As we did in 2019, we'll use the umpire ejection sabermetric value Games Per Ejection (GPE) to chart the most frequently ejected players in active MLB gameplay. Using our historic benchmark of David Ortiz's 175 GPE (aka "the Papi line"), we crown MLB's leading active hothead position player.
At the time of our June 2015 study, Big Papi's one ejection per 197 games played led all players with at least 2,000 games played, a number of minimum games that limited our study's scope to veteran ballplayers.
Related Post: Determining The League's Biggest Hothead (It's Big Papi) (6/11/15).
Related Post: Determining The League's Biggest Hothead (It's Big Papi) (6/11/15).
By 2016, Bryce Harper had taken the #1 spot and in 2019, we found Harper had kept his top spot.
Related Post: Top 10 MLB Hothead Players by Ejection Frequency (2/28/19).
A few ground rules. We're looking at active position players (no pitchers) with a minimum of 500 games played and at least five career MLB ejections, for the sake of sample size. In the following table listing baseball's biggest hotheads, you can also click each player's name that appears in the accompanying table for their UEFL ejection report history.
Definition/Legend
GPE: Ejection Rate is measured in Games-Per-Ejection (GPE), with only those GPEs below 200 games per ejection reported. Only five eligible players have been ejected more frequently than the Papi line of 175 GPE.
Active MLB Position Players with Highest Ejection Frequency - MLB's Biggest Hotheads
Newcomer to Watch For: Jazz Chisholm's four ejections over 449 games gives him a GPE of 112.3.
*Matt Kemp was #2 after Harper until his retirement (87.5 GPE with 20 career ejections)
To summarize:
> Bryce Harper remains the league's biggest hothead player and is tied with Gary Sheffield for #2 all-time 78 GPE. MLB's #1 hothead remains Milton Bradley with a 55 GPE.
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| Harper is still MLB's #1 Hothead. |
Definition/Legend
GPE: Ejection Rate is measured in Games-Per-Ejection (GPE), with only those GPEs below 200 games per ejection reported. Only five eligible players have been ejected more frequently than the Papi line of 175 GPE.
Active MLB Position Players with Highest Ejection Frequency - MLB's Biggest Hotheads
*Matt Kemp was #2 after Harper until his retirement (87.5 GPE with 20 career ejections)
To summarize:
> Bryce Harper remains the league's biggest hothead player and is tied with Gary Sheffield for #2 all-time 78 GPE. MLB's #1 hothead remains Milton Bradley with a 55 GPE.
> Jazz Chisholm's GPE is 112.3, but his four ejections over 449 games does not qualify for this list.
> Mike Trout retains his crown as Cool & Collected. Trout and most other MLB'ers have never been ejected in their playing careers.
Video as follows:
> Mike Trout retains his crown as Cool & Collected. Trout and most other MLB'ers have never been ejected in their playing careers.
Video as follows:
