Interesting with regard to the HBP stat. Never really thought of it that way. I coached my son's local teams from 6 years old thru 14....and his travel team at 15 and 16. There are certain players especially at the younger ages who had a much, much better chance of getting on by HBP than they did by actually getting a hit. Problem is those kids are already so scared of the ball there is no way they were getting hit....moving out of the way of a pitch was the fastest I would see them move all season.
My son was the opposite. Hit nearly .450 for his HS career, including setting the school record in doubles in a career. In his case, it was probably better to not get hit....and get another chance to swing it. Now if it's bases loaded in a 3-3 game in the bottom of the 7th, he sure as @@@@ better be taking it on the shoulder lol.