In Spring Training, I saw the Royals put a shift on Jack Cust and was wondering which hitters were the most prone to hit to one side of the field than the other. I was going to use MLB Gameday hit data to determine a couple of other pieces of information, so I used it to help determine where a player bats a ball on average. While I was at it, I found a comparable average distance for each ball hit for each player.
Background math:
The Gameday data is in X-Y coordinates, that correspond to a certain number of pixels. Peter Jensen at the Hardball Times took this data and figured out where home plate was for each park. I averaged these numbers out for a home plate placement of:
x= 125.42
y= 198.27
Also I tried to use his values for the batted ball distances, which averaged around 2.67. I found this value way too high. Derek Jeter had several 600 ft blasts. I found that the value of 2 to be a little closer, but not perfectly exact. Since all players were adjusted the same, the exact distance doesn't matter to see who hits the furthest on average.
I wanted the data in polar coordinates, distance and angle, for ease of manipulation. I took the distance each ball was from home plate and the angle it was from the center line of the field. The angle is set up so that 0 degrees goes from home plate, through the pitchers mound to center field. All negative angle are towards right field and all positive angles are to left field. I removed the foul balls caught behind home plate. All other batted balls made it into the data as home plate positioning was not know for sure.
I noticed that all the switch hitters didn't really favor a field because they split time from each side of the plate. I had no easy way to know the batter's exacted handedness, so I created another data set for each batter against RH and LH pitchers.
What the data does say:
- Given the above conditions, what was the average angle that a batter hit a ball using 2007 to 2009 Gameday data.
- Given the above conditions, what was average distance that a batter hit a ball using 2007 to 2009 Gameday data.
What the data doesn't say.
- How to play the batter. They may hit the ball to one side of the infield, but with power to the other side.
- Exactly how far a batter hits the ball. I took an average value for home plate and my distance multiplier is eye balled.
- This is not a prediction of future performance, I am just looking at past performance for now.
With all that said, here are the players that pulled the ball the most. The players near 0 are the batters that bat from one side of the plate and didn't a noticeable split. Negative values are to the right side of the field and positive values are the left side. A minimum of 200 batted balls in play from 2007 to 2009 required for this list (complete list of players on Google Docs).
| Name | Number of Balls in Play | Average Distance Ball Hit | Angle Ball is Hit |
| Thames Marcus | 596 | 122 | -29.8 |
| Jones Andruw | 769 | 127 | -27.5 |
| Sheffield Gary | 946 | 124 | -27.4 |
| Francisco Ben | 743 | 124 | -26.7 |
| Hillenbrand Shea | 239 | 123 | -25.7 |
| Piazza Mike | 245 | 148 | -24.7 |
| Bay Jason | 1243 | 149 | -24.5 |
| Encarnacion Edwin | 1041 | 128 | -24.5 |
| Johjima Kenji | 986 | 116 | -24.4 |
| Flores Jesus | 428 | 125 | -24.4 |
| Jeter Derek | 1680 | 157 | -0.8 |
| Buck Travis | 418 | 154 | -0.5 |
| Prado Martin | 667 | 163 | -0.3 |
| Molina Jose | 499 | 153 | 0.4 |
| Morgan Nyjer | 636 | 132 | 0.5 |
| Parra Gerardo | 380 | 158 | 0.6 |
| Hinske Eric | 554 | 183 | 20.1 |
| Counsell Craig | 807 | 169 | 20.9 |
| Utley Chase | 1486 | 196 | 21.5 |
| Patterson Corey | 709 | 154 | 22.1 |
| Hopper Norris | 332 | 141 | 22.1 |
| Harris Willie | 827 | 185 | 23.0 |
| Johnson Dan | 356 | 190 | 23.6 |
| Ankiel Rick | 717 | 194 | 24.7 |
| Bonds Barry | 279 | 199 | 25.7 |
| Pena Carlos | 1020 | 211 | 26.4 |
Besides players that pull the ball the most, here are the leaders and laggards for batted distance. A minimum of 200 batted balls in play from 2007 to 2009 required for this list (complete list of players on Google Docs).
| Name | Number of Balls in Play | Average Distance Ball Hit | Angle Ball is Hit |
| Pena Carlos | 1020 | 211 | 26.4 |
| Hoffpauir Micah | 236 | 204 | 15.9 |
| Dunn Adam | 1072 | 203 | 19.8 |
| Howard Ryan | 1261 | 200 | 19.0 |
| Bonds Barry | 279 | 199 | 25.7 |
| Giambi Jason | 747 | 199 | 17.2 |
| Utley Chase | 1486 | 196 | 21.5 |
| Branyan Russell | 465 | 196 | 14.8 |
| Thorman Scott | 216 | 195 | 19.0 |
| Jacobs Mike | 971 | 195 | 17.4 |
| Owens Jerry | 317 | 121 | 4.7 |
| Berroa Angel | 245 | 121 | -9.7 |
| Everett Adam | 603 | 120 | -14.7 |
| Ramirez Alexei | 919 | 119 | -15.9 |
| Taveras Willy | 1110 | 119 | -5.6 |
| Gomez Carlos | 777 | 117 | -13.0 |
| Johjima Kenji | 986 | 116 | -24.4 |
| Burriss Emmanuel | 400 | 116 | -3.5 |
| Castillo Luis | 1220 | 108 | -15.8 |
| Gathright Joey | 464 | 88 | -10.5 |