The DH effect, or why American league pitchers are better than their ERA shows

by fabiopao on Jul 12, 2011 12:08 PM EDT

Comparing pitchers'ERA from the two major leagues, one should consider the role played by the designated hitter in the American league, surely a much tougher ninth batter to face than the weak, often incapable counterpart faced by the average NL pitcher.

So, considering last season's innings pitched and earned runs allowed by every pitcher in the big leagues, I came up with the idea of a "Designated hitter and pitcher neutral ERA" (DHPN), detracting from the average AL ERA all the RBIs scored by the players playing DH in their AL teams (849) and from the average NL ERA all the RBIs scored by the pitchers when they were at bat in the NL (259).

The result is an environment where the ninth batter is a totally inept player, with a batting average of .000 and no RBIs in the season: with this assumption in place, we can see the "DH effect" in play, and how it lowers the ERA of AL pitchers, who in a "neutral" environment would have a better ERA than their NL counterparts.

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Comments

Love the style, fabiopao.

But the 3D aspect obscures your intended message, I think.

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by Justin Bopp on Jul 12, 2011 2:21 PM EDT reply actions

But it’s cool..;) if you watch, there are two shades of red and blue, to show what happens when you cut the part of era for which dh and pitchers are responsible in their respective leagues.

by fabiopao on Jul 12, 2011 4:03 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions

Interesting Idea

But I have a few questions…. if there were no DH, how many of those players would be in the line-up at a different position? Did you factor in the NL using the DH in the interleague games (and the AL using the pticher)? I think alot more anaylsis should be added in than simply removing the DH….

by ThePetis on Jul 13, 2011 12:01 PM EDT reply actions

You are right, a lot more of digging in the stats would be needed, starting from analyzing the role of interleague play, at least those games played in AL ballparks with the dh. It was just a way to say that not all stats are created equal..

by fabiopao on Jul 13, 2011 4:40 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions

not to mention

the role in the NL of pinch hitters.

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by Viliphied on Jul 19, 2011 5:33 PM EDT up reply actions