And cross home plate.
Inspiration.
On 6 May, Zac Gallen pitched very well against the Mets. The Diamondbacks won the game 5-1.
The Mets’ only run was due to Gallen walking a batter with the bases loaded.
Two thoughts:
- Was it rare? How often did it happen this season?
- Was it a part of what winning pitching looks like (in the context of challenging batters)? Or was it a mistake in an otherwise excellent appearance by Gallen?
Let’s focus on walks when bases are loaded.
Walks that Score Runs.
Do pitchers from all teams walk in runs?
This season in games through 9 May, only 3 teams’ pitchers have avoided walking in a run: The Red Sox, the Rays, and the Mets. Was it due to their superior pitching development and coaching?
Rays. The Rays have a reputation for developing/improving pitchers.
“Armed with one of the very best player development units in the league, the Rays have repeatedly turned big league assets into multi-player packages of future stars in the making.” — Eric Treuden, March 2025
Red Sox. The Boston Red Sox added three key experts (Andrew Bailey, Justin Willard, and Kyle Body).
“We’ve brought in a collection of really bright, thoughtful, intentional pitching minds. I’m really confident in their ability to work together to impact our players.” — Craig Breslow, January 2024
Mets. The Mets have a pitching lab. Perhaps the lab and it’s people made a difference. Or perhaps they were lucky to avoid walking in runs.
Did it happen more often in home or away games? It happened more often in away games (36 out of 64).
Did pitch type matter? Most often, the final pitch of the PA was a four-seam fastball (39 out of 64)
Did pitch velocity matter? Most often, the final pitch of the PA had a velocity of at least 90 mph (45 out of 64).
Did inning matter? It seemed to happen slightly more often in the first and last innings. 22 in innings 1-3, 16 in innings 4-6, and 23 in innings 7-9. Plus 3 in extra innings.
Did this season’s wOBA indicate which pitchers were more likely to do it? 35 of the 58 pitchers had wOBA worse than league average (.321 wOBA with bases loaded). 4 of the 6 pitchers who did it twice this season had wOBA worse than league average.
Eight pitchers who had an excellent wOBA (<.200) with bases loaded, walked in a run. So, walking in runs happens with pitchers of all skill levels.
Are the Diamondbacks near average in walks?
This season compared to other teams, Diamondbacks pitchers allowed 1.6% less walks per game than league average. That is nearly identical to last season.
This season compared to other teams, Diamondbacks batters walked 20.6% more per game than league average. That feels good in the context that last season they walked 13.8% more per game than league average.
Geraldo Perdomo had an RBI walk!
This season’s first Diamondbacks’ batter to get a walk RBI was Geraldo Perdomo, who is well known for his eagle-eye at the plate and his patience at the plate. His RBI walk increased WPA by 6.4%. He did it in the 10th inning during a game where he had 4 hits and 2 RBIs prior to walking in the run. The Diamondbacks won the game 11-9.
Eugenio Suarez had an RBI walk!
His sixth inning RBI walk gave the Diamondbacks the lead (9-8) against the Dodgers. His RBI walk increased WPA by 16%. The Diamondbacks extended that lead to 11-8 going into the ninth inning, when the wheels fell off.
And the runner who crossed home plate was Geraldo Perdomo, who 5 days earlier, had his own RBI walk.
Two Diamondbacks’ pitchers walked in a run.
Justin Martinez walked in a run against the Marlins, reducing the Diamondback’s lead to 2 runs. He recovered by striking out the next batter. The Diamondbacks won the game.
Zac Gallen walked in a run against the Mets. He recovered by striking out the next batter. That was the only run scored by the Mets, and the Diamondbacks won 5-1.
Summary.
This season through 9 May, there were 64 RBI walks in the Majors.
Many pitchers (35 of 58) with RBI walks had a wOBA-with-bases-loaded worse than the league average. On the other hand, eight had an excellent (<.200) wOBA-with-bases-loaded.
Three teams’ pitchers had not walked in a run (the Rays, the Red Sox, and the Mets).
Two Diamondbacks’ pitchers walked in a run. Each pitcher ended the inning by striking out the next batter. Also, the Diamondbacks won each game.
Two Diamondbacks’ batters had RBI walks. Each RBI walk significantly increased the Diamondbacks’ winning chances. This season, the Diamondbacks batters significantly increased their walks per game.
RBI walks happen slightly more often in the early and late innings. Slightly more often, RBI walks happened in away games.
The final pitch of the RBI was usually (45 of 64) at a velocity of at least 90 MPH, and most were 4-seam fastballs.