Pitches per plate appearance?

[timothyw80]

Anyone know where I can find this stat for each individual player? Also how much importance do you put on this stat when evaluating a player?

[logan82]

ESPN has it on their site.

[sbrylski]

Also how much importance do you put on this stat when evaluating a player?

I don't know if you'd use it to evaluate a player's worth, but rather to examine the style of the players plate approach. Obviously a player with a high number of P/PA is going to walk or strikeout more often than one with a low number. Tracking a players P/PA can then show what changed in their approach to effect their results.

 

[RoseBowlMtg]

What I wish out of that stat is a breakdown. First pitch hits are great while first pitch ground outs after a walk is not. Who swings at first pitches when the pitcher just walked a batter? No problem with me getting a hit on a first pitch especially after getting someone on base but not if the pitcher is wild. Swing at good pitches. Great hitters might not have high pitch counts since they hit the first pitch solidly. A guy who swings and misses is not necesarily better at working the count.

 

So indebtly they must keep track of working the count well and working the count ineptly. Fouling off good pitches then getting a hit on a pitch you can handle is great baseball but will stats show that?

[cwolf2012]

"Fouling off good pitches then getting a hit on a pitch you can handle is great baseball but will stats show that?"

 

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In the long run, people who work the count better than others WILL have a higher P|PA than others. That being said, you can't just take it by itself. You have to look at other stats to determine whether the person is actually a good hitter, or just likes to take pitches with no success.

[rluzinski]

Who swings at first pitches when the pitcher just walked a batter?

 

For what it's worth, I don't believe that a pitcher coming off a walk throws more balls than his aggregate, on average. I think that's even true on a 4 pitch walk. In general, I don't think a batter can predict the wildness of a pitcher based off the previous AB.