Halfway through our pitching posts, let’s take a step back and learn about some miscellaneous statistics that we’ve either barely touched, or entirely ignored. These are all counting statistics that we use to help determine value and ability. While most are not explicitly used when calculating advanced statistics, they have historical cachet and many fans (including me) still enjoy looking at them.
Continue reading “2022 Blogmas Day 16 – Pitcher Miscellany”2022 Blogmas Day 15 – Fielding Independent Pitching
Remember many days ago when we talked about how pesky it is to have a ball in play? That’s as true for pitchers as it is for hitters. So, some enterprising folks struck out to roughly measure ERA in a way that ignores balls put in play, instead focusing entirely on the Three True Outcomes. Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP) is a defense-agnostic statistic to compare against ERA, and in some ways is an ideal “predictor” statistic for ERA.
Continue reading “2022 Blogmas Day 15 – Fielding Independent Pitching”2022 Blogmas Day 14 – ERA+
That’s right, the “+” statistics exist in the realm of pitching. Park adjustments and a percentage normalization is a natural extension of ERA, and makes it more meaningful for directly comparing pitchers, even across generations.
Continue reading “2022 Blogmas Day 14 – ERA+”2022 Blogmas Day 13 – Walks and Hits per Inning Pitched
While ERA is a measure of overall pitcher effectiveness, there’s a more nuanced statistic that considers how frequently a pitcher allows runners on base. Walks and Hits per Inning Pitched (WHIP) is easy to calculate, has a cool acronym, and is another factor to consider when measuring how good a pitcher is at keeping hitters from doing their jobs.
Continue reading “2022 Blogmas Day 13 – Walks and Hits per Inning Pitched”2022 Blogmas Day 12 – Other Basic Pitching Statistics
While ERA is the best way among the simple statistics to compare pitchers, it does not tell the whole story of their season. Historically, there is much interest in the details of a pitcher’s approach and how that influences their ERA. Does a pitcher rely on power and strikeouts, or precision and defense?
Continue reading “2022 Blogmas Day 12 – Other Basic Pitching Statistics”2022 Blogmas Day 11 – Earned Run Average
Let us leave the world of sluggers and slap-hitters behind us, and move 60 feet forward to the pitcher’s mound. I’ve always enjoyed and valued pitching over hitting in my baseball life. As such, the first ten days of hitting required me to learn more than I anticipated, while I feel more prepared to handle this section of Blogmas.1I’m still doing my research to make sure I have everything correct. We’re not starting as simple as possible, but we are starting with the most important of the original pitching statistics: how good are you at preventing runs from scoring?
Continue reading “2022 Blogmas Day 11 – Earned Run Average”- 1I’m still doing my research to make sure I have everything correct.
2022 Blogmas Day 10 – Win Probability Added
On the heels of evaluating players based on how many wins they can provide to their team, let’s look at how clutch players are. Do they shine in the big moments, or just generally perform well yet fail to make an impact when it truly matters?1This post will conclude the first 10 days of Blogmas, which I decided from the beginning would be dedicated to hitting. The next 10 days will be dedicated to pitching statistics.
Continue reading “2022 Blogmas Day 10 – Win Probability Added”- 1This post will conclude the first 10 days of Blogmas, which I decided from the beginning would be dedicated to hitting. The next 10 days will be dedicated to pitching statistics.
2022 Blogmas Day 9 – Offensive Wins Above Replacement
Today we move onto one of the gems of advanced baseball statistics1Somehow I’ve gone this long without using the phrase Sabermetrics, which is the catch-all term for many of the derived values we’ve been covering. Its name comes from SABR, the Society for American Baseball Research. that generalizes player value beyond concrete elements like hits and runs, and looks specifically at how many wins a player is worth.
Continue reading “2022 Blogmas Day 9 – Offensive Wins Above Replacement”- 1Somehow I’ve gone this long without using the phrase Sabermetrics, which is the catch-all term for many of the derived values we’ve been covering. Its name comes from SABR, the Society for American Baseball Research.