2008 BABIP Pitching Statistics

A useful statistic for fantasy baseball is BABIP, which is batting average on balls in play.For pitchers (a measure of the hitters they face), it's a good measure of luck. So pitchers with high or low BABIPs are good bets to see their performances adjust to the mean (around .300 to .310). For pitchers, it's a measurement of the number of runs he has prevented from scoring that a replacement-level pitcher would have allowed.

Below are the top 50 from each end of the spectrum from 2008, courtesy of Baseball Prospectus. One interesting case is CC Sabathia, who was 6-8 with a 3.83 ERA with Cleveland, then 11-2 with a 1.65 ERA with Milwaukee. And, as you might expect, his BABIP was much better with the Brewers (.291) than with the Indians (.317), so it's reasonable to assume that Sabathia was a little unlucky in Cleveland, and lucky in Milwaukee. And that his real ability is somewhere in the middle.

Top 50 pitchers from 2008 with more than 100 innings pitched, in BABIP, meaning they had good luck or were hit exceptionally softly in 2008, or some combination of both:

1. Justin Duchscherer, A's: .238
2. Armando Galarraga, Tigers: .239
3. Dave Bush, Brewers: .239
4. Tim Wakefield, Red Sox: .242
5. Shaun Marcum, Blue Jays: .248
6. Chris Young, Padres: .259
7. Jeremy Guthrie, Orioles: .261
8. Gavin Floyd, White Sox: .261
9. Scott Olsen, Marlins: .262
10. Daisuke Matsuzaka, Red Sox: .262
11. Gregory Smith, A's: .263
12. Cole Hamels, Phillies: .263
13. Tim Hudson, Braves: .268
14. Joe Saunders, Angels: .269
15. Todd Wellemeyer, Cardinals: .270
16. Scott Kazmir, Rays: .271
17. Carlos Zambrano, Cubs: .273
18. Ted Lilly, Cubs: .274
19. John Lannan, Nationals: .275
20. Matt Garza, Rays: .276
21. John Maine, Mets: .276
22. Ricky Nolasco, Marlins: .278
23. Johan Santana, Mets: .278
24. Adam Wainwright, Cardinals: .279
25. Jesse Litsch, Blue Jays: .280
26. Oliver Perez, Mets: .280
27. Ryan Rowland-Smith, Mariners: .280
28. Paul Byrd, Indians: .281
29. Ryan Dempster, Reds: .283
30. Jake Peavy, Padres: .284
31. Ben Sheets, Brewers: .285
32. Derek Lowe, Dodgers: .286
33. Zach Miner, Tigers: .286
34. Roy Halladay, Blue Jays: .287
35. Hiroki Kuroda, Dodgers: .287
36. Scott Baker, Twins: .287
37. Seth McClung, Brewers: .290
38. Scott Feldman, Rangers: .290
39. James Shields, Rays: .290
40. C.C. Sabathia, Brewers: .291
41. Greg Maddux, Padres: .291
42. Jamie Moyer, Phillies: .291
43. Jason Marquis, White Sox: .292
44. John Lackey, Angels: .292
45. Chris Sampson, Astros: .293
46. Roy Oswalt, Astros: .293
47. Ervin Santana, Angels: .293
48. Kevin Slowey, Twins: .293
49. Micah Owings, Diamondbacks: .294
50. Jorge Campillo, Braves: .294

The worst 50 pitchers from 2008 with more than 100 innings pitched, in BABIP, meaning they had bad luck or were hit exceptionally hard in 2008, or some combination of both:

1. Ian Snell, Pirates: .360
2. Kevin Millwood, Rangers: .359
3. Andrew Miller, Marlins: .354
4. Livan Hernandez, Twins: .354
5. Carlos Silva, Mariners: .348
6. Nate Robertson, Tigers: .343
7. Andy Pettitte, Yankees: .341
8. Garrett Olson, Orioles: .341
9. Kevin Correia, Giants: .337
10. Manny Parra, Brewers: .335
11. Jo-Jo Reyes, Braves: .332
12. Doug Davis, Diamondbacks: .332
13. Pedro Martinez, Mets: .331
14. Adam Eaton, Philles: .330
15. Jorge De La Rosa, Rockies: .330
16. Brian Burres, Orioles: .328
17. Brandon Backe, Astros: .328
18. Boof Bonser, Twins: .328
19. Joba Chamberlain, Yankees: .328
20. Mike Mussina, Yankees: .327
21. Jonathan Sanchez, Giants: .327
22. Kenny Rogers, Tigers: .327
23. Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers: .327
24. Bronson Arroyo, Reds: .324
25. Dustin McGowan, Blue Jays: .324
26. Zach Duke, Pirates: .324
27. Odalis Perez, Nationals: .324
28. Randy Wolf, Padres: .321
29. A.J. Burnett, Blue Jays: .321
30. Chad Billingsley, Dodgers: .320
31. Jon Garland, Angels: .320
32. Javier Vazquez, White Sox: .320
33. Josh Beckett, Red Sox: .320
34. Darrell Rasner, Yankees: .319
35. Felix Hernandez, Mariners: .319
36. Joel Pineiro, Cardinals: .319
37. Miguel Batista, Mariners: .318
38. Aaron Harang, Reds: .318
39. CC Sabathia, Indians: .317
40. Dana Eveland, A's: .316
41. Wandy Rodriguez, Astros: .316
42. Mark Buehrle, White Sox: .315
43. Brian Bannister, Royals: .315
44. Aaron Cook, Rockies: .313
45. Randy Johnson, Diamondbacks: .313
46. Kyle Kendrick, Phillies: .312
47. Tim Lincecum, Giants: .312
48. Jeff Francis, Rockies: .312
49. Zack Greinke, Royals: .312
50. Kyle Davies, Royals: .311