Over time, I have read plenty of articles that talk about contact rate . As you improve the amount of times the ball hits the bat, the better the chances are your batting average improves:
take the example of a hitter whose real skill is to hit home runs 8% of the time he puts the ball in play. If his pure power skills stays intact but his contact rate improves from 70% to 80% from season to season, over a 550 at bat season he suddenly goes from being a 30 home run type to being a 35 home run player, even without an improvement in his rate of home runs per ball in play.
The contact rate sure seems like a distant cousin to BABIP or BIPA as ESPN calls it:
This is a measure of the number of batted balls that safely fall in for a hit (not including home runs)
Where as BABIP depends on some luck, contact rate seems like a better indication of the batters abilities.
I decided to take a look at BABIP at some of the NL batters in 2009, and showing the contact rate as a percentage alongside :
| Player | Contact% | BABIP | BB% | Notes |
| Garrett Atkins | 83.62% | .246 | 10.28% | 2009 had .226/.308/.342/
LD% drop from previous years Swing% drop from previous years Hit .199/.268 vs RHP/LHP in 2009 Hit .200/.252 vs Away/Home |
| Chipper Jones | 81.76% | .287 | 16.95% | .264/.388/.430 in 2009 vs .364/.470/.574 in 2008
HR/FB% down in 2009 Bad 2nd half |
| Troy Tulowitski | 79.37% | .316 | 11.62% | .263/.332/.401 vs .297/.377/.552 in 2009with luck in favor as BABIP increased from .289 previous season
Became more of patient hitter with BB% spike increase |
| Prince Fielder | 76.65% | .315 | 15.30 | .276/.372/.507 vs .299/.412/.602 in 2009.
Luck factor spike in 2009 with BABIP, and HR/FB% Cut down on swings outside strike zone, increase in contact outside strike zone |
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