These two Pittsburgh Pirates hitters have benefitted from a high batting average on balls in play. Does this mean they are due for offensive regression?
Every year in baseball there are hitters who get impacted by batting average on balls in play (BAbip). Some are impacted positively by having a high BAbip leading to better offensive numbers, while others are impacted negatively by having a low BAbip leading to poorer offensive numbers.
For the Pittsburgh Pirates, two players who were promoted to the majors earlier this summer are currently benefitting from high BAbip numbers. Typically, when a hitter has a high BAbip they are due for regression at the plate. However, as we will get into today, that is not always the case.