Bain: Inning outcomes and player performance

From SABR member Derek Bain at Tuatara Software on March 17, 2019:

Does the inning affect player production? Do certain batters perform better under pressure (in the late innings of a ball game when the outcome usually hangs in the balance)? Conversely, can we derive any patterns from a pitcher’s performance over a period of time with respect to the inning? What if we group the results by early, middle, late and extra innings? Are there any ballplayers that significantly outperform their colleagues during different stages of a game over the course of their careers?

Once again the Retrosheet Event Files provides an immense data set of wide-ranging inning information spanning nearly one century (1921-2018). However, due to the quantity of missing or incomplete scoresheets prior to the 1974 season, I elected to crunch two sets of numbers (the “complete” set from 1974-2018, and the “incomplete” set dating back to 1921). The single-season and career leaders and trailers by batters and pitchers in the various inning and inning-groups are furnished below.

Read the full article here: http://www.tuatarasoftware.com/baseballanalytics/2019/03/17/inning-outcomes/



Originally published: March 18, 2019. Last Updated: March 18, 2019.