Plunk Everyone

It's the All-Star break, so that's always a good time to take a look at how the season is going with respect to available HBP records that players might be interested in breaking. We've already seen Chase Utley break the Phillies career record for getting plunked, and Dave Bush tied the Brewers career record for hitting batters. Jake Peavy of the Padres and John Lackey of the Angels are both 1 plunk away from tying the career records for their teams. But there are also a couple of opportunities for players to break their teams' single season record.

Kelly Shoppach is has the best shot at breaking a record - he's been hit 14 times already, and the Indians record is just 20, set in 2007 by Ryan Garko. If he keeps up his pace of HBPs per Indians game, he'll finish the year with somewhere around 26. Another surprising contender for a season record is Fernando Tatis for the Mets. He's been hit 8 times so far, but the Mets have the lowest single season record in baseball, so his projected total of 15 plunks would do it. Ron Hunt got hit 13 times for the 1963 Mets and John Olerud tied that total in 1997, but Met has ever taken more than 13 plunks for his team in a single season. Also in the "low hanging fruit" division, is the Tampa Bay Rays single season record. Jonny Gomes holds that with 14 in 2005, but Carlos Pena is on pace to come close to that. He's got 7 already, and while a linear projection leaves him 1 HBP short of a tie, plunks don't really behave linearly most of the time. Chase Utley could also break his year old Phillies single season plunk record if he picks up his pace just a little bit, and both Kevin Kouzmanoff and David Eckstein could threaten the Padres record, set last year by Kouzmanoff. On the other end of the list Ron Hunt (Nationals/Expos), Steve Evans (Cards), David Eckstein (Angels), Jason Kendall (Pirates), Don Baylor (Red Sox), Craig Biggio (Astros), and Tommy Tucker (Braves) can all rest assured that no one is touching their records this season. Of course Evans and Tucker are dead, but the rest of them can be reassured.

Team	Record	2009 Leader(s)	Projected Total
Indians	Ryan Garko (2007) - 20	Kelly Shoppach - 14	26
Mets	Ron Hunt (1963) John Olerud (1997) - 13	Fernando Tatis - 8	15
Rays	Jonny Gomes (2005) - 14	Carlos Pena - 7	13
Phillies	Chase Utley (2008) - 27	Chase Utley - 13	25
Padres	Kevin Kouzmanoff (2008) - 15	David Eckstein, Kevin Kouzmanoff - 7	13
Marlins	Carlos Delgado (2005) - 17	Cody Ross - 6	11
Tigers	Bill Freehan (1968) - 24	Brandon Inge - 9	17
A's	Don Baylor (1976), Jason Kendall (2005)- 20	Jason Giambi - 7	13
White Sox	Minnie Minoso (1956) - 23	Carlos Quentin - 8	15
Rangers	Alex Rodriguez (2001) - 16	Marlon Byrd - 4	8
Dodgers	Hughie Jennings (1900) - 20	Andre Ethier, Juan Pierre - 6	11
Rockies	Eric Young (1996) - 21	Chris Iannetta - 6	11
Royals	David DeJesus (2007) - 23	Jose Guillen - 7	13
Brewers	Fernando Vina (1998) - 25	Ryan Braun - 8	15
Mariners	Jose Guillen (2007) - 19	Russell Branyan - 5	9
Diamondbacks	Andy Fox (1998) - 18	Augie Ojeda - 4	7
Yankees	Don Baylor (1985) - 24	Mark Teixeira - 7	13
Cubs	Bill Dahlen (1898) - 23	Milton Bradley - 5	10
Giants	Ron Hunt (1970) - 26	Aaron Rowand - 7	13
Blue Jays	Shea Hillenbrand (2005) - 22	Alex Rios - 5	9
Orioles	Brady Anderson (1999) - 24	Adam Jones - 5	9
Reds	Jason LaRue (2004) - 24	Adam Rosales - 5	9
Twins	Kid Elberfeld (1911) - 25	Denard Span - 5	9
Braves	Tommy Tucker (1891) - 29	Yunel Escobar - 6	11
Astros	Craig Biggio (1997) - 34	Miguel Tejada - 8	15
Red Sox	Don Baylor (1986) - 35	Kevin Youkilis - 8	15
Pirates	Jason Kendall (1997, 1998) - 31	Andy LaRoche - 6	11
Angels	David Eckstein (2002) - 27	Torii Hunter, Jeff Mathis, Maicer Izturis, Erick Aybar, Howie Kendrick, Mike Napoli - 3	6
Cardinals	Steve Evans (1910) - 31	Albert Pujols, Joe Thurston, Ryan Ludwick, Khalil Greene, Rick Ankiel, Colby Rasmus - 3	5
Nationals	Ron Hunt (1971) - 50	Josh Willingham - 8	16

On the pitching side of things, the closest player to a record breaking pace for plunks in a single season is Dave Bush of the Brewers. He needs to hit 10 more batters to tie Jamey Wright's single season Brewers record, but he's currently on the Disabled List. Tim Wakefield has an outside shot at reaching the 20 plunk mark if he picks up his pace, which could tie him with Bronson Arroyo and Howard Emke. But, no Major League pitcher has hit 20 batters since Arroyo's 2004 spree. The Royals have a pretty fragile looking record at just 13, but Jamey Wright leads the team with 5 this year. Perhaps if he gets promoted to the starting rotation for some reason, he might be able to get enough innings of work to find 9 more batters who don't want to get out of the way of his pitches. Beyond that, there's little hope of any of this years pitchers breaking a single season record. And, that total of 41 by Joe McGinnity for the Dodgers is probably impossible the way the game is currently played - it's be tough not to set an ejections record in the process if someone tried.

Team	Record	2009 Leader(s)	Projected Total
Brewers	Jamey Wright (2001) - 20	David Bush - 10	19
Red Sox	Howard Ehmke (1923), Bronson Arroyo (2004) - 20	Tim Wakefield - 9	17
Royals	Mike Boddicker (1991), Jim Colborn (1977), Zack Greinke (2005), Pedro Astacio (1998) - 13	Jamey Wright - 5	9
Rockies	Pedro Astacio (1998) - 17	Ubaldo Jimenez - 6	11
Rangers	Charlie Hough (1987) - 19	Kevin Millwood, Vicente Padilla - 7	13
Nationals	Ramon Ortiz (2006) - 18	John Lannan - 6	12
Padres	Matt Clement (2000) - 16	Chad Gaudin - 5	9
White Sox	Clark Griffith (1902), Jim Scott (1909) - 16	John Danks - 4	7
Astros	Jack Billingham (1971), Darryl Kile (1996) - 16	Roy Oswalt, Russ Ortiz - 4	7
Mets	Pedro Astacio (2002) - 16	Sean Green - 4	7
Yankees	Jack Warhop (1909) - 26	Joba Chamberlain - 9	17
Mariners	Randy Johnson (1992) - 18	Felix Hernandez - 5	9
Angels	Tom Murphy (1969) - 21	John Lackey - 6	11
Cubs	Nixey Callahan (1899) - 24	Carlos Marmol - 7	14
Diamondbacks	Randy Johnson (2001) - 18	Max Scherzer - 4	7
Orioles	Barney Pelty (1904) - 20	Jeremy Guthrie - 5	9
Twins	Walter Johnson (1923), Bill Carrick (1901), Case Patten (1904) - 20	Francisco Liriano, Kevin Slowey - 5	9
Rays	Victor Zambrano (2003) - 20	Jeff Niemann, Matt Garza - 5	9
Blue Jays	Chris Carpenter (2001) - 16	Brian Tallet, Brandon League, Jesse Carlson, Brett Cecil, Ricky Romero - 3	5
Pirates	Pink Hawley (1897) - 27	Ross Ohlendorf - 7	13
Marlins	Dontrelle Willis (2006) - 19	Hayden Penn, Josh Johnson, Brian Sanches, Chris Volstad, Sean West - 2	4
Phillies	Jack Taylor (1897) - 28	Chad Durbin, Jamie Moyer - 7	13
Tigers	Howard Ehmke (1922) - 23	Armando Galarraga, Justin Verlander - 3	6
Indians	Otto Hess (1906) - 24	Carl Pavano, Cliff Lee, Fausto Carmona - 3	6
Cardinals	Willie Sudhoff (1898) - 27	Brad Thompson - 5	9
Braves	Vic Willis (1898, 1899) - 30	Kenshin Kawakami, Mike Gonzalez - 5	9
Giants	Ed Doheny (1899) - 37	Barry Zito - 7	13
Reds	Will White (1884) - 35	Bronson Arroyo, Edinson Volquez, Micah Owings, Johnny Cueto - 5	9
A's	Chick Fraser (1901) - 32	Edgar Gonzalez, Brett Anderson, Trevor Cahill - 3	6
Dodgers	Joe McGinnity (1900) - 41	Chad Billingsley - 6	11

Labels: Pitching Records