ABSTRACT
The media keeps track of a range of measures for batters and pitchers, but they also keep track of specific hitting and pitching patterns call streaks and slumps. Players are considered 'hot' if they get hits in a large number of consecutive games. Players are often characterized as streaky hitters. Similarly, players can be described as clutch as they appear to perform especially well during important situations during the game. This chapter explores different baseball situations, and utilizes the concept of leverage to study the importance of different situations. One can learn more about the pattern of hitting of a specific player by computing batting averages over short time intervals. One can better understand the significance of these nonstrikeout streaks by also looking at the number of plate appearances and strikeout rates for these players. In baseball, players are recognized for performing well in particular situations.
