Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Cracking the WHIP

Baseball is all about the numbers, but not all statistics are created equal. In the case of pitching statistics, wins and ERA are the most commonly used stats, but they are hardly the most accurate measurement of a pitcher's worth. Another statistic quoted commonly on this blog is WHIP (walk plus hits per innings pitched). While it isn't the be-all and end-all of pitching statistics, it provides a measurement of a pitcher's ability to keep batters from reaching base (as opposed to ERA, which measures a pitcher's ability to keep batters from scoring).

Generally speaking, a WHIP of less than 1.00 is outstanding and anything less than 1.20 is very good. The best WHIP of all-time in the major leagues was the 0.74 registered by Pedro Martinez in the 2000 season. In a hitter's league like the Golden Baseball League, it's very difficult to reach those heights. Let's take a look at the WHIPs for all GBL pitchers who qualify for the ERA race (0.8 innings pitched per team game).


Player
Team
WHIP
ERA
1
Ethridge, W
MAU
0.83
0.78
2
Francisco, A
EDM
1.13
1.25
3
Martinez, G
MAU
1.13
3.75
4
Ayala, M
OCY
1.15
3.60
5
Brandt, D
MAU
1.26
2.84
6
McLemore, M
CHO
1.26
3.88
7
Pote, L
EDM
1.27
3.13
8
Walden, C
TUC
1.28
3.44
9
Honel, K
CHO
1.33
3.15
10
Arreola, D
EDM
1.34
2.55
11
Cline, Z
OCY
1.35
4.09
12
Banks, D
CHO
1.39
3.21
13
Seccombe, D
MAU
1.40
5.91
14
Lopez, A
TUC
1.42
3.90
15
Smith, J
OCY
1.43
4.19
16
Bannister, J
TUC
1.45
4.17
17
Gonzalez, J
VIC
1.46
4.04
18
Arreola, A
VIC
1.51
4.72
19
Garcia, J
TUC
1.51
4.22
20
Altman, K
OCY
1.55
4.27
21
Davis, V
TUC
1.56
4.83
22
Dickert, R
STG
1.56
5.66
23
Hrynio, M
EDM
1.59
3.08
24
Gober, D
CAL
1.61
5.42
25
Dutton, J
STG
1.64
6.96
26
Kershner, J
VIC
1.69
6.04
27
Holleran, G
CHO
1.69
4.90
28
Little, C
EDM
1.72
6.87
29
Dessau, E
CAL
1.74
6.05
30
Durkin, M
OCY
1.77
6.83
31
Bodishbaugh, C
VIC
1.94
3.81
32
Holliday, B
STG
2.02
7.87
33
Rossignol, M
STG
2.38
9.68

Of the 33 pitchers who qualify, the only Seals pitchers in the top 20 for WHIP are Jino Gonalez and Andrew Arreola.  While their numbers are nothing to write home about, they are a step above Jason Kershner's 1.69 mark and Chris Bodishbaugh's ugly 1.94 WHIP. Given that his ERA is only 3.81, it's obvious that Bodishbaugh has escaped a number of jams and his ERA could be significantly higher if a few more two-out hits dropped in.

Here are the WHIPS for the remaining pitchers on the Seals staff:

Player
WHIP
ERA
Easton, Aaron
1.35
3.58
Duda, Jeff
1.42
3.38
Hess, Isaac
1.47
4.77
Villafuerte, Brandon
1.48
2.61
Bevis, P.J.
1.77
6.20
Pluta, Anthony
1.80
4.74

Keep in mind that relievers tend to have lower WHIPs than starters (since they don't have to pace themselves for long outings), so it's not really fair to compare a starter's WHIP to a reliever's. The big take-away from the numbers above is that Aaron Easton and Jeff Duda are quietly having pretty darn good seasons.

Seal Blubber Bits
  • Wilver Perez failed to register a stolen base on Tuesday in the double-header against the Orange County Flyers. That means that you'll have a chance to see him tie and break the record at RAP this weekend.
  • The Seals split their double-header against Orange County to remain 1 1/2 games behind the first-place Calgary Vipers.
  • The Seals have added three home games against the St. George Roadrunners on August 20-22. If you must know the gory details, you can check out the press release here. The home stand that starts this Thursday will now be an epic 14 games in 18 days.