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The Impacts of Bad Statcast Data

As great as MLB’s Statcast data is for fantasy baseball players and regular fans alike, it is riddled with missing data. This makes it less useful for comparing players. Jeff Zimmerman of Rotographs has filled in the gaps. Let’s see how it impacts the leaders.

By Rob_Parker
New York Yankees v Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
This Yankees slugger becomes the exit velocity champ for 2016 once you correct the data
Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images

If you’ve read many of my other posts on this fine website, you would know that I often rely on Statcast data to evaluate players, both hitters and pitchers. Exit velocity, barrelled balls, hit distances, and other info is invaluable. However, what I don’t mention is that Statcast is filled with missing data. Some hitters or pitchers have more missing data than others. This makes it difficult to compare players, since one may have more of his “bad” hits included than another by sheer luck. If too many of a player’s high or low exit velocity balls in play are left out, it could skew their average for the season up or down.

Fortunately, it is possible to correct these issues and fill in the gaps. I’m not smart enough to figure it out, but Jeff Zimmerman at Rotographs sure is. He was able to shore up the data and make it whole again. He has a link in his article to a Google Doc that includes all of the data. You are welcome to browse through that data at your leisure.

What I’m going to do today is show you how much of an impact these corrections have on the leaderboards for several key stats. For both exit velocity and hit distance (both hitters and pitchers), I will compare the top 50 players on Baseball Savant’s site and the top 50 using Jeff’s corrected data. This should give you an idea of how these changes affect player evaluations. Also, you will have updated leaderboards to use as you prepare for drafts.

For clarification, the pitching leaderboards will be sorted so that lower exit velocities and lower distances are rewarded, while the hitting leaderboards will be the opposite. The order you see on the tables uses the corrected values, not the Baseball Savant ones.

Hitter Savant Exit Velo (mph) Corrected EV Rank using Savant Rank using Corrected Data Rank Change
Aaron Judge 95.5 94.5 2 1 1
Miguel Cabrera 94.5 91.3 6 2 4
Nelson Cruz 95.9 91.3 1 3 -2
Josh Rutledge 93.5 91.1 15 4 11
Domingo Santana 93.8 91 13 5 8
Tommy Pham 93.4 91 17 6 11
Tyler Flowers 94 90.9 10 7 3
Giancarlo Stanton 95.1 90.8 3 8 -5
Ryan Howard 92.5 90.5 35 9 26
Keon Broxton 95 90.2 4 10 -6
Brandon Snyder 93 90.1 27 11 16
Christian Yelich 93.3 90.1 20 12 8
Miguel Sano 93.2 90 21 13 8
Shin-Soo Choo 92.6 90 31 14 17
Alex Avila 91.9 89.9 52 15 37
Anthony Recker 93.3 89.9 19 16 3
Cole Gillespie 92.2 89.9 45 17 28
Kendrys Morales 93.9 89.9 11 18 -7
Steven Moya 93.1 89.9 23 19 4
Mark Trumbo 93.9 89.8 12 20 -8
DJ LeMahieu 92.5 89.6 38 21 17
J.D. Martinez 91.8 89.6 55 22 33
Justin Smoak 92.2 89.6 46 23 23
Billy Butler 90.6 89.4 132 24 108
David Ortiz 94.2 89.4 7 25 -18
Freddie Freeman 91.7 89.4 58 26 32
Khris Davis 92.7 89.4 29 27 2
Corey Seager 91.5 89.3 73 28 45
David Freese 91.5 89.3 79 29 50
Franklin Gutierrez 92.9 89.3 28 30 -2
Matt Holliday 94.7 89.3 5 31 -26
Joey Wendle 91.9 89.1 54 32 22
David Wright 92.4 89 39 33 6
Joc Pederson 93.2 88.9 22 34 -12
Justin Turner 91 88.9 101 35 66
Josh Donaldson 93.1 88.8 25 36 -11
Mike Moustakas 92.1 88.8 49 37 12
Mike Trout 91.6 88.8 64 38 26
Cameron Rupp 92.2 88.7 48 39 9
Chad Pinder 89.4 88.7 216 40 176
Chris Carter 92.6 88.7 30 41 -11
Joe Mauer 90.1 88.7 165 42 123
Matt Carpenter 91.1 88.7 93 43 50
Carlos Correa 91.8 88.5 56 44 12
Chris Davis 92 88.5 50 45 5
Chris Johnson 90.9 88.5 113 46 67
Daniel Nava 89.9 88.5 174 47 127
Nick Castellanos 89.5 88.5 210 48 162
Ryan Zimmerman 93.7 88.5 14 49 -35
Albert Pujols 92.5 88.4 37 50 -13

Hitter Savant Hit Dist (ft) Corrected Distance Rank using Savant Rank using Corrected Data Rank Change
David Wright 261 247 2 1 1
Brett Nicholas 255 243 4 2 2
Nick Castellanos 249 243 9 3 6
Trevor Story 256 242 3 4 -1
Aaron Judge 244 241 20 5 15
Ryan Schimpf 266 240 1 6 -5
Matt Carpenter 249 239 10 7 3
Matt Adams 254 238 5 8 -3
Cole Gillespie 242 238 26 9 17
Chris Carter 251 237 6 10 -4
Miguel Sano 249 237 11 11 0
Freddie Freeman 245 237 16 12 4
Jarrod Saltalamacchia 245 237 17 13 4
Ryan Howard 244 236 21 14 7
David Ortiz 250 235 7 15 -8
Chris Davis 249 234 12 16 -4
Kennys Vargas 247 234 15 17 -2
Anthony Recker 245 234 18 18 0
Brandon Belt 244 234 22 19 3
Daniel Nava 242 234 27 20 7
Brandon Moss 250 232 8 21 -13
Justin Smoak 238 231 37 22 15
Mike Zunino 245 230 19 23 -4
Gorkys Hernandez 249 229 13 24 -11
Miguel Cabrera 244 229 23 25 -2
Evan Longoria 242 229 28 26 2
Steven Moya 240 229 31 27 4
Brandon Snyder 242 228 29 28 1
Daniel Murphy 239 228 32 29 3
J.D. Martinez 236 228 47 30 17
Marlon Byrd 231 228 83 31 52
Justin Turner 237 227 39 32 7
Alex Bregman 236 227 48 33 15
Shin-Soo Choo 237 226 40 34 6
Kris Bryant 237 226 41 35 6
Adam Duvall 237 226 42 36 6
Stephen Drew 239 225 33 37 -4
Adam Rosales 238 225 38 38 0
Matt Kemp 235 224 54 39 15
Neil Walker 234 224 62 40 22
Alejandro De Aza 231 224 84 41 43
Yoenis Cespedes 237 223 43 42 1
Khris Davis 235 223 55 43 12
Kyle Seager 235 223 56 44 12
Alex Gordon 231 223 85 45 40
Ian Kinsler 234 222 63 46 17
Jay Bruce 233 222 70 47 23
Josh Phegley 232 222 79 48 31
Dustin Garneau 229 222 102 49 53
Stephen Cardullo 228 222 110 50 60

Pitcher Savant Exit Velo (mph) Corrected EV Rank using Savant Rank using Corrected Data Rank Change
Tyler Clippard 87 79.5 40 1 39
Mychal Givens 85.8 79.5 13 2 11
Ryan Buchter 89.8 80.5 280 3 277
Koji Uehara 85.6 80.8 9 4 5
Zach Britton 91.7 81 404 5 399
Ryan Dull 88.9 81 164 6 158
Alex Reyes 84.9 81.1 1 7 -6
Zach Duke 85 81.2 2 8 -6
Daniel Hudson 86.2 81.2 20 9 11
Oliver Perez 87 81.5 41 10 31
Chris Withrow 85.3 81.5 5 11 -6
Matt Bowman 85.3 81.5 6 12 -6
Dylan Bundy 88.5 81.5 128 13 115
Pat Neshek 85.8 81.6 14 14 0
Kevin Siegrist 86.3 81.6 24 15 9
Mark Melancon 85.5 81.6 8 16 -8
Eduardo Rodriguez 86.3 81.6 25 17 8
CC Sabathia 85.3 81.6 7 18 -11
Kenta Maeda 86.1 81.9 18 19 -1
Tommy Layne 86.2 82 21 20 1
Deolis Guerra 88.4 82 121 21 100
Kyle Hendricks 87.2 82 49 22 27
Jeurys Familia 86.2 82.1 22 23 -1
Kenley Jansen 87 82.2 42 24 18
Blake Treinen 87.6 82.2 70 25 45
Trevor Cahill 89.4 82.2 230 26 204
Mike Morin 87 82.3 43 27 16
Jeremy Hellickson 88.2 82.3 106 28 78
A.J. Achter 87.1 82.4 47 29 18
Blaine Boyer 86.2 82.4 23 30 -7
Antonio Bastardo 87.1 82.5 48 31 17
A.J. Ramos 87.7 82.6 74 32 42
Alex Claudio 88 82.6 91 33 58
Jeremy Jeffress 85 82.6 3 34 -31
Tyler Anderson 85.1 82.6 4 35 -31
Clayton Kershaw 87.3 82.6 55 36 19
Michael Lorenzen 87 82.7 44 37 7
Jonathan Broxton 85.6 82.7 10 38 -28
Ryan Madson 85.9 82.7 15 39 -24
Raisel Iglesias 86.1 82.7 19 40 -21
Christopher Devenski 87.5 82.7 65 41 24
Dan Jennings 88.8 82.8 155 42 113
Scott Feldman 86 82.8 17 43 -26
Max Scherzer 88 82.8 92 44 48
Aroldis Chapman 88.3 82.9 115 45 70
Fernando Rodney 85.9 82.9 16 46 -30
Dustin McGowan 87 82.9 45 47 -2
Julio Urias 87.2 82.9 50 48 2
Scott Kazmir 86.3 82.9 26 49 -23
Steven Wright 87.4 82.9 58 50 8

Pitcher Savant Hit Dist (ft) Corrected Distance Rank using Savant Rank using Corrected Data Rank Change
Zach Britton 176 140.9 5 1 4
Jeurys Familia 161 151.8 1 2 -1
Sam Dyson 176.7 158.7 6 3 3
Marc Rzepczynski 170.2 160.2 2 4 -2
Zach Duke 174.2 162 3 5 -2
Jeremy Jeffress 174.5 164 4 6 -2
Matt Bowman 179 165.2 7 7 0
Blake Treinen 186.1 165.3 12 8 4
Michael Lorenzen 181.4 166.9 8 9 -1
Clayton Richard 185.4 170.2 11 10 1
Brad Ziegler 191.5 172.4 19 11 8
Dan Otero 188.4 173 13 12 1
Josh Osich 184.8 173.2 10 13 -3
Alex Claudio 192 173.9 23 14 9
Ian Krol 188.9 174 15 15 0
Jarred Cosart 184.6 174.6 9 16 -7
Trevor Cahill 199.3 175.3 51 17 34
Rob Scahill 193.9 175.7 28 18 10
Luke Gregerson 189.9 175.9 16 19 -3
Dan Jennings 200.7 175.9 59 20 39
Brandon Kintzler 190.7 175.9 18 21 -3
Jared Hughes 188.4 176 14 22 -8
Pedro Strop 195.9 177.5 34 23 11
Mark Melancon 192.3 177.8 24 24 0
Dustin McGowan 190.2 178.8 17 25 -8
Mike Montgomery 192.5 179.6 25 26 -1
Peter Moylan 204.7 180.8 80 27 53
Jim Johnson 197.7 181.4 42 28 14
Bryan Shaw 191.9 182 21 29 -8
CC Sabathia 191.9 182.5 22 30 -8
Chris Rusin 196.7 182.7 36 31 5
Dellin Betances 194.1 182.8 29 32 -3
Matt Garza 194.9 182.8 31 33 -2
J.P. Howell 197.6 183 41 34 7
JC Ramirez 199 183 48 35 13
Arodys Vizcaino 201.8 183 62 36 26
Carlos Martinez 194.7 183.2 30 37 -7
Fernando Rodney 195.1 183.3 32 38 -6
Jake Arrieta 198.1 183.6 43 39 4
Kyle Barraclough 191.5 183.6 20 40 -20
Justin Wilson 198.2 183.6 44 41 3
Lance McCullers 192.6 184.1 26 42 -16
Dallas Keuchel 196.3 184.1 35 43 -8
Daniel Coulombe 201.1 184.3 60 44 16
Marcus Stroman 195.8 184.3 33 45 -12
Jaime Garcia 198.5 184.4 46 46 0
Tommy Layne 197.2 184.6 39 47 -8
Blaine Boyer 199.6 184.9 53 48 5
Robert Gsellman 199.8 185 55 49 6
Cesar Vargas 203 185.3 71 50 21

FYI, I limited the pitching tables to pitchers that allowed at least 100 balls in play to weed out some of the very-small-sample-size relievers.

I’m not going to go into commentary today. The tables can speak for themselves and this post is already long with four giant tables. I may take a closer look at some of these results in the future, though. Tschus!

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