Mark Teixeira’s shrinking BABIP

After five consecutive years of BABIPs over .300 for Mark Teixeira, it was reasonable to write off his .268 babip in 2010 as an aberration. We see fluctuations in batting average on balls in play all the time, so 2010 seemed like just another example. Then 2011 happened. Currently posting a paltry .234, Teixeira has defied expectations. Unfortunately, we do not have the power right now to determine the cause.

Baseball Info Solutions (BIS) data available at Fangraphs does suggest a slight shift in batted ball profile; in the past few years, Teixeira has steadily increased his flyball percentage. Of these flyballs, his pop-up rate has been higher than previous levels. Given that flyballs go for hits less often than line drives and ground balls, hitting more typically corresponds with decrease in BABIP. However, given the uncertainty surrounding the precision of batted ball info, slight changes in the data are not all that dependable.

Another possibility is that his plate discipline has declined, driving Teixeira to chase pitches and make weaker contact than before. This theory is also supported by BIS data: In the past two years Teixeira has posted O-swing (the percentage of swing on pitches outside the zone) rates that are much higher than previous norms. But just like before, we need to exercise caution. The league average O-swing has increased dramatically in the past few years. If we verify these rates using PITCHf/x data, we find nearly identical O-swing rates. Additionally, given that his walk and strikeout rates have stayed strong, the possibility that plate discipline is causing his reduced BABIP seems remote.

It seems then that we can not definitely give a why. But what we can do is look at how.

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This graph shows BABIP by horizontal location, split up by Teixeira’s handedness; the left side is for when he bats left-handed, and the right side is when he bats right-handed. The graph also is split up by time period—2008-2009 and 2010-2011. Of course these time frames are arbitrary, but they do help to contrast his recent BABP performance with his previous levels. The data shown here are within a rough approximation of the strike zone. Gray bands indicate confidence. The sample sizes are not huge here so we have reason to tread cautiously.

As you can see, there’s not much of anything of note with his performance as a right-handed batter. Indeed, in 2010 and 2011 his BABIP as a right-handed batter has stayed above .290, which is pretty close to his career average once we account for the lower run environment in recent years. His performance as a left-handed batter is where things get interesting. As shown in the graph, there is no significant difference in his BABIP on pitches inside and down the middle. But with pitches on the outer half the plate [-1, 0], there is a clear dropoff.

Were his BABIP decline in 2010-2011 completely the product of luck, we would expect to see it randomly distributed across his performance, not only on pitches that are outside. Of course that is only what we would expect; this does still not preclude the possibility that the difference in his BABIP is entirely due to luck, it just makes it seem less likely. The disparity is very stark; in 2010-2011, his BABIP on outside pitches is below .200, but in 2008-2009 his BBIP is around .300. We also see a difference when looking at the frequency of him pulling the baseball on outside pitches:

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This image shows the angle of Teixeira’s batted balls by horizontal pitch location. This is only for his left-handed at-bats. The two dotted lines indicate the horizontal borders of the strike zone for a typical lefty. As expected, he pulls pitches most of the time.

Of note here is that in 2010-2011 he does seem to be pulling outside pitches much more often than before. This may suggest that he has been rolling over on outside pitches more frequently in 2010-2011 than in 2008-2009, though I wouldn’t necessarily categorize this as strong evidence for a change in approach. The graph also suggests that he is pulling inside pitches more often than before, which is surprising.

Has Teixeira’s swing as a left-handed batter changed such that his BABIP performance on outside pitches suffers? As shown above, the results appear to suggest that a change has occurred, but the answer to this question is one that could be better approached by a scout.

References & Resources
*PITCHf/x data from MLBAM via Darrel Zimmerman’s pbp2 database and scripts by Joseph Adler/Mike Fast/Darrel Zimmerman


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Rob in CT
13 years ago

Getting pull-happy in Yankee Stadium (and having that carry over to road ABs too)?  It’s certainly plausible.

Kevin McCormack
13 years ago

I have gotten the feeling that since tex has become a Yankee that he has solidified in his mind the role of a run producer (HR and RBI).  It can be very easy for a player to ignore his BABIP ratio or BA when you are surrounded by other great and more talented pure hitters and just concentrate on(whether intentional or not) just driving them in.  im sure hes aware of his slide in the numbers but it can get to a point where why worry when your doing the job you were brought there to do.  And lets not forget the 25 million, I’m sure if he was, for instince, in a contract year with the Mets he would have that avg up around .310 with 35 HR’s and 100+ RBI’s.

Richard Barbieri
13 years ago

Did teams employ the shift against Tex as much in his pre-Yankee days? Obviously that wouldn’t account for all of his decline in BABIP, but it could be some.

Josh Weinstock
13 years ago

Richard,

I wish I had more information about teams employing the shift against him. I know they used the shift in 2009, but I’m not sure about before then.

mike
13 years ago

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/tom_verducci/01/21/mark.teixeira/index.html

I think this does a good job explaining/predicting this.

texieria drops his back side, as as he gets older his bat speed decreases, and he has to try to catch pitches out in front to drive the ball, hence the rolling over/bad BABIP on outside pitches

Josh Weinstock
13 years ago

Mike,

Thanks for the link.

If his swing has always been like this (not that I’m entirely sure that it has been), then why has it only been a problem now? I find it hard to believe this has been a bat speed issue for the past two years.