The Best Short Pitchers of All-Time

by Bill Petti on Jul 12, 2011 10:00 AM EDT in History & Hall of Fame

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Following up on my earlier look at the best short position players of all time, I decided to look at how vertically challenged pitchers fared historically.

The graphic above includes the top 25 pitchers in terms of WAR that stood 5'9" tall or shorter.

It's amazing when you compare this list to the position players. For one thing, the best pitcher on this list (Eddie Cicotte) on ranks 65th among all pitchers in terms of WAR. The second best pitcher (Luque) comes in at 112th all time.

Compare that to Eddie Collins (9th all time), Mel Ott (15th all time), and Joe Morgan (19th all time). Huge difference.

The other interesting thing is that a pretty clear picture emerges in terms of how height affects pitching performance over time.

Only one of the pitchers on this list pitched later than 1980 (Tom Gordon). Six of the best short position players did some or all of their damage post-1980.

Even though player size has changed overall it does appear that to be a good to great pitcher does depend more on size than position players.

Now, we would need more data to say for sure, but just looking at these lists suggests that if you are below 5'9" and want to have an impact career in the bigs your best bet is to play the field.

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6 foot is the new 5' 9"

by siggian on Jul 12, 2011 11:54 AM EDT reply actions

Haven't players listed heights also become less "accurate"?

Maybe this trend has been commonplace for longer than just the past 15 or 25 years, but it seems pretty consistent now that short players often get a bump, listing 5’8" players as 5’10", etc.

Kila's slash for Apr 20 to May 4, 2011, right before he was sent down: .276 / .344 / .448

by SagehenMacGyver47 on Jul 12, 2011 1:41 PM EDT reply actions

Yeah

I always thought Pedro was actually 5’8"

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by brogshan on Jul 12, 2011 2:55 PM EDT up reply actions

Yeah

Pretty sure Lincecum should be on this list, even though his listed height is 5’11".

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by marcello on Jul 12, 2011 5:11 PM EDT up reply actions

Very possible

I was limited to the data that Baseball-Reference has. However, I would still suggest that it’s more difficult to be a dominant pitcher over the past few decades and be south of 6’. There are some (e.g. Pedro), but my impression is it’s more of a barrier than for position players.

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by Bill Petti on Jul 12, 2011 5:56 PM EDT up reply actions

it's definitely a barrier

but it seems unclear as to whether that barrier is artificial – particularly for guys who are 5’10" getting bumped up an inch or two…

"These are thin mints. I put them in the freezer. My favorites. So good."
--Reds outfielder Adam Dunn, on the girl scout cookies he keeps in his locker

by Resolution on Jul 13, 2011 10:21 PM EDT up reply actions

Cicotte could be a little higher in WAR

if not for, you know, that whole Black Sox thing.

by alacy9513 on Jul 12, 2011 9:16 PM EDT reply actions

Interesting stuff

As a Cardinals fan, I’ve witnessed a lot of talk on Viva El Birdos and Future Redbirds about Shelby Miller vs. Carlos Martinez comparisons. People keep on bringing up that Martinez is undersized and therefore they believe he is a high injury risk, probably going to be less durable, etc. I’ll accept that pitcher height probably has a lot to do with how good a pitcher is, but I just don’t know if I buy that it has anything to do with durability. This sabr.org study, for example, didn’t really find anything other than a kind of roster bias where being tall made you more likely to get a chance to be a starting pitcher in the first place.

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by mattybobo on Jul 13, 2011 6:44 AM EDT reply actions

Not sure what you meant by height affecting pitchers' over time

but since only one of them pitched after 1980 the bulk of this list haven’t had the advantage of whatever improvements in health, conditioning, 5-men rotations, and deeper, specialized bullpens. What that would amount to? I’m not sure, but these reasons and just the total bias of teams (really? Lincecum lasting until the 11th pick? Check those college stats again), may explain why less height looks more like a deathblow than anything else…

"These are thin mints. I put them in the freezer. My favorites. So good."
--Reds outfielder Adam Dunn, on the girl scout cookies he keeps in his locker

by Resolution on Jul 13, 2011 10:20 PM EDT reply actions