What are the batting averages on bunt attempts in each of these zones?
Before we do that, we have to take one more step. We have to break this into two different situations, one where the defense is expecting the bunt (sacrifice situations) and one where the defense is not. When a sacrifice situation was in effect last year (a bunt with men on base and less than two outs) there were 2,285 bunts put into play. 232 resulted in a hit for a .102 "batting average." On the other hand, there were 850 bunts put into play in a non-sacrifice situation last year, with 372 going for hits, making for a .438 batting average.
We’ve pointed this out before: bunting for a hit in non-sacrifice situations has been an effective strategy for many players since we started tracking this in the early 1990s. The best bunters hit well over .500 when bunting for a hit.
As in real estate, bunting for a hit is all about location, location, location. Here are the bunt batting averages in sacrifice situations by zone.
Bunt Batting Averages by Zone, 2011
Sacrifice Situations Only