Fangraphs: Early At-Bat Strikeouts

[weams]

http://www.fangraphs.com/community/analyzing-the-impact-of-early-at-bat-strikeouts-on-overall-offensive-production/

Not all strikeouts are created equal. If a batter has a three-pitch strikeout, it is considered a miserable and wasted at-bat. But if a batter has an eight-pitch at-bat that was grinded out to a full count and then strikes out, it is consider a much better at-bat. The batter forced the pitcher to work harder and throw more pitches, even though the end result was a strikeout.

My original hypothesis was that for the 2014 season, the top 50 batters, as determined by wRC+, would have a drop in overall offensive production as the Early At Bat Strikeout % rose. Initially, by looking at basic slash line stats of batting average, On Base percentage, and Slugging %, I did see a correlation between a rise in EABK% and a drop in average and OB%, but slugging % did not show a correlation. When looking at overall offensive metrics, the correlation was not strong at all. I believe that since these metrics are based more on how many runs the player creates and incorporate different values for the type of hit contributes to the lack of correlation between EABK% and more advance offensive metrics. I do think EABK% could be a useful stat for analyzing players who are more valuable by getting on base