Teams and Pitches per Plate Appearance in 2018
Of the 16 teams above the pitches per plate appearance average in 2018 (3.90 P/PA), six made the playoffs. In order from highest number of pitches seen to the lowest, they are the Dodgers (4.05), Yankees, Athletics, Red Sox, Indians and Brewers (3.91). Two of the three best regular season records are represented here by New York and Boston, and one of these teams (Oakland) was a one-and-done wild card team, but a team with far less money to spend than most teams. These are facts arguing that seeing pitches might help push an MLB team to the very top of the sport’s heap.
However, the same chart also says that 10 teams above the seasonal P/PA average did not make the playoffs, and they included the Phillies, the no. 2 team at 4.02. The Phillies suffered a dreadful crash at the end of their season after an extended stretch in first place that reached into August. This list also includes the Padres, for example, a last-place team that ended in a seventh-place tie with 3.93 P/PA. Also above the average are five of the six divisional fourth-place finishers, the White Sox, Angels, Mets, Pirates, and Giants, all sub-.500 teams. Could more aggressive batting approaches have helped these seven teams? We’ll never know.
We do know their games were slower for all those extra pitches taken, however.
We also know that the team with the second lowest P/PA rate (3.80), the Rockies, made the playoffs, and eliminated their wild card opponent. The Rockies know they can swing the bat, and they do.