Most Important Pitching Stat

I like K/IP K/BBs and WHIP as a starting point.

I also have created one that is simply baserunners allowed/batters faced which probably has a name somewhere out there but I haven't found a source. What I like about it is that it removes all judgement - the guy got on or he didn't. What it doesn't do is remove the dependence on the defense as well as the parks played in.

ERA is too dependent upon scorekeeper's judgement. Runs Allowed without the E is a better measure than ERA from my viewpoint.

Pitching stats in general are an area that need a lot of work - the SABR guys need to get busy!!!

I have never seen anyone keep this stat, but I would like to see batting avg., slugging and on-base avg. for pitchers AFTER they put men on base.

I see so many pitchers who are mechanically well trained who simply cannot keep their composure and perform once a few little things go wrong.

I like a guy who doesn't panic if the leadoff man gets a double, or perhaps even a better test, a 2-base error. Because I don't care who you are or how much stuff you've got, you have to deal with these things to succeed. Can you keep that run from scoring? Can you clamp a bad inning with only 1-2 runs, or does the coach have to come get you because you come unglued?

Most folks judge these things subjectively. I suppose in the end at high levels it all comes out in the ERA wash in the long run. But as you are evaluating young pitchers in teen travel and high school ball, you will often see a kid on a bad team who shows some real bulldog tendencies.

H/IP, BB/IP

W/ draftable and Major D-I guys the above stats will generally stick out. K's will probably be more than enough....all is relative to level of competition...

Must see the guy pitch to evaluate pitchabilty....ability to repeat a delivery.....etc...

quote:

batting avg., slugging and on-base avg. for pitchers AFTER they put men on base.

In the garage back in Kansas City we called that the "Tom Seaver factor", although its hard to imagine much support for such a labor intensive stat at lower amature levels.

The most important pitching stat is..... the one that makes my kid stand out the most.

My personal favorite stat for pitchers is how often a pitcher gets a 1st pitch strike. This can be an indicator of how often he will be ahead and how he may perform over many innings. This could also be an indicator of how high his pitch counts may be, or I should say how many innings he may go with a lower pitch count.

I'm not so big on K/IP because often the pitchers with the most K's may not be the most effective as they continue to progress.

A good ground ball pitcher is more likely to go the distance, because his pitch count will be lower. But he will never have a lot of K's.

Percentage of first pitch strikes is important, as CR pointed out.

A properly calculated ERA (emphasis on properly) is still a good measure.

MD had a good concept, in how pitchers do once someone has reached base. A little tough to measure.

Mental toughness, according to Tommy Lasorda, is the one single thing that a MLB pitcher must have. And that can't be measured by stats.

We use PalmScout and it gives a "Pitcher Report Card" which has all of the stats mentioned in this post and more. Probably my favorite is the "1st 3 pitches for strikes" stat, but also like "Well-Hit Avg. against", "On Base% Against", "2 strike counts ending in out", and % of runners who score.

OPS against. There is a higher correlation for OPS (On base + slugging) and runs scored than batting average and on-base. Therefore, I would turn it around and look for OPS against.

If you can find a pitcher that can control the running game once an offensive player hits a single, then you have a pitcher that is hard to score against.

Look at extra base hits as a percentage of total hits given up (15-20%), low walk ratio and a 1.15-1.30 time to the plate with an average to above average pick-off move and you have a nightmare to score against.

According to bbscout, best pitchers stat is one that gets hitters out.

PG posted this awhile ago in another thread and I do beleive that some pitching coaches might agree.

JMO

Posted December 05, 2005 12:45 AM By PG Staff
"Once a pitcher shows he has draft potential, certain stats are more valuable than others. Sometimes the lack of certain numbers can create negative concerns more than good numbers actually helping. (if that makes any sense)

Some of these stats include those that everyone is mentioning here. Another important stat is GB vs FB outs. A pitcher getting a large % of his outs on ground balls vs fly balls is a big plus in most cases. Ground ball pitchers are in demand, especially if they have average or better MLB velocity. It usually means the pitcher has a good sinking fastball or split finger and a good breaking ball. The sinker is a big pitch in professional baseball these days. Nearly every MLB pitcher you see with an average or below average fastball has a real good sinker".

I like WHIP and first pitch strikes [FPS], #P/IP, % of strikes, #P, and K/BB all are pitcher dependent and generally not skewed by ability [or lack thereof] of teamates. Can kind of show that a kid without a good record can get out there, throw strikes for you, eat a lot of innings and keep his team in the game.