Not Your Typical Pitching Stats
You know I'm mildy obsessed with PITCHf/x. I often present this metric or that metric, this pitcher, that pitch. Today I'm going with some of those familiar metrics, but by pitcher (not pitch) and using them to build some "2009 Leaderboards". The stats are below the fold, here's what you'll get.
Regular season 2009 in two groups (450+ pitches, 200-499 pitches), whiff rate, IWZ (rate of pitches in a zone defined by a two-foot plate and the hitter's top/bottoms averaged over all their PITCHf/x plate appearances), Chase (swing rate out of the wide zone), nkSLG (total bases divided by balls in play, includes home runs), A:B (ratio of 0-1 to 1-0 counts), and the now popular rv100 (run value per 100 pitches, lower is better for pitchers).
| 450+ | 200 to 449 | |||
| Whiff | Whiff | |||
| Rich Harden | 0.306 | Francisco Rodriguez | 0.367 | |
| Jonathan Sanchez | 0.288 | Kiko Calero | 0.365 | |
| Johan Santana | 0.284 | Brad Lidge | 0.349 | |
| Ryan Dempster | 0.279 | Michael Wuertz | 0.337 | |
| John Danks | 0.277 | Jonathan Broxton | 0.336 | |
| Zack Greinke | 0.266 | Matt Thornton | 0.324 | |
| Justin Verlander | 0.264 | Joel Hanrahan | 0.322 | |
| Javier Vazquez | 0.257 | Scott Downs | 0.321 | |
| Dan Haren | 0.252 | Mark DiFelice | 0.321 | |
| Jon Lester | 0.252 | Andrew Bailey | 0.309 | |
| IWZ | IWZ | |||
| Roy Halladay | 0.599 | Ramon Troncoso | 0.619 | |
| Josh Johnson | 0.599 | Justin Masterson | 0.604 | |
| Randy Wolf | 0.594 | Sean Gallagher | 0.596 | |
| Kevin Slowey | 0.593 | Jesse Carlson | 0.596 | |
| Zach Duke | 0.593 | Mark DiFelice | 0.593 | |
| Ted Lilly | 0.591 | Jason Motte | 0.589 | |
| Felix Hernandez | 0.587 | Scott Baker | 0.587 | |
| Dana Eveland | 0.585 | Edward Mujica | 0.584 | |
| Jarrod Washburn | 0.584 | Dustin Moseley | 0.583 | |
| Cliff Lee | 0.576 | Buddy Carlyle | 0.580 | |
| Chase | Chase | |||
| Johan Santana | 0.346 | Russ Springer | 0.433 | |
| Shairon Martis | 0.342 | Luke Gregerson | 0.430 | |
| Ryan Dempster | 0.341 | Scott Downs | 0.411 | |
| Koji Uehara | 0.333 | Matt Guerrier | 0.398 | |
| Justin Verlander | 0.333 | Juan Gutierrez | 0.380 | |
| Kevin Slowey | 0.321 | Mark DiFelice | 0.374 | |
| Felix Hernandez | 0.320 | Angel Guzman | 0.365 | |
| Edwin Jackson | 0.319 | Rafael Betancourt | 0.364 | |
| Aaron Harang | 0.314 | Michael Wuertz | 0.354 | |
| Jon Lester | 0.311 | Jonathan Broxton | 0.350 | |
| nkSLG | nkSLG | |||
| Tim Wakefield | 0.314 | Jonathan Broxton | 0.174 | |
| Wandy Rodriguez | 0.342 | Andrew Bailey | 0.182 | |
| Josh Johnson | 0.349 | Matt Palmer | 0.263 | |
| Zack Greinke | 0.364 | Ramon Ramirez | 0.279 | |
| Dan Haren | 0.370 | Ramon Troncoso | 0.286 | |
| Johnny Cueto | 0.370 | Jesse Carlson | 0.289 | |
| Jair Jurrjens | 0.377 | Danys Baez | 0.306 | |
| Mark Buehrle | 0.385 | Brian Bannister | 0.307 | |
| John Maine | 0.385 | Kiko Calero | 0.314 | |
| Joe Saunders | 0.386 | Juan Cruz | 0.314 | |
| A:B | A:B | |||
| Dan Haren | 2.000 | Mark DiFelice | 2.733 | |
| Javier Vazquez | 1.932 | Huston Street | 2.467 | |
| Koji Uehara | 1.849 | Matt Thornton | 2.462 | |
| Johan Santana | 1.808 | Jeff Weaver | 1.941 | |
| Roy Halladay | 1.779 | Jordan Zimmermann | 1.936 | |
| Kevin Slowey | 1.674 | Yusmeiro Petit | 1.886 | |
| Randy Wolf | 1.655 | Ramon Troncoso | 1.826 | |
| Adam Eaton | 1.653 | Rafael Betancourt | 1.792 | |
| Max Scherzer | 1.612 | Kevin Gregg | 1.783 | |
| A.J. Burnett | 1.593 | Jon Rauch | 1.762 | |
| rv100 | rv100 | |||
| Johan Santana | -3.1 | Andrew Bailey | -4.7 | |
| Dan Haren | -3.1 | Jonathan Broxton | -4.5 | |
| Jered Weaver |
-2.9 | Danys Baez | -4.4 | |
| Zack Greinke |
-2.8 | Ryan Franklin | -4.0 | |
| Ted Lilly |
-2.6 | Michael Wuertz |
-3.5 | |
| Josh Johnson |
-2.6 | Matt Guerrier |
-3.5 | |
| Kevin Millwood | -2.5 | Scott Downs | -3.5 | |
| Yovani Gallardo |
-2.5 | Clay Condrey |
-3.3 | |
| Dave Bush | -2.4 | Mark DiFelice |
-3.2 | |
| Jarrod Washburn |
-2.3 | Ramon Ramirez |
-3.1 |
3 recs |
30 comments
|
Comments
Doesn't this mean that...
If Andrew Bailey threw 100 pitches in a game that the other team would score -3.7 runs?
by NoNameOnCard on May 13, 2009 3:29 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
-3.7 runs comapared to average.
Where average is what, 4.8 runs per game or something like that?
Beyond the Boxscore // Calling BJ Upton lazy is lazy.
by Sky Kalkman on May 13, 2009 3:33 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Actually, I think I'm wrong. Uh, help, Harry?
Beyond the Boxscore // Calling BJ Upton lazy is lazy.
by Sky Kalkman on May 13, 2009 3:34 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
6.5 is average
by my calculations
by Harry Pavlidis on May 13, 2009 3:53 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
6.5 what? 6.5 runs per 100 pitches? That doesn't make sense.
Beyond the Boxscore // Calling BJ Upton lazy is lazy.
by Sky Kalkman on May 13, 2009 4:16 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I agree
I’m using this table
http://baseballanalysts.com/archives/2008/02/writing_about_t.php
by Harry Pavlidis on May 13, 2009 4:23 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
and I think there's a bug ....
in my code, now that I look at it…. uno momento, easy to fix…
by Harry Pavlidis on May 13, 2009 4:24 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
OK
fixed, the calc seems a little off still. I was over counting hits, which skewed the data but didn’t break too many of the rank orders. I’ll correct the table above, although the average value is coming out slightly less than 0 for 2009.
by Harry Pavlidis on May 13, 2009 5:14 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
This is great.
I like giving some time to these pitch f/x stats and the context helps me wrap my head around them. More, more!
Beyond the Boxscore // Calling BJ Upton lazy is lazy.
by Sky Kalkman on May 13, 2009 3:35 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
trailers
450+ pitches
Whiff
Mike Pelfrey .064
IWZ
Derek Lowe: .429
Chase
Daniel Cabrera .176
nkSLG
Randy Johnson .725
A:B
Shane Loux .649
rv100
Scott Olsen 13.6
by Harry Pavlidis on May 13, 2009 4:00 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
200-449
Whiff
Kris Benson .065
IWZ
Todd Coffey .431
Chase
Andrew Miller .128
nkSLG
Brad Lidge .895
A:B
Andrew Miller .514
rv100
Jon Rauch 14.6
by Harry Pavlidis on May 13, 2009 4:06 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Is my thinking correct that
nkSLG would more likely be lower for a “pitch-to-contact” pitcher? The leaderboard has pitchers who throw up the junk and let the batters make weak contact whereas the two trailers are considered pretty good strikeout pitchers.
Are there year-to-year consistencies and regression for nkSLG similar to BABIP?
by JBrew on May 13, 2009 4:16 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Good question
Colin, you around?
by Harry Pavlidis on May 13, 2009 5:22 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
corrected rv100 trailer
logan kensing 2.4 (Rauch lands at .95, 8th worst)
by Harry Pavlidis on May 13, 2009 5:23 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
corrected rv100 trailer
Dana Eveland 1.1, Olsen is 4th at .59
by Harry Pavlidis on May 13, 2009 5:23 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Mike Pelfrey
i know he wasn’t getting swings and misses. when he faced the phillies i don’t think he recorded one swing and miss. but .064 has to be some kind of record, right?
by jamiethekiller on May 14, 2009 11:11 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
It's bad
I think Livan checks in at about the same, IIRC
by Harry Pavlidis on May 14, 2009 1:00 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Just noticed the caption under the photo. Nicely done.
Beyond the Boxscore // Calling BJ Upton lazy is lazy.
by Sky Kalkman on May 13, 2009 5:55 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Kevin Millwood.
He’s 6th on the 450+ list for rv100, but he’s got a high FIP and a high tERA. My brain is caving in. Can someone explain this to me so I don’t have to spend the evening looking at formulas and doing math?
by NoNameOnCard on May 13, 2009 7:49 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
luck? small sample?
His rv100 going back to all the pfx data on him since 2007 is -0.695
He’s giving up a few less bases per ball in play and getting ahead a little more often, but his IWZ, Whiff, etc are virtually unchanged from year to year.
by Harry Pavlidis on May 13, 2009 8:06 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I guess his FIP and tERA haven't historically been too bad.
I may have been confused too much by this season’s spread. It still seems like the three measures (rv100, FIP, tERA) should be fairly parallel to each other.
by NoNameOnCard on May 13, 2009 11:48 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
rv100 is based on actual results, I assume.
A ball put into play that’s a single means the pitch was bad, while if it was turned into an out, it counts as a good pitch. I think. Harry?
Beyond the Boxscore // Calling BJ Upton lazy is lazy.
by Sky Kalkman on May 13, 2009 8:38 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I hope it isn't *that* obvious.
Although, i suppose rv100 is more situational, right?
by NoNameOnCard on May 13, 2009 11:45 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
No, I think it's nearly that obvious.
See this comment from Harry below.
Every batted ball outcome (BB, HR, K, GIDP, 1B, etc.) has a linear weight assigned to it. We use these for all types of things. For a pitcher, all linear weights combined corresponds to ERC (composite ERA, which is putting a pitcher’s events together in a context-free manner). However, you can also define expected linear weights by count, not just outcome. By definition, the LW of a 0,0 count is 0 (exactly average). At 0,2 the LW is significantly negative, but not quite as negative as a full out. At 3,0 the LW is significantly positive, but not quite as positive as a BB. On a pitch by pitch basis, you assign the change in LW to the pitch. If the ball’s put in play you also assign the change in LW to the pitch based on the count and end result. For example, a single on an 0,2 count costs more to the pitcher than .5 runs, which is the usual amount, because an 0,2 count has a negative LW, say -.2 runs, which isn’t quite the full -.3 runs for a K. That single costs .7 runs to the pitcher.
Of course, if you’re looking at all of a pitcher’s pitches together, you don’t have to go pitch by pitch, you just care about the final result, because of the commutative property. But if you want to judge pitchers by their individual pitches, you add up the individual run value of all curveball or all fastballs or whatever.
I suppose you could do the same thing using run expectancy instead of linear weights, too, where the value of a single or going from one count to another changes based on the base-out state. Or ever with win probability.
For a pitcher, if we’re looking at all of his pitches, the linear weights approach is directly analogous to ERC. And the run expectancy approach is analogous to RA. Well for full innings at least. If a pitcher comes in late or leaves an innings early, run expectancy is different from the way actual runs allowed are credited to pitchers. But over full innings, the sum of RE will always equal actual runs scored and be discrete.
Beyond the Boxscore // Calling BJ Upton lazy is lazy.
by Sky Kalkman on May 14, 2009 12:03 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
yep
single, double, triple, homer, strike, ball. That’s it. And the count it occurred on.
by Harry Pavlidis on May 13, 2009 8:40 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Oh god imagine combining pitch f/x with pbp/UZR data?
Beyond the Boxscore // Calling BJ Upton lazy is lazy.
by Sky Kalkman on May 13, 2009 9:01 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

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