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        Pitching

        by Piper Slowinski
        February 15, 2010

        Pitching is a ridiculous thing when you stop and think about it. It quite literally taxes the human arm to its biological limits, yet demands incredible precision and relentless repetition. As a result, pitchers can be quite fickle commodities and prone to injuries and irregular career paths. Some pitchers don’t figure everything out until they’re past 30 (e.g. Randy Johnson) while others achieve dominance at an early age but are unable to maintain that level (think Scott Kazmir). All these factors makes evaluating pitchers tricky, but there is plenty of exciting work being done these days in this area, especially with Pitch f/x data.

        When evaluating a pitcher, rely mostly on the golden trifecta of FIP/xFIP/tERA. Batted ball data, BABIP, homerun rates, LOB%, and rate statistics are all very important too, though, and can shed light on individual players. Scouting data is invaluable as well, although unfortunately we have very little of this publicly available for use.

        Links for Further Reading:

        Voros McCracken’s Groundbreaking DIPS Theory – Baseball Prospectus

        How Can we Tell if a Pitcher is Any Good? – The Book Blog

        Sabermetrics 101: Pitching – Lookout Landing

        Evaluating Pitcher Talent – U.S.S. Mariner

        The Injury Zone – Hardball Times/Josh Kalk




        Defense
         
        wOBA

        Piper was the editor-in-chief of DRaysBay and the keeper of the FanGraphs Library.

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        20 Comments
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        Sean Severns
        14 years ago

        I am trying to find out what PFR, and ERC are in sabermetric stats.

        0
        Friedman
        13 years ago
        Reply to  Sean Severns

        PFR (Power/finesse ratio) = (K + BB)/IP

        ERC = Component ERA. Too lazy to type it all but: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Component_ERA

        0
        sportsfreak0217
        13 years ago

        what does E F stand for

        0
        Mark
        12 years ago

        When I click on Glossary, I get this page. It doesn’t look like a Glossary. Where is it hiding really?

        17
        Dave
        12 years ago
        Reply to  Mark

        I agree. I don’t understand why there is no centralized repository of stat definitions/abbreviations used on this site. Its insane.

        30
        THOMAS H
        4 years ago
        Reply to  Dave

        Bump

        4
        Neb
        12 years ago

        Where can I find “PitchFxType” abreviation meanings?

        TIA

        2
        Gallo
        12 years ago
        Reply to  Neb

        http://www.fangraphs.com/library/index.php/misc/pitch-fx/

        FA = fastball
        FF = four-seam fastball
        FT = two-seam fastball
        FC = fastball (cutter)
        FS / SI / SF = fastball (sinker, split-fingered)

        SL = slider
        CH = changeup
        CB / CU = curveball
        KC = knuckle-curve
        KN = knuckleball
        EP = eephus

        10
        nichove
        12 years ago

        Does anybody know where to get 2010 siera projections?

        0
        John Hancock
        4 years ago

        What do the stats “Starting” and “Relieving” measure?

        0
        alemunger
        4 years ago
        Reply to  John Hancock

        They are Runs Above Replacement (RAR) splits depending on whether the pitcher was starting or relieving.

        For example: https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=pit&lg=all&qual=0&type=c%2c54%2c55%2c56%2c57%2c58%2c59&season=2020&month=0&season1=2020&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=19361%2c16502&startdate=2020-01-01&enddate=2020-12-31

        Corbin Burnes was a much better starter than reliever this year, while Ryan Yarbrough accumulated almost 40% of his value in only 9 innings of relief (~15% of his total IP).

        0
        bruceroeMember since 2024
        4 years ago

        how d\o I find spin rates?

        0
        bruceroeMember since 2024
        4 years ago
        Reply to  bruceroe

        I FOUND THEM AT sTATCAST

        0
        bruceroeMember since 2024
        4 years ago

        How do I find swinging strike rates?

        0
        bruceroeMember since 2024
        4 years ago
        Reply to  bruceroe

        FOUND AT STATCOST SITE

        0
        betlabsMember since 2025
        4 years ago

        Hello, i would like to ask you if there is range od ratings for new statcats stats?

        I mean
        Awful
        Poor
        Below Average
        Average
        Above Average
        Great
        Excellent
        ?

        And if exist, also for batting.

        Thanks and have a nice day

        0
        serra
        4 years ago

        Hello, what is ‘Qualified’ in the pitchers filter? (It comes associated with the number of innings pitched). Thanks.

        0
        KenMember since 2017
        3 years ago

        What is the ‘-‘ for in ERA- ? Is it park or league adjusted? or something else?

        0
        KenMember since 2017
        3 years ago
        Reply to  Ken

        or is it just the ERA scaled where the mean is 100?

        0
        wiitytily
        3 years ago

        What is the differences between SI-X(cs) and SI-X(pi)? I know they are indicating pitch movement, but I don’t know differences between them

        0
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        Updated: Monday, June 16, 2025 10:56 AM ETUpdated: 6/16/2025 10:56 AM ET
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