Every year it would seem that the Cincinnati Reds farm system has a player or two that either has a huge season thanks to a crazy batting average on balls in play, or they have a player who has a really rough season because of it. A few years ago Denis Phipps hit .346 after being a .250 hitter for his entire career in the minor leagues. What had changed? Nothing but his BABIP, which was an incredible .446. When it returned to normal levels the next several seasons, as expected, he returned to a .245 hitter.
BABIP doesn’t just effect hitters though, pitchers can also be the lucky recipient of the BABIP Gods, or the unlucky recipient where everything put in play against you somehow turns into a hit. That latter part was the story for right handed pitcher Daniel Wright in the first half of his season. Over his first nine starts of the season his BABIP was incredibly high, sitting at .400 despite allowing just one home run and striking out 42 batters in 44.0 innings – both of which suggest he wasn’t over his head and just getting crushed, otherwise guys wouldn’t swing and miss so often and guys would have been hitting for plenty of power. But guys were hitting .400 when the ball was put in play against him and it resulted in a 6.34 ERA.
As expected, his BABIP has dropped as the season has progressed. Going back to June 5th, spanning 10 starts, Wright has posted a 2.94 ERA. Over 64.1 innings his BABIP has been .287, which is well within the normal range, and as expected, his ERA dropped significantly and in the span is far more in line with what his peripherals suggest it should be.
On Thursday night he threw 8.0 innings of one run baseball with a walk and five strikeouts. It was his fifth start in his last six attempts where he threw at least 7.0 innings with one earned run or less. Over that six start span he’s posted a 1.74 ERA in 41.1 innings.
Over the course of the full season his ERA is now sitting at 4.32 in 108.1 innings pitched to go along with 29 walks and 91 strikeouts. With how tough the first part of the season was, his BABIP on the season is still a bit high, sitting at .335 (last year it was .287 for the entire year). If things continue to drop and get closer to where he was at in the 2014 season (and a more expected range), his ERA should continue to drop and his season will keep looking stronger and stronger.