Guys,
Most of you know that I coach a first year kid pitch team. One of the many challenges I have has been getting kids to swing the bat when they know they have roughly a 50/50 chance of getting on base if they just stand there because the pitching is so wild at this age. I am trying to develop aggressive hitters and I came up with this little stat to promote more aggressiveness at the plate.
Its called BPP(Balls Put into Play) and its pretty simple.
The formula is (Plate Appearances)-(Walks+Strikeouts) divided by plate appearances.
We want to win ballgames just like anyone else, but I am more interested in developing hitters, not ball watchers and this little stat has really helped me focus on which kid is struggling. I have a short memory and this stat helps me because it helps me remember which kids are putting the ball in play that may not have a solid BA. OBP is so skewed that it has no value in my opinion at this age, but using BPP has allowed me to put a more aggressive lineup together.
I have 13 kids on my team and 8-9 of them are bunched real tight in OBP and BA, so using BPP has proved to be an extremely valuable tool in determining playing time.
I don't think this stat will have any value past the point of where kids begin to throw strikes consistently and then the other stats have validity, but it helps now.
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