Almost a year ago, I wrote this piece on the dramatic upswing in patience at the plate displayed by the Mariner hitters. I was looking at those numbers just now so how about an update? The Mariner hitters ended up dropping off a little bit in seeing pitches in 2010 after that post, but still finished with a healthy improvement over previous incarnations. However, they are no match for the juggernaut of pitch wasting that is our current squad.
In 2007, at 3.63, the Mariners ranked 30th in pitches seen per plate appearance (P/PA)
In 2008, at 3.69, the Mariners ranked 26th in P/PA
In 2009, at 3.78, the Mariners ranked 24th in P/PA
In 2010, at 3.89, the Mariners ranked 7th in P/PA
In 2011, at 4.07, the Mariners rank 1st in P/PA
In the walks department though, last season's Mariners really fell flat. At the time of publishing, they were 11th in baseball with a 9.1% walk rate. They finished the year 27th at 7.1%
In 2007, at 5.8%, the Mariners ranked 30th in BB%
In 2008, at 6.0%, the Mariners ranked 29th in BB%
In 2009, at 6.3%, the Mariners ranked 29th in BB%
In 2010, at 7.1%, the Mariners ranked 27th in BB%
In 2011, at 9.8%, the Mariners rank 2nd in BB%
Like last time, some further miscellaneous baby facts continue below.
- Ryan Langerhans leads all Major League hitters in P/PA with at least 40 PAs at 4.76. Chris Gimenez and Brendan Ryan also have rates above 4.5.
- Brendan Ryan had previously established a career line around 3.7 so this has been a significant step up for him that Jeff and I have discussed prior.
- Coming into play today, only four Mariners had rates below 4.0: Jack Wilson, Miguel Olivo, Adam Kennedy and Ichiro Suzuki.
- Despite all the taken pitches and despite the presence of Jack Cust and Miguel Olivo, the Mariners have just the 14th highest strikeout rate.
- The Mariners have the 7th lowest rate of taking called strikes.
- 40% of Mariner batters' swings result in a foul ball, 2nd highest in baseball. However, the league spread is quite small from 36% to 42% worst to first.