By Chuck Miller
With so much emphasis over the past few seasons on pitch counts, not much has been said on which batters force the issue. Which batters make pitchers earn their keep? The following top-five list points to National Leaguers leading the charge:
Most PA, 10+ Pitches, 2009
(through games of 6/1/09)
| Player, Team | 10+ | P/PA |
| Andre Ethier, LAD | 7 | 4.32 |
| David Eckstein, SD | 5 | 4.00 |
| Carl Crawford, TB | 5 | 3.83 |
| Todd Helton, Col | 4 | 4.29 |
| Ryan Howard, Phi | 4 | 4.04 |
All in the Top 5 average a plate appearance of at least 4.00 pitches each trip to the plate except Tampa Bay’s Carl Crawford. Crawford’s current pace of 3.83 is the highest single-season average of his career and nearly half a pitch higher than his career average of 3.46.
How often does a hitter emerge from a plate appearance of 10 or more pitches with a base hit? The list below answers that:
Most Hits, PA of 10+ Pitches, 2009
(through games of 6/1/09)
| Player, Team | H |
| Nyjer Morgan, Pit | 3 |
| Todd Helton, Col | 2 |
| David Eckstein, SD | 2 |
| Carl Crawford, TB | 2 |
| Robinson Cano, NYY | 2 |
| Andre Ethier, LAD | 2 |
| Jay Bruce, Cin | 2 |
Only one of this year’s leaders makes it on the career list of active players. Colorado’s Todd Helton has taken the pitch count to 10 or more in 66 of his career 7,313 plate appearances:
Most Career PA, 10+ Pitches
(active players through games of 6/1/09)
| Player | 10+ | P/PA |
| Todd Helton | 66 | 4.05 |
| Scott Rolen | 53 | 3.98 |
| Manny Ramirez | 50 | 4.05 |
| Johnny Damon | 50 | 3.89 |
| Ken Griffey Jr. | 49 | 3.78 |
| Ivan Rodriguez | 49 | 3.42 |
And here are the active player career hit leaders for plate appearances reaching 10 or more pitches:
Most Career Hits, PA of 10+ Pitches
(active players through games of 6/1/09)
| Player | H |
| Todd Helton | 18 |
| Johnny Damon | 14 |
| Jason Giambi | 12 |
| Kevin Millar | 12 |
| Darin Erstad | 10 |
| Ichiro Suzuki | 10 |
