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Reply to "Judging pitcher performance."

Stats4Gnats posted:

Truman posted:

The most precise measurement would be # of pitches per K. The next would be the number of batters per K. And then would come K’s per inning.

 

Interesting thought.  I'm not sure how I could interpret such numbers given the variable of situational issues involved which seems to affect such precise measurements.  

 

There aren’t many guarantees in baseball, but one is everything changes based on the situation at any specific point in time. But even though situations cause changes galore, those changes will have effects no natter what’s being measured or how. I maintain that at the more precise measurement technique being used, the less the effect of the situation will be.

 

What I’ve done is “reworked” the report I previously posted. Please see the pitall2x.pdf attachment. This time I used all the pitchers rather than just starters, and only considered pitcher who had thrown to at least 108. If you notice I added 3 columns. What they are is how each player ranked depending on either Ks per inn, batters per K, or pitches per K.

 

Here’s a couple examples of how the precision affects the list. The player who was 4th in K’s per inning was 9th in batters per K and 13 in pitches per K. The player who was 13th in K’s per inning was 13th in batters per K as well but 10th in pitches per K. And the player who was 6th in K’s per inning was 2nd in Batters and pitches per K. I’ll let you come to your own conclusion about what those numbers mean.

 

Granted most of the time there’s little or no difference, but that doesn’t mean the differences mean nothing.

 

This brings to mind a 5th element I sometimes like look at and that's the ratio of pitched strikes to balls, where if a pitcher is throwing at a ratio of 3 strikes to every ball, I'd say he's doing well in terms of command.

 

Although I don’t one and have nothing against it if it suits your purpose, I think if you’re really looking for command you ought to only look at pitches not swung at. Please see the pitchkindslook.pdf attachment.

Looks like good stuff if you understand it and know how to use it.

 . . . and appears someone is almost as much a spreadsheet geek as me.   

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