Guys I would love to hear some theories or analysis on push/pull numbers in hitters. I am returning to HBD after a long layoff and its something I never really got a grasp on. The only thing I ever noted is that pull hitters with big power seemed to hit more homers. Other than that I never figured a damn thing out. So share what you know if you will. I'm not really even sure what an ideal number is. I assume it's 50 because then a hitter would have no specific tendency I guess?

I don't know of an owner who gives it more than a cursory glance.   In theory, if you had a power-hitting LH in a HR+ RF fence, it would be nice if he was a pull hitter.   Personally, I've never once factored that in.

I had to go check to see what rating you were talking about.  For a second I thought you were crazy and that it didn't exist.  That being said, I don't even look at it enough to remember it exists.

Just curious...would a 100 pull tendency mean the guy pulls 100% of the time? Or does it mean he has a 100 rating, meaning he's the best at putting the ball to all fields?

Posted by Jtpsops on 8/10/2010 11:45:00 AM (view original):
Just curious...would a 100 pull tendency mean the guy pulls 100% of the time? Or does it mean he has a 100 rating, meaning he's the best at putting the ball to all fields?

"The Push/Pull rating indicates whether the player is a pull hitter or opposite field hitter. A rating of 0 indicates an extreme pull hitter."

So it's really a Push rating, not a Push/Pull rating.

It does seem that 50 would be an ideal rating, unless you have a power hitter in an imbalanced park leaning towards his handedness.

Posted by antonsirius on 8/10/2010 12:10:00 PM (view original):
So it's really a Push rating, not a Push/Pull rating.

Much like groundball/flyball for pitchers.  The higher the number, the more of a ground ball pitcher he is.

But inducing ground balls is a good thing for a pitcher.  Strictly pulling or pushing is a bad thing for a hitter, in the sense that the ideal is to put the ball to all fields.  That's why, at least in my opinion, a 100 push/pull rating should mean the guy is great at spreading the ball around.

Posted by Jtpsops on 8/10/2010 12:53:00 PM (view original):
But inducing ground balls is a good thing for a pitcher.  Strictly pulling or pushing is a bad thing for a hitter, in the sense that the ideal is to put the ball to all fields.  That's why, at least in my opinion, a 100 push/pull rating should mean the guy is great at spreading the ball around.

May be bad for a hitter in real life, but defenses in HBD aren't putting on shifts based on the hitters push/pull rating.  The SS doesn't move to the other side of second base when the HBD equivalent of David Ortiz comes up.

That would be a cool control to have though. "Infield shift used if batter has Push/Pull rating below <dropdown menu>"

I have two comments/questions  ...

1.)  I noticed that pitchers have the highest push/pull ratings on my team.   I wonder why this is?  Handedness doesn't seem to be a factor.

2.)  If you were planning your hitters around a particular ball park, wouldn't having switch hitters potentially be a negative since they would hit to both fields depending upon the handedness of the pitcher they are facing?

Most pitchers in real life aren't very good hitters (and none in HBD that I've ever seen). I'd imagine there's some RL stats to indicate pitchers hit the ball the other way more than 'real' batters, just because they can't handle good fastballs.

The reason I asked is because I noticed a guy that looks like a power hitter with a push/pull of 50 and he can't get the ball out of the yard. I think it's more of a factor than people might think. Every once in awhile you see one of those guys who hits for no reason you can explain. He will have numbers that are strictly pedestrian and not much speed either. I think there is something to it. But I've been wrong before.

Posted by deandg on 8/11/2010 3:58:00 AM (view original):
The reason I asked is because I noticed a guy that looks like a power hitter with a push/pull of 50 and he can't get the ball out of the yard. I think it's more of a factor than people might think. Every once in awhile you see one of those guys who hits for no reason you can explain. He will have numbers that are strictly pedestrian and not much speed either. I think there is something to it. But I've been wrong before.

What is that player's name?