Beanball: Highest Hit Batters-To-Walk Ratios In Baseball

A.J. Burnett hit the second most batters (16) in baseball in 2014, while also leading the league walks (96). In other words, Burnett was wild. Very wild.
But what about pitchers who issue few walks but still manage to hit a relatively high number of batters?
In 2014, six pitchers who qualified for the ERA title hit at least a quarter as many batters at they walked. In other words, they hit at least one batter for every four that they walked – which, as you’ll see below, is relatively tame compared to the beanballiest seasons in MLB history.
Rk | Player | HBP | BB | Year | Age | Tm | G | GS | CG | SHO | W | L | IP | H | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Jeremy Guthrie | 14 | 49 | 2014 | 35 | KCR | 32 | 32 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 11 | 202.2 | 215 | 4.13 | 4.32 |
2 | Bud Norris | 14 | 52 | 2014 | 29 | BAL | 28 | 28 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 8 | 165.1 | 149 | 3.65 | 4.22 |
3 | Mike Leake | 13 | 50 | 2014 | 26 | CIN | 33 | 33 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 13 | 214.1 | 217 | 3.70 | 3.88 |
4 | Chris Sale | 11 | 39 | 2014 | 25 | CHW | 26 | 26 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 4 | 174.0 | 129 | 2.17 | 2.57 |
5 | Doug Fister | 7 | 24 | 2014 | 30 | WSN | 25 | 25 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 6 | 164.0 | 153 | 2.41 | 3.93 |
6 | Phil Hughes | 5 | 16 | 2014 | 28 | MIN | 32 | 32 | 1 | 0 | 16 | 10 | 209.2 | 221 | 3.52 | 2.65 |
Phil Hughes had the highest HBP/BB ratio at 0.31, followed by Jeremy Guthrie and Doug Fister‘s 0.29. For Guthrie and Bud Norris, the 14 hit batters tied them for first in the American League – and fifth overall in baseball.
This is far from the highest in baseball history, however. Since 1901, nine players have a HBP/BB ratio of 0.40 or higher in a season (for every five batters they walked, they hit at least two):
Rk | Player | HBP | BB | Year | Age | Tm | G | GS | CG | SHO | W | L | IP | H | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Bronson Arroyo | 20 | 47 | 2004 | 27 | BOS | 32 | 29 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 9 | 178.2 | 171 | 4.03 | 3.82 |
2 | Dave Bush | 18 | 38 | 2006 | 26 | MIL | 34 | 32 | 3 | 2 | 12 | 11 | 210.0 | 201 | 4.41 | 3.98 |
3 | Jeff Weaver | 18 | 43 | 2005 | 28 | LAD | 34 | 34 | 3 | 2 | 14 | 11 | 224.0 | 220 | 4.22 | 4.47 |
4 | Kevin Brown | 16 | 33 | 1996 | 31 | FLA | 32 | 32 | 5 | 3 | 17 | 11 | 233.0 | 187 | 1.89 | 2.88 |
5 | Pedro Martinez | 14 | 32 | 2000 | 28 | BOS | 29 | 29 | 7 | 4 | 18 | 6 | 217.0 | 128 | 1.74 | 2.17 |
6 | Barney Wolfe | 13 | 26 | 1904 | 28 | TOT | 24 | 19 | 15 | 2 | 6 | 13 | 160.1 | 162 | 3.26 | 2.58 |
7 | Danny Darwin | 12 | 27 | 1996 | 40 | TOT | 34 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 11 | 164.2 | 160 | 3.77 | 3.98 |
8 | David Wells | 9 | 21 | 2005 | 42 | BOS | 30 | 30 | 2 | 0 | 15 | 7 | 184.0 | 220 | 4.45 | 3.83 |
9 | Bill Reidy | 9 | 21 | 1903 | 29 | TOT | 20 | 18 | 16 | 1 | 7 | 11 | 147.0 | 183 | 3.61 | 3.06 |
Barney Wolfe‘s 1904 seasons is the highest HBP/BB ratio on record at 0.50, followed by Kevin Brown‘s 1996 season at 0.48. He finished second in Cy Young voting that year. Dave Bush‘s ratio was 0.47, followed by Danny Darwin and Pedro Martinez at 0.44, respectively.
Finally, here are the players with career HBP/BB ratios of 0.20 or higher – or hitting one batter for every five they walked (minimum 1,000 innings pitched):
Rk | Player | HBP | BB | IP | From | To | G | GS | W | L | SV | H | Tm | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Jeff Weaver | 124 | 516 | 1838.0 | 1999 | 2010 | 355 | 274 | 104 | 119 | 2 | 1997 | 4.71 | 4.41 | DET-NYY-LAD-STL-LAA-SEA |
2 | Jack Warhop | 114 | 400 | 1412.2 | 1908 | 1915 | 221 | 150 | 69 | 92 | 7 | 1366 | 3.12 | 3.19 | NYY |
3 | Dave Bush | 80 | 296 | 1144.1 | 2004 | 2013 | 211 | 187 | 56 | 69 | 0 | 1199 | 4.73 | 4.69 | TOR-MIL-TEX |
4 | Jesse Tannehill | 78 | 280 | 1705.2 | 1901 | 1911 | 220 | 202 | 118 | 74 | 2 | 1639 | 2.56 | 2.59 | PIT-NYY-BOS-WSH-CIN |
5 | Johnny Cueto | 75 | 364 | 1208.1 | 2008 | 2014 | 194 | 194 | 85 | 57 | 0 | 1074 | 3.27 | 3.87 | CIN |
6 | Fred Glade | 48 | 237 | 1072.2 | 1902 | 1908 | 132 | 126 | 52 | 68 | 2 | 950 | 2.62 | 2.45 | CHC-SLB-NYY |
Jack Warhop has the highest HBP/BB ratio in baseball history at 0.29, followed by Jesse Tannehill (0.28), Bush (0.27), Jeff Weaver (0.24), Johnny Cueto (0.21) and Fred Glade (0.20).