RESEARCH: What can foul balls tell us?
Jan 18 2018
Across various eras of baseball research, most analysis has been done on either balls in play, or balls and strikes. Foul balls, because of their relatively meager direct influence on in-game outcomes, have been examined less often. Here, we look first at whether certain hitters and pitchers hit or allow foul balls at varying frequencies, and what other characteristics these hitters and pitchers might have.
Approach and Methodology
Data were obtained from FanGraphs and Statcast. For each player since 2008, every set of consecutive seasons with either 500 pitches seen or 500 pitches thrown was identified. From there, foul ball percentages were calculated, as well as and correlations between consecutive years, and between other...
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