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Taking pitches and walks in the AL East

By Stacey

Lost in the disgust that was last night's game is the fact that the Orioles took five walks. They came into the game averaging 2.4 BB/G, and in their seven game losing streak they were averaging 2.1. It didn't hurt of course that Francisco Liriano threw a fair amount of balls (of course they swing at garbage all the time so maybe I should give them some credit). The Orioles worked a three-ball count in last night's game ten times, resulting in five walks, a single, and four outs. The O's took more pitches than usual, with Brian Roberts, Derrek Lee, Mark Reynolds, and Matt Wieters all averaging four or more pitches per at-bat. Vladimir Guerrero saw fifteen pitches in four at-bats, which is like a normal batter seeing forty.

It seems that a constant gripe among the O's faithful is having to watch hitters swing at horrible pitches, refuse to work the count, etc., especially in comparison to the other teams in the AL East. It's only been fifteen games, but I thought it might be interesting to take a look at how the five teams match up to this point, then revisit it every month to gauge any improvement. It's likely it'll just end up being an exercise in frustration, but really, isn't being an Orioles' fan at all an exercise in frustration?

Check out the charts and numbers below the jump.

Walksperbatter_medium

Orioles PA BB ▾
D. Lee 63 9
M.Reynolds 56 5
N. Markakis 64 5
M.Wieters 47 4
L.Scott 37 4
B. Roberts 66 2
J. Hardy 17 2
C. Izturis 19 2
R. Andino 18 2
A. Jones 55 1
J. Fox 16 1
V. Guerrero 62 0
F. Pie 17 0
Team Totals 537 37
AL Rank 13
Red Sox PA BB ▾
K. Youkilis 64 15
D. Ortiz 61 11
A. Gonzalez 66 8
D. Pedroia 66 8
M. Scutaro 37 5
J. Ellsbury 56 5
J. Drew 45 5
J. Saltalamacchia 36 2
C. Crawford 63 2
J. Lowrie 33 2
J. Varitek 19 2
M. Cameron 17 1
D. McDonald 12 1
Team Totals 575 67
AL Rank 2
Yankees PA BB ▾
A.Rodriguez 50 9
M. Teixeira 61 8
J.Posada 50 7
D. Jeter 61 6
N. Swisher 59 6
B. Gardner 49 4
C. Granderson 50 4
R. Martin 48 1
R. Cano 59 1
E. Chavez 15 0
A. Jones 12 0
G. Molina 3 0
E. Nunez 1 0
Team Totals 518 46
AL Rank 9
Rays PA BB ▾
B. Upton 60 8
B. Zobrist 63 7
S. Fuld 58 4
M. Joyce 51 4
D. Johnson 54 3
E. Johnson 25 3
J. Jaso 32 2
R.Brignac 37 2
F. Lopez 40 2
J. Damon 59 2
S. Rodriguez 34 2
C. Kotchman 15 2
K. Shoppach 27 1
E. Longoria 6 1
M. Ramirez 17 0
Team Totals 578 43
AL Rank 12
Blue Jays PA BB ▾
J. Bautista 61 12
Y. Escobar 59 8
J. Rivera 46 7
J. Nix 45 6
T. Snider 60 6
J. Arencibia 46 4
J. McDonald 25 4
A. Lind 67 3
A. Hill 65 3
E. Encarnacion 46 1
C. Patterson 31 1
J. Molina 21 1
M. McCoy 12 1
R.Davis 32 0
Team Totals 616 57
AL Rank 5

Not included in the chart are Gustavo Molina and Eduardo Nunez for the Yankee, and Evan Longoria for the Rays.

Pitchesperplateappearnace_medium

Orioles PA Pit/PA ▾
L. Scott 37 4.41
D. Lee 63 4.33
M. Reynolds 56 4.21
N. Markakis 64 3.95
J. Hardy 17 3.82
B. Roberts 66 3.82
M. Wieters 47 3.79
R. Andino 18 3.56
A. Jones 55 3.44
C. Izturis 19 3.37
J. Fox 16 3.19
V. Guerrero 62 3.02
F. Pie 17 3.00
Team Total 537 3.77
Red Sox PA Pit/PA ▾
K. Youkilis 64 4.53
D. McDonald 12 4.42
M. Scutaro 37 4.35
J. Saltalamacchia 36 4.25
J. Drew 45 4.16
M. Cameron 17 4.12
D. Pedroia 66 4.09
D. Ortiz 61 4.05
J. Ellsbury 56 3.93
J. Varitek 19 3.68
C. Crawford 63 3.62
A. Gonzalez 66 3.62
J. Lowrie 33 3.45
Team Total 575 4.00
Yankees PA Pit/PA ▾
C. Granderson 50 4.56
M. Teixeira 61 4.34
R. Martin 48 4.23
B. Gardner 49 4.16
A. Rodriguez 50 4.06
D. Jeter 61 3.80
N. Swisher 59 3.63
A. Jones 12 3.50
J. Posada 51 3.39
E. Chavez 15 3.20
R. Cano 59 3.15
E. Nunez 1 3.00
G. Molina 3 2.00
Team Total 519 3.87
Rays PA Pit/PA ▾
M. Joyce 52 4.23
E. Johnson 25 4.20
J. Damon 59 4.03
C. Kotchman 15 4.00
B. Zobrist 63 3.98
J. Jaso 32 3.91
F. Lopez 40 3.85
K. Shoppach 27 3.81
S. Rodriguez 34 3.76
B. Upton 60 3.70
E. Longoria 6 3.67
M. Ramirez 17 3.47
D. Johnson 54 3.39
R. Brignac 37 3.27
S. Fuld 58 3.14
Team Total 579 3.75
Blue Jays PA Pit/PA ▾
J. Bautista 61 4.51
J. Arencibia 46 4.17
T. Snider 60 4.15
J. Molina 21 3.81
J. Nix 46 3.78
R. Davis 32 3.75
A. Hill 65 3.62
J. McDonald 25 3.52
E. Encarnacion 47 3.49
A. Lind 68 3.41
J. Rivera 46 3.37
Y. Escobar 59 3.34
M. McCoy 12 3.33
C. Patterson 31 2.94
Team Total 619 3.70

Again, Longoria, G. Molina, and Nunez aren't included on the chart.

Aleastwalks_medium

The natural assumption is that the more pitches a team sees, the more walks they'll have. That for the most part is true across baseball, but here in the AL East the Orioles see more pitches per plate appearance than both the Rays and the Jays, but still have less walks then both. What is going on with the Jays? Yunel Escobar has the second most walks on the team despite being near the bottom of the list in P/PA. It'll be interesting to see if he and the Jays can keep up that pace.

It's not shown here because I only plotted the AL East, but here's another weird fact: the Royals and the O's both see 3.77 pitches per plate appearance, but the Royals have sixty walks to the Orioles' thirty-seven.

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