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Fun With Numbers

After converting the Fangraphs plate discipline numbers (OSwing%, ZSwing%, etc.) into Swings At Strikes/Total Swings, here are a couple leaderboards:

TOP 10 BATTERS % STARTERS % RELIEVERS %
1 Iwamura 84.6% Moyer 63.0% DiFelice 56.0%
2 Scutaro 83.4% Pettitte 64.3% Wuertz 57.5%
3 Giles 83.3% Billingsley 64.3% Rivera 59.0%
4 Ianetta 82.3% Lackey 64.5% Gregerson 59.6%
5 Castillo 82.1% Volquez 64.6% League 61.8%
6 W Harris 81.1% Richmond 64.9% Grabow 62.1%
7 Cameron 80.5% Liriano 65.0% Albers 62.4%
8 Punto 80.5% Vargas 65.0% O'Day 62.5%
9 Willingham 80.5% G Gonzalez 65.1% Meredith 62.7%
10 Zaun 80.4% Saunders 65.2% Bulger 63.1%

Read that as "84.6% of Akinori Iwamura's swings are at pitches in the strike zone." The league average is around 70-72% for all categories. Minimum 100 PA and 40 IP.

BOTTOM 10 BATTERS % STARTERS % RELIEVERS %
1 E Alfonzo 54.6% Ponson 85.8% Dickey 80.7%
2 Sandoval 54.9% Maine 81.3% Lewis 78.5%
3 Guerrero 58.8% Lilly 80.4% Carrasco 78.4%
4 B Molina 59.1% Colon 80.0% J Cruz 78.4%
5 E Aybar 61.3% Penny 79.4% Nelson 78.1%
6 Olivo 61.3% Sonnanstine 79.1% Dotel 78.1%
7 Morales 61.5% Redding 78.6% Stokes 78.0%
8 Erstad 61.6% Happ 78.1% Green 77.7%
9 R Diaz 62.0% Olson 78.0% Hawkins 77.6%
10 Soriano 62.1% West 77.8% McClung 77.0%

Having a good percentage isn't that big a deal for hitters. Generally speaking, if you've made it all the way to the Majors with an undisciplined approach, you've probably found a way to compensate for not walking by hitting for average or power. There is a correlation between this percentage and wOBA, but it isn't a strong one. However, it's a bigger deal for pitchers. If you can't get batters to chase stuff out of the zone, then unless you have a really unhittable fastball or something (like David Aardsma!), you're in trouble.

As far as Mariners are concerned, there's nothing too surprising. Garett Olson looks like crap, Jason Vargas looks interesting, and Felix looks good. As for hitters, Hannahan and Gutierrez have the best eyes while Saunders comes in around average and Yuni looks like a damn retard.