Interesting Stat - Non-K AB Value:
 

Since I invested fairly heavily (at least for me) in Joey Gallo, I worry how long it will take him, if he ever does, to improve his strike-zone knowledge and lower his strikeout rate.

At one time, I heard of a statistic which reflected a hitter's average when he puts the ball in play.

To that end, and designating such an average as IPAVG for in-play-average, a comparison of MLB's top three 'strikeout artists':

Joey Gallo, Tex 162 ABs - 32 Hits - .198 Avg. - 69 Ks - IPAVG - .344

Chris Davis, Bal 169 ABs - 38 Hits - .225 Avg. - 75 Ks - IPAVG - .404

Miguel Sano, Min 157 ABs - 46 Hits - .293 Avg. - 71 Ks - IPAVG - .535


Sano's IPAVG appears to make his Ks, or rather, all his non-K ABs, worth 13.1% more than Davis's and 19.1% more than Gallo's.

I'm not going any further at this time, but I have to wonder who has the highest IPAVG for a season and for a career all-time.

Have at it nerds...if I don't get to it first.

I think you are referring to what is normally called BABIP (batting average balls in play).

Doggonit!

I was born a month early and have been late for everything since.

According to the internet, as of 2007 Ty Cobb had the highest BABIP all-time. Which is no surprise.

Players who do well in BABIP either tend to be very fast or hit lots of line drives. Joey Votto, despite not being very fast, has an excellent BABIP mark because of all the line drives.

Joey Gallo is pretty much designed to have a poor BABIP. He's not very fast, and he swings with a massive uppercut. That leads to lots of pop flies, which are almost always outs (when they don't go over the fence). More than improving his BABIP, what he really needs to do is just strike out less. If he could get the K's under control he'd hit more homeruns, which would make up for not hitting many singles or doubles.

His batting line is actually kind of hilarious. He's got a slugging percentage over 500 (which is very good) with a batting average below 200. Dave Kingman never managed that (to pick another player with a similar batting style). Rob Deer never managed it either; the only season in which he slugged over 500 he had a 247 batting average.

When it comes to the BABIP conversation, it's good to remember that home runs are not included in the statistic...