Baseball Statistics: BABIP

BABIP can be used, for both hitters and pitchers, to determine the batting average a player has on balls in play. Since regular batting average is so determined by defense and luck, BABIP is a better indicator of how lucky or unlucky a player is, and be used to determine if a player is having a fluke season. This can be used by GM's and Fantasy Baseball Players as a means of calculating whether or not a player will have a better or worse year, depending upon the stats from the previous season. A normal BABIP is .290.

Hitter BABIP Calculated

H - HR

------------------------ = Hitter BABIP

AB - K - HR + SF

Examples:

169 - 25

------------------------ = .334 = Xavier Nady BABIP 2008

555 - 103 - 25 + 4

Nady's BABIP in 2008 was .334. Therefore, we can conclude that Nady had a fluky good season and should return to his normal career numbers in 2009.

109 - 24

-------------------------- = .248 = Nick Swisher BABIP 2008

497 - 135 - 24 + 4

Swisher's BABIP in 2008 was .248. Lower than the average .290. Therefore, we can conclude that Swisher had an unlucky season last year, and should bounce back in 2009.

187 - 37

------------------------- = .340 = Albert Pujols BABIP 2008

524 - 54 - 37 + 8

This may be surprising to some people, but according to BABIP Pujols was actually lucky last year. Considering that in 2006, Pujols BABIP was .291, I think he'll be just fine. Don't worry, he'll revert back to his normal 40+HR and 170 OPS+ career norms next year.

H - HR

---------------------------------------------- = Pitcher BABIP

Batters Faced - K - BB - HBP - HR

Examples:

214 - 17

----------------------------- = .321= Mike Mussina BABIP 2008

819 - 150 - 31 - 8 - 17

Although Mussina had a phenomenal year in 2008, his BABIP would suggest that had the Yankee defense been better, he would have had an even better year.

128 - 12

------------------------------ = .258 = Daisuke Matsuzaka BABIP 2008

716 - 154 - 94 - 7 - 12

Matsuzaka's BABIP was .258, well below the average of .290. Expect him to revert closer to career norms in 2009.

182 - 11

---------------------------- = .304 = Tim Lincecum BABIP 2008

928 - 265 - 84 - 6 - 11

Lincecum's BABIP in his first Cy Young year, despite having only been in the league for two, was right around the average. We can conclude that should Lincecum continue to pitch like this, he should be in line for many more Cy Young awards to come.

BABIP is very useful as an indicator in whether or not a player had an unusually bad / good year and can be strong tool in helping you determine who to use those precious fantasy baseball drafts picks on, for instance who to pass on, and hidden gems that you can find in the latter rounds that will help propel your team to a championship. They can also help the casual fan understand why a team did not sign a player to a long term contract after they put up absurd BABIP numbers in their walk years.

That being said, BABIP is not the end-all-be-all of determining a player's worth, and you should use all of the statistics available to you.

All stats taken from www.baseball-reference.com/