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In baseball, a ground ball pitcher (also ground-ball pitcher or groundball pitcher) is a type of pitcher who has a tendency to induce ground balls from opposing batters.[1] The average ground ball pitcher has a ground ball rate of at least 50%, with extreme ground ball pitchers maintaining a ground ball rate of around 55%. Pitchers with a ground ball rate lower than 50% may be classified as flyball pitchers or as pitchers who exhibit the tendencies of both ground ball and fly ball pitchers.[2] Ground ball pitchers rely on pitches that are low in the strike zone with substantial downward movement,[1] such as splitters and sinker balls.[3]
Most baseball analysts, such as sabermetrician Tom Tango, agree that ground ball pitchers are generally better pitchers than those with fly ball tendencies.[4] Meanwhile, baseball writer and analyst Bill James argues the opposite because of injury patterns among ground ball pitchers.[5]
- ^ a b Ground Ball Pitcher. Sporting Charts. Retrieved 2014-01-17.
- ^ Neyer, Rob (2012-03-27). "What We Talk About When We Talk About Ground-Ball Pitchers". Baseball Nation. Retrieved 2014-01-17.
- ^ Lependorf, Dan (2013-07-19). "Where do ground balls come from?". The Hardball Times.
- ^ Tango, Tom; Mitchel Lichtman; Andrew Dolphin (2006). The Book: Playing the Percentages in Baseball. TMA Press.
- ^ Neyer, Rob (2013-03-21). "Bill James on overrating ground-ball pitchers". Baseball Nation. Retrieved 2014-01-17.