Yesterday, I listed the twenty starting pitchers with the best BABIP in order to see who could possibly be Sell High candidates or be pitchers to expect to have short-term difficulties. A regression to the mean BABIP of .300 would mean the pitcher gets hit hard in the near future. Today, I'll list those starting pitchers with the worst BABIPs for the opposite effects.
One thing to keep in mind, a higher BABIP could be more sustainable for those pitchers who have higher strikeout rates by defintion. A K means a ball isn't put in play. This could allow those types of pitchers to get by with a higher-than-normal BABIP. So Tim Lincecum and C.C. Sabthia may not have as much regression-to-the-mean in their future as an Ian Kennedy or Mark Buerhle might.
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Player | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 |
Andrew Miller | 0.462 | 0.333 | 0.242 | NA | NA |
Chad Billingsley | 0.449 | 0.299 | 0.313 | NA | NA |
Shawn Hill | 0.424 | 0.264 | 0.323 | NA | 0.533 |
Matt Belisle | 0.417 | 0.336 | 0.306 | 0.330 | NA |
Bronson Arroyo | 0.408 | 0.317 | 0.274 | 0.281 | 0.291 |
Philip Hughes | 0.400 | 0.272 | NA | NA | NA |
Jason Bergmann | 0.395 | 0.249 | 0.356 | 0.271 | NA |
Luke Hochevar | 0.395 | 0.25 | NA | NA | NA |
Dustin McGowan | 0.392 | 0.276 | 0.363 | 0.309 | NA |
Dustin Moseley | 0.390 | 0.307 | 0.432 | NA | NA |
Ubaldo Jimenez | 0.385 | 0.262 | 0.174 | NA | NA |
Tim Lincecum | 0.380 | 0.292 | NA | NA | NA |
Ian Kennedy | 0.373 | 0.231 | NA | NA | NA |
Chris Sampson | 0.373 | 0.294 | 0.212 | NA | NA |
C.C. Sabathia | 0.370 | 0.316 | 0.301 | 0.294 | 0.289 |
Mark Buehrle | 0.368 | 0.292 | 0.313 | 0.295 | 0.299 |
Manny Parra | 0.368 | 0.338 | NA | NA | NA |
Jesse Litsch | 0.366 | 0.279 | NA | NA | NA |
Zach Duke | 0.365 | 0.374 | 0.336 | 0.303 | NA |
Nick Blackburn | 0.361 | 0.405 | NA | NA | NA |
Matt Chico | 0.360 | 0.295 | NA | NA | NA |