Major League Pitching Leaders

[adios]

You folks may not agree with this method for rating pitchers. First of all it's based on 52+ innings pitched so closers and setup guys are not in it. Second of all I used ERA, WHIP (Walks&Hits per Inning), and BAA (Batting Avg Against) to rate the pitchers. I scaled each pitchers performance for each category to the best in the league. For instance the best ERA in the NL for 52+ innings is 2.01 there if a pitcher has han ERA of 2.33 his ERA rating was 2.33/2.01. I did this for each category and computed an average of the 3. Not surprisingly the National League pitching stats are much better probably due in part at least to the lack of DH.

National League

Tom Glavine, Mets, 1.1183
Jason Schmidt, Giants, 1.1438
Randy Johnson, Diamondbacks, 1.1442
Roger Clemons, Astros, 1.1999
Ben Sheets, Brewers, 1.24157
Brad Penny, Marlins, 1.25592
Carlos Zambrano, Cubs, 1.262413
Horacio Rameriz, Braves, 1.327129
Jack Peavy, Padres, 1.388235
Randy Wolfe, Phillies, 1.408077


American League

Mark Muldar, A's, 1.05525
Curt Schilling, Red Sox, 1.083203
Javier Vazquez, Yankees, 1.0888964
Freddy Garcia, Mariners, 1.110422
C.C. Satathia, Indians, 1.149778
Jake Westbrook, Indians, 1.154872
Kenny Rogers, Rangers, 1.172576
Tim Wakefield, Red Sox, 1.174097
Kevin Brown, Yankees, 1.17988
Tim Hudson, A's, 1.182682



Pedro's number is 1.3036303 btw

[Dynasty]

Isn't it a bit redundant to use both WHIP and BAA? WHIP is essentially OBP against.

[andyfox]

Why not used OPS against? If that's how we rate hitters, then why not use the same scale for pitchers?

[paland]

[ QUOTE ]
Why not used OPS against? If that's how we rate hitters, then why not use the same scale for pitchers?

[/ QUOTE ]
I think the best way to measure is Component ERA. The exact formula takes into consideration all of the stats. But it really computes how many runs earned runs a pitcher SHOULD give up taking into consideration Walks, hits etc. This takes away the dicrepancy in ERA that is caused when two pitchers pitch identical games but one has more earned runs charged against him due to his reliever giving up the homerun with several players on base charged to said pitcher while the pitcher two had his reliever get the third out.

I play a lot of sim teams at whatifsports and have played strat-o-matic in the past. I find that the best pitchers I can get, expecially compared to their sim salary, can be found using component ERA. It is written by Bill James. I have the formula in one of my databases that I use in sim games and can dig it up later.
In the mean time, here's a site with some observations. I'm not saying that I agree with every one of them, but they are interesting...

http://www.baseball1.com/bb-data/bbd-bj1.html

[andyfox]

Quite a few old men doing well this year: Glavine, Johnson, Clemens, Schilling, Rogers, Brown (although Rogers and Brown were less than stellar tonight). Four power pitchers and two junk-ball throwers, FWIW.

[aster]

Because OPS agaisnt is highly dependant on team defense.

[adios]

Thanks for the feedback. They definitely could be redundant. Here's the leaders in each category for both leagues.

National League WHIP Leaders

Randy Johnson, Diamondbacks, 0.85
Tom Glavine, Mets, 0.93
Ben Sheets, Brewers, 0.95
Jason Schmidt, Giants, 0.95
Chris Carpenter, Cardinals, 1.06
Brad Penny, Marlins, 1.08
Matt Morris, Cardinals, 1.09
Odalis Pérez, Dodgers, 1.10
Carlos Zambrano, Cubs, 1.10
Roger Clemens, Astros, 1.11


National League BAA Leaders

Randy Johnson, Diamondbacks, .170
Jason Schmidt, Giants, .176
Tom Glavine, Mets, .189
Roger Clemens, Astros, .198
Matt Clement, Cubs, .213
Ben Sheets, Brewers, .214
Brad Penny, Marlins, .219
Carlos Zambrano, Cubs, .220
Kazuhisa Ishii, Dodgers, .221
Horacio Ramírez, Braves, .222

Seven names in common between both lists.

American League WHIP Leaders

Javier Vázquez, Yankees, 1.04
Curt Schilling, Red Sox, 1.10
Mark Mulder, A's, 1.14
Jamie Moyer, Marineers, 1.18
Kevin Brown, Yankees, 1.18
Tim Hudson,A's, 1.22
Esteban Loaiza, White Sox, 1.23
Tim Wakefield, 1.23
Freddy García, Mariners, 1.24
C.C. Sabathia, Indians, 1.24


American League BAA Leaders

Javier Vázquez, Yankees, .213
Mark Mulder, A's, .228
Nate Robertson, Tigers, .232
Víctor Zambrano, Devil Rays, .235
Freddy García, Mariners, .239
Tim Wakefield, Red Sox, .240
Jake Westbrook, Indians, .241
Cliff Lee, Indians, .243
C.C. Sabathia, Indians, .244
Eric DuBose, Orioles, .244

5 names in common