Plate Discipline- What Is It?
Plate Discipline is a baseball statistics that tells how often an hitter swings and makes contact with certain or different types of pitches or how often a pitcher induces swings or contact on various types of pitches.
Plate Discipline- Why Do We Need Them?
They are useful for determining or make evaluations on the type of hitter or pitchers we are looking at. Changes in these numbers from beginning to end of season or from one year to the next can be an indication of changes in a player’s approach.
Plate Discipline- How is it Calculated?
Many different numbers can be plugged into determine plate discipline.
O-Swing% = Swings at pitches outside the zone / pitches outside the zone
Z-Swing% = Swings at pitches inside the zone / pitches inside the zone
Swing% = Swings / Pitches
O-Contact% = Number of pitches on which contact was made on pitches outside the zone / Swings on pitches outside the zone
Z-Contact% = Number of pitches on which contact was made on pitches inside the zone / Swings on pitches inside the zone
Contact% = Number of pitches on which contact was made / Swings
Zone% = Pitches in the strike zone / Total pitches
F-Strike% = First pitch strikes / PA
SwStr% = Swings and misses / Total pitches
It is a measure of aggressiveness at the plate. A look at who has trouble making contact. Although numbers don’t always tell the entire story, it is a guide to realizing many tendencies. Metrics include how often a batter swings at a first pitch or a pitchers approach to the game with their tendencies.
How to Use Plate Discipline:
Before passing judgment on the numbers, realize that every hitter and pitcher are different . Some hitters are simply “bad ball hitters” and much more can be parceled out.
Stat Average
O-Swing 30%
Z-Swing 65%
Swing 46%
O-Contact 66%
Z-Contact 87%
Contact 80%
Zone 45%
F-Strike 59%
SwStr 9.5%
Plate Discipline- Worth Remembering
- Strike percentage (SwStr% — swinging strikes per pitch) should not be confused with whiff rate (swinging strikes per swing).
- While these numbers are useful, they do not take into account the game situation or opposing hitter/pitcher, which will have some impact on how a player behaves.
For more information on sabermetrics, we have many of them already for you to read at Baseball Spotlight. For single reads check out these links:
Sabermetrics aims to quantify baseball players’ performances based on objective statistical measurements, especially in opposition to many of the established statistics (such as, for example, runs batted in and pitching wins) that give less accurate approximations of individual efficacy.The Society for American Baseball Research, founded in 1971.
