Most and Least GIDP-Prone Hitters in 2007

Let's define a double play situation as runners on first, first and second, first and third or the bases loaded with zero or one outs. A hitter only comes up in a double play situation every so often. In Major League Baseball, the average hitter had the potential of grounding into a double play in 19.12% of his plate appearances. Below are the hitters that qualified for the batting title with the highest and lowest percentage of plate appearances in double play situations (DPPA).

Highest Percentage of DPPA among Title Qualifiers

1. David Ortiz, 180 of 667, 26.99%
2. Chipper Jones, 156 of 600, 26.00%
3. Robinson Cano, 172 of 669, 25.71%
4. Albert Pujols, 172 of 679, 25.33%
5. Bobby Abreu, 175 of 699, 25.04%
6. Mark Teahen, 152 of 608, 25.00%
7. Vladimir Guerrero, 162 of 660, 24.55%
8. Ken Griffey Jr., 152 of 623, 24.40%
9. Mike Lowell, 156 of 653, 23.89%
10. Jose Vidro, 149 of 625, 23.84%

Lowest Percentage of DPPA among Title Qualifiers

1. Jose Reyes, 88 of 765, 11.50%
2. Luis Castillo, 73 of 615, 11.87%
3. Curtis Granderson, 82 of 676, 12.13%
4. Rafael Furcal, 80 of 642, 12.46%
5. Grady Sizemore, 95 of 748, 12.70%
6. Craig Biggio, 71 of 555, 12.79%
7. Rickie Weeks, 65 of 506, 12.85%
8. Jimmy Rollins, 102 of 778, 13.11%
9. Kenny Lofton, 74 of 559, 13.24%
10. Brian Roberts, 95 of 716, 13.27%

No big surprises there as the list is populated by mainly leadoff hitters. As I noted in a previous post, it's hard for hitters at the top of the lineup to ground into double plays; they get at least one plate appearance per game guaranteed not to be a double play situation.

Though it's probably pretty much luck, some hitters were better than others at avoiding grounding into double plays when they came up to the plate. Here are the hitters with the most double play situation plate appearances between GIDP and the fewest double play situation plate appearances between GIDP. The MLB average was 9.1 DPPA between GIDP.

Most DPPA Between GIDP among Title Qualifiers

1. Akinori Iwamura, 37.5 (2 in 75)
2. Corey Patterson, 32.0 (3 in 96)
3. Grady Sizemore, 31.7 (3 in 95)
4. Curtis Granderson, 27.3 (3 in 82)
5. Adrian Gonzalez, 23.0 (6 in 138)
6. Stephen Drew, 22.0 (4 in 88)
7. Rickie Weeks, 21.7 (3 in 65)
8. Johnny Damon, 21.3 (4 in 85)
9. Edwin Encarnacion, 20.0 (5 in 100)
10. Chris B. Young, 18.4 (5 in 92)

Fewest DPPA Between GIDP among Title Qualifiers

1. Orlando Hudson, 4.7 (21 in 99)
2. Miguel Tejada, 5.1 (22 in 112)
3. A.J. Pierzynski, 5.2 (21 in 109)
4. Kenji Johjima, 5.2 (22 in 115)
5. Brian McCann, 5.3 (19 in 110)
6. Manny Ramirez, 5.4 (21 in 113)
7. Ivan Rodriguez, 5.5 (16 in 88)
8. Melvin Mora, 5.5 (22 in 121)
9. Carlos Lee, 5.6 (27 in 152)
10. Paul Konerko, 5.7 (21 in 120)

It seems kind of weird to see Orlando Hudson on top of the list. Like I said, the names on this list are probably there because of bad luck more than skill (or the lack of it).