ERA BLASTERS

NameFIP-xFIP-ERAFIPxFIP
Alfredo Simon1181185.054.774.78
Chris Tillman1061134.994.454.58
Jeff Samardzija1011074.964.234.31
Rick Porcello104924.924.133.72
Aaron Harang1221284.864.834.99
CC Sabathia112994.734.683.99
John Danks1081154.714.494.65
Rubby de la Rosa1241054.674.814.10
Colby Lewis1001144.664.174.62
Taijuan Walker103944.564.073.82
Trevor Bauer1071064.554.334.28
Jeff Locke1041024.493.953.94
Wade Miley961014.463.814.08
Andrew Cashner100994.343.853.84
Ian Kennedy117954.284.513.70
Mike Pelfrey991104.264.004.45
Bartolo Colon991024.163.843.94
Jon Niese1141064.134.414.11
Ubaldo Jimenez96954.114.013.83
Jimmy Nelson1011044.114.104.06
Yordano Ventura89894.083.573.60
Tom Koehler1201184.084.534.58
Anthony DeSclafani921024.053.673.97
Julio Teheran1161084.044.404.19
      
*** ERA     
*** FIP, Fielding Dependent Pitching  
*** xFIP - Expected Fielding Independent Pitching 
*** Sabermetric Primer to Learn more.  

Alfredo Simon was the only qualifier, 162 innings or more, with an ERA over five. Drop that number down to 140 innings and the group explodes to six men: Kyle Kendrick 6.32, Jeremy Guthrie 5.95, Kyle Lohse 5.85, Matt Garza 5.63, Drew Hutchison 5.57 and Simon. How did Kendrick make 27 starts for the Rockies? The Brewers had two of the bottom-4. Things didn’t go well in Milwaukee.

Jeff Samardzija had a 2.99 ERA in 2014. That mark nearly went up two full runs. Two.

Rick Porcello had a 4.92 mark. That’s the fifth time in six years that the mark has been at least 4.32. Why the love each year?

Aaron Harang's last 88 starts: 4.50 ERA.

CC Sabathia's last 69 starts: 4.81 ERA.

John Danks' last 93 starts: 4.82 ERA

Colby Lewis' last 62 starts: 4.90 ERA

Trevor Bauer career mark in 65 outings: 4.50.

WHIP DISASTER

NameWHIP NameWHIP
Mike Pelfrey1.48 Rubby de la Rosa1.36
Alfredo Simon1.44 Ubaldo Jimenez1.36
Andrew Cashner1.44 Alex Wood1.36
CC Sabathia1.42 A.J. Burnett1.36
Jeff Locke1.42 Anthony DeSclafani1.35
Gio Gonzalez1.42 James Shields1.33
Yovani Gallardo1.42 Brett Anderson1.33
John Danks1.41 Trevor Bauer1.31
Jon Niese1.40 Julio Teheran1.31
Chris Tillman1.39 Chris Heston1.31
Aaron Harang1.39 Edinson Volquez1.31
Wade Miley1.37 Tyson Ross1.31
Tom Koehler1.37 Ian Kennedy1.30
Lance Lynn1.37 Yordano Ventura1.30
Rick Porcello1.36   

Mike Pelfrey has had a WHIP of at least 1.42 each of the last five years. The last 64 starts with a 1.55 WHIP… really Twins?

Gio Gonzalez had been under 1.26 in three straight seasons before his ’15 blow up.

Lance Lynn posts strikeouts and wins games (8.71 for his career with an average of 15 wins the last four seasons), but his WHIP is never strong (1.30 for his career).

James Shields at 1.33 in Petco was a shock. From 2011-14 the mark was 1.15.

Drop that innings pitched limit to 120 and all kinds of exciting happens. Jerome Williams had a 1.61 WHIP while Chris Rusin was just behind at 1.60. Three others had a mark over 1.50: Matt Garza 1.57, Jeremy Guthrie 1.55 and Kyle Kendrick 1.52.
 

BABIP TORTURE

NameBABIP NameBABIP
Gio Gonzalez0.341 Brett Anderson0.310
A.J. Burnett0.336 Collin McHugh0.310
Mike Pelfrey0.334 Ubaldo Jimenez0.309
Rick Porcello0.332 Wade Miley0.307
Andrew Cashner0.330 Yordano Ventura0.307
Jose Quintana0.327 Bartolo Colon0.307
Chris Sale0.323 John Danks0.305
Tyson Ross0.320 Gerrit Cole0.304
Lance Lynn0.319 Carlos Carrasco0.304
Anthony DeSclafani0.318 Yovani Gallardo0.303
Carlos Martinez0.318 Jeff Samardzija0.303
CC Sabathia0.317 Jon Lester0.303
Alex Wood0.313 Jordan Zimmermann0.302
Jeff Locke0.312 Ian Kennedy0.301
J.A. Happ0.312 Jon Niese0.300


Gio Gonzalez had a huge WHIP in part to a league-worst .341 BABIP. The previous five years the mark never hit .295.

A.J. Burnett had kept the BABIP at .305 or lower the previous four seasons.

Andrew Cashner had a .272 BABIP from 2013-14 before seeing that number explode in ’15.

Chris Sale has a career mark of .294, making that .323 certainly look like an outlier.

Tyson Ross was under .292 each of the past two seasons but things didn’t go as well in 2015.

Drop the innings pitched mark down to 120 and the best/worst would be Drew Hutchison at .343. Nathan Eovaldi has a great arm everyone gushes over, but that .337 mark speaks to how many pitches he left in hittable areas. 

 

EVERYONE SCORED – LOB%

NameLOB% NameLOB%
Andrew Cashner65.6% Mike Pelfrey70.5%
Colby Lewis65.9% Erasmo Ramirez70.5%
Jeff Locke67.1% Corey Kluber71.4%
Jeff Samardzija67.2% Jon Niese71.5%
Rick Porcello67.5% Ian Kennedy71.6%
Alfredo Simon67.8% Trevor Bauer71.6%
Taijuan Walker67.8% Carlos Carrasco71.8%
John Danks68.1% Jon Lester71.8%
Chris Tillman68.2% Garrett Richards71.8%
Mark Buehrle69.0% Bartolo Colon71.9%
Wade Miley69.7% Tom Koehler71.9%
Aaron Harang69.7% Gio Gonzalez72.1%
Anthony DeSclafani69.9% Yordano Ventura72.5%
Kyle Hendricks69.9% Jason Hammel72.8%
Jimmy Nelson70.0% Alex Wood72.9%

There were 14 qualifies who failed to reach the league average.

Same cast of characters – Drew Hutchison, Matt Garza, Jeff Samardzija, Rick Porcello, Alfredo Simon, but the leader at stinkiness was Andrew Cashner. His career mark is 70.8 percent.

Taijuan Walker was at 67.8 percent helping to contribute to his elevated 4.56 ERA.

Kyle Hendricks and Anthony DeSclafani were both just off the league average at 69.9 percent.

If we drop the limit down to 120 innings... you can’t spell his name, and you also can see that Odrisamer Despaigne had a very hard time keeping runners from crossing home plate.

WHAT HAPPENED? K/BB

NameK/9BB/9K/BB
Alfredo Simon5.633.271.72
Tom Koehler6.583.701.78
Yovani Gallardo5.913.321.78
Chris Tillman6.243.331.88
Mike Pelfrey4.702.461.91
Jon Niese5.762.802.05
R.A. Dickey5.292.562.07
Aaron Harang5.642.662.12
Jeff Locke6.903.212.15
Trevor Bauer8.694.042.15
Edinson Volquez6.963.232.15
Chris Heston7.143.242.20
John Danks6.282.842.21
Kyle Gibson6.703.012.23
Jimmy Nelson7.513.302.28
Hector Santiago8.073.542.28
Wade Miley6.832.972.30
Garrett Richards7.643.302.32
Julio Teheran7.673.272.34
Shelby Miller7.503.202.34
Alex Wood6.602.802.36
Rubby de la Rosa7.163.012.38
Marco Estrada6.512.732.38
Mike Leake5.582.302.43
Gio Gonzalez8.663.542.45
Lance Lynn8.573.492.46
Ubaldo Jimenez8.223.332.47
Andrew Cashner8.043.222.50

Oh Simon, you were just awful.

Tom Koehler and Yovani Gallardo were just behind. Only Koehler had a K/9 rate over 5.95.

Trevor Bauer was the only pitcher in the top 20 with a K mark over 8.10. He was also the only pitcher in the bottom 60 with a BB/rate over four (4.04).

Chris Heston had a very solid rookie season, but too many walks (3.24 per nine) doomed him in this measure.

Hector Santiago is the only other top-24 hurler with a K/9 rate over 8.00. His 8.07 mark wasn’t enough to overcome his 3.54 walk rate.

Mike Leake was 24th even with a 2.30 walk rate. That 5.58 K/9 rate killed him.

Tyson Ross and Brett Anderson had the same 2.52 K/BB mark. Anderson struck out 5.79 per nine, Ross 9.73.

 

BIG FLIES EVERYWHERE

NameHR/9 NameHR/9
Ian Kennedy1.66 Marco Estrada1.19
Rubby de la Rosa1.53 Trevor Bauer1.18
CC Sabathia1.51 Alfredo Simon1.16
Dan Haren1.49 Bartolo Colon1.16
James Shields1.47 Colby Lewis1.14
Hector Santiago1.44 Danny Salazar1.12
Aaron Harang1.36 Jordan Zimmermann1.07
Taijuan Walker1.33 Tom Koehler1.06
Wei-Yin Chen1.32 Max Scherzer1.06
Rick Porcello1.31 R.A. Dickey1.05
John Danks1.22 Chris Tillman1.04
Jeff Samardzija1.22 Mike Leake1.03
Julio Teheran1.21 Felix Hernandez1.03
Jason Hammel1.21 Jon Niese1.02
Mike Fiers1.20 Mark Buehrle1.00

Ian Kennedy often allows a lot of flies that end in the seats, but this is nuts. The guy has a poor 1.12 career mark, but 1.66 is just obnoxious.

Dan Haren’s marks since 2012: 1.43, 1.49, 1.31 and 1.49.

Shields had been under 1.00 each of the previous four seasons.

Santiago had a flat out dangerous 0.56 GB/FB rate with a nearly 54 percent fly ball rate. His HR/9 rate won’t be going down too much with that many fly balls.

Porcello was lit up at 1.31 per nine. The previous four seasons the mark was 0.92 or lower.

Marco Estrada’s 1.19 rate was a three-year low (1.34 and 1.73). 

 

 
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