex Rios (TEX)	508	298	228	52.1%
Starling Marte (PIT)	536	363	225	56.5%
Mike Trout (LAA)	560	297	224	46.0%
Marco Scutaro (SF)	472	277	223	53.3%
Alejandro De Aza (CWS)	539	327	221	51.0%
Brian Dozier (MIN)	464	268	217	52.5%
Jose Bautista (TOR)	528	311	216	49.9%
Nick Markakis (BAL)	556	315	210	46.6%
Ian Kinsler (TEX)	447	253	209	51.9%
Jason Kipnis (CLE)	512	273	208	46.5%
Ryan Zimmerman (WSH)	471	273	203	50.6%
Carlos Santana (CLE)	490	283	203	49.5%
Nate McLouth (BAL)	470	296	202	53.7%
Alex Gordon (KC)	532	306	201	47.1%
Starlin Castro (CHC)	538	312	200	46.9%
Allen Craig (STL)	509	307	200	49.8%

Created by BaseballAnalytics.org on 8/21/2013

Who Takes?

Who takes first pitches?

	P	Strk#	Zone#	Ball#
Dustin Pedroia (BOS)	520	278	293	242
Mike Trout (LAA)	487	224	240	263
Matt Carpenter (STL)	481	266	244	215
Joe Mauer (MIN)	469	232	211	237
Martin Prado (ARI)	464	248	260	216
Nick Markakis (BAL)	451	210	197	241
Jason Kipnis (CLE)	447	208	194	239
J. J. Hardy (BAL)	445	250	269	195
Alex Rios (TEX)	438	228	232	210
Jose Bautista (TOR)	433	216	212	217
Alejandro De Aza (CWS)	433	221	204	212
Jacoby Ellsbury (BOS)	430	193	193	237
Elvis Andrus (TEX)	430	198	219	232
Paul Goldschmidt (ARI)	428	188	194	240
Evan Longoria (TB)	427	190	213	237
Alex Gordon (KC)	427	201	183	226
Starlin Castro (CHC)	426	200	216	226
Brett Gardner (NYY)	424	198	186	226
Kyle Seager (SEA)	421	196	174	225
Billy Butler (KC)	421	191	199	230

Created by BaseballAnalytics.org on 8/21/2013

I told you it was fun

Spend a little time mulling this over and leave some comments. I look forward to hearing from you.