Fun with Stats: Hit Tracker

[Outshined_One]

Since this team's lack of power has been a topic of conversation lately, THT's latest article on underperformers and overperformers of the first half provided a nifty link to a website which tracks every home run in baseball:

 

Link

 

For a quick reference, here's a glossary of terms:

 

Glossary of Hit Tracker Terms

 

True Dist. (True Distance, a.k.a. Actual Distance) - If the home run flew uninterrupted all the way back to field level, the actual distance the ball traveled from home plate, in feet. If the ball's flight was interrupted before returning all the way down to field level (as is usually the case), the estimated distance the ball would have traveled if its flight had continued uninterrupted all the way down to field level.

 

Std Distance (Standard Distance) - The estimated distance in feet the home run would have traveled if it flew uninterrupted all the way down to field level, and if the home run had been hit with no wind, in 70 degree air at sea level. Standard distance factors out the influence of wind, temperature and altitude, and is thus the best way of comparing home runs hit under a variety of different conditions.

 

Speed Off Bat - The calculated speed of the baseball as it left the bat, in miles per hour (mph).

 

Elev. Angle - the angle above horizontal at which the ball left the bat, in degrees. Typically between 25 and 45 degrees for home runs.

 

Horiz. Angle - the initial direction of the ball as it left the bat in degrees, where 45 degrees is straight down the right field line, 90 degrees is straight over second base and 135 degrees is straight down the left field line.

 

Apex - the highest point reached by the ball in flight above field level, in feet.

 

Impact Due To Wind - the distance gained or lost due to the impact of the wind on the ball in flight, in feet. Distance lost to the wind is listed as a negative number, while distance gained from the wind is listed as a positive number.

 

Impact Due To Temperature - the distance gained or lost due to the impact of the ambient temperature, in feet, as compared to a "standard" temperature of 70 degrees. Distance lost to the increased resistance of cooler, more dense air is listed as a negative number, while distance gained from the decreased resistance of warmer, less dense air is listed as a positive number.

 

Impact Due To Altitude - the distance gained or lost due to the impact of the ballpark altitude, in feet, as compared to a "standard" altitude of zero feet (sea level). Currently, there are no ballparks located below sea level, so there are no negative numbers; distance gained from the decreased resistance of the less dense air at higher altitudes is listed as a positive number.

 

"Just Enough" home run - Means the ball cleared the fence by less than 10 vertical feet, OR that it landed less than one fence height past the fence. These are the ones that barely made it over the fence.

 

"No Doubt" home run - Means the ball cleared the fence by at least 20 vertical feet AND landed at least 50 feet past the fence. These are the really deep blasts.

 

"Plenty" home run - Everything else, except for the 2 above Homerun types

 

Lucky Homer - A home run that would not have cleared the fence if it has been struck on a 70-degree, calm day.

 

I gotta say, Zambrano doesn't give up much in the way of cheapies. Wow.

[Jon]

Yeesh. Take a look at Lee's.

 

That site is pretty sweet. It even has video links to mlb.com of each HR.

[moorecg]

Yeesh. Take a look at Lee's.

 

That site is pretty sweet. It even has video links to mlb.com of each HR.

 

Eeek....only one ball over .400 ft....

[seanimal]

Hit Tracker is pretty sweet. I was introduced to it by Beyond the Box Score a couple of weeks ago.

 

I know I shouldn't torture myself, but this jerk has a pretty good scatter and has an average true distance of 405.3 ft. That's pretty awesome. Or not, depending on how you look at it.

[Outshined_One]

Yeesh. Take a look at Lee's.

 

That site is pretty sweet. It even has video links to mlb.com of each HR.

 

It's weird that all his HRs have come at Wrigley.

[Allroy]

That is a sweet site. Disturbing info on Lee. Seems like the speed of the ball is way down, at least compared to other hitters. I wish I could compare it to his 05 season. The historic homerun section is really cool, but no Sammy bombs. I'd like to see what they say about the one he hit off the camera box or the one that is still painted on the street.

[jiml60]

Hit Tracker is pretty sweet. I was introduced to it by Beyond the Box Score a couple of weeks ago.

 

I know I shouldn't torture myself, but this jerk has a pretty good scatter and has an average true distance of 405.3 ft. That's pretty awesome. Or not, depending on how you look at it.

 

More HRs against the Cubs than any other team - shocking!

[Outshined_One]

Let's have some fun with the Cubs' starting pitching.

 

Zambrano

 

Comments: Seriously, what happened to old Z? This season, Zambrano is projected to give up 31 HRs. Last year, he gave up 21. The year before, 20. And it's not like he's been the victim of bad luck and cheapies; under 70 degree and calm conditions, home runs hit off of him average nearly 407 feet (highest among Cubs SPs). Moreover, the speed of the ball off the bat on his HRs average more (110.5 mph) than anyone else on the Cubs' staff. Granted, the differences in mph are minor between all pitchers, but it's striking enough to merit consideration. That's a tad alarming, especially considering Zambrano is supposed to be a sinkerballer.

 

However, on the slightly brighter side of things, Zambrano has only given up 4 HRs since May. Also, he seems to do markedly better at home (5 HRs) than on the road (12 HRs). It'll be interesting to see where he goes from here.

 

Moving on to Ted Lilly

 

Comments: Much like Ted Lilly himself, nothing particularly blows you away, but overall you can't complain about what you get. He has a fairly even home/road split (6/7, respectively). Moreover, he doesn't give up much in the way of screaming line drives (SOB on the chart = Speed off Bat). Not bad.

 

And now for a personal favorite, Rich Hill

 

Comments: Fascinating. He has the slowest speed of the ball off the bat of any pitcher on the Cubs' staff (107.2 mph). One of those home runs hit off of him in ideal conditions would not have even been a home run on a normal day. He's also the pitcher with the lowest true distance (387.5) and the lowest standard distance (391.5). I'm guessing it's difficult to hit a screamer off of Hill.

 

However, someone keep Mike Cameron the heck away from him. Yeesh.

 

Time for some Jason Marquis action.

 

Comments: Holy crap did Andruw Jones murder one off of Marquis. 117.2 mph off the bat? Yikes.

 

That aside, he's done pretty darn well at home (3 HRs) and has turned in some respectable numbers from this side of things. Once again, you can't complain.

 

And finally, Sean Marshall.

 

Comments: I have no memory of Kouzmanoff hitting two home runs in the same inning against Marshall. Their numbers must be a tad off.

 

At any rate, though, like Zambrano, Marhsall doesn't give up much in the way of cheap home runs. The sample size might be a tad on the small side, so it might be difficult to make an evaluation of Marshall on this side of things based on his limited amount of work this season. Still, it'll be worth keeping an eye on.

 

Anyone want to have fun with the angles to see if any other nifty things come out? I'm no longer any good with math beyond the basics. :oops:

[seanimal]

Comments: I have no memory of Kouzmanoff hitting two home runs in the same inning against Marshall. Their numbers must be a tad off.

 

Indeed, it lists the same HR twice, but the first listing has no video or stats, so it just must have been a double-entry or something like that. Those two RBI's from one swing is all Marshall gave up in that start, as far as runs go. Should've been enough for a Cubs W. Typical.

[gerby23]

No 500 footers this year yet.

[Marco4]

Why is there one of Rich Hill's in foul territory? Or am I badly misunderstanding the chart?

[seanimal]

Why is there one of Rich Hill's in foul territory? Or am I badly misunderstanding the chart?

 

Somebody entered some data improperly for the graphical representation. If you look at the horizontal angles, only one of the HR's was under/to the right of the 50 degree mark, yet the graph has three displayed under/to the right of that mark.

[Marco4]

That's what I thought. The data not corresponding with what's on the graphics.

 

I'm no mathematician (I'm zero mathematicians?) but I thought I was understanding it. I was.

[jersey cubs fan]

That's what I thought. The data not corresponding with what's on the graphics.

 

I'm no mathematician (I'm zero mathematicians?) but I thought I was understanding it. I was.

 

The homerun in question was a dink job by Andruw that barely made it around the foul pole.

[seanimal]

Ahh yes, slice. That explains it.

[don_kessinger_was_good]

I would like to see data on the Glenallen Hill homer; Sosa's bomb off the camera box; and going way back, Dave Kingman's moon shot onto Kenmore Avenue.

[Guest]

I would like to see data on the Glenallen Hill homer; Sosa's bomb off the camera box; and going way back, Dave Kingman's moon shot onto Kenmore Avenue.

 

It's gotta be the shoes, folks.