Comments on: Ouch Plays Help Fantasy Baseball OPS

By: JCM

JCM — Wed, 20 May 2009 16:41:48 +0000

One other point I neglected to mention (and then I will shut up, I promise)…using your logic where a mental error on behalf of the pitcher SHOULD NOT penalize his ERA but only his fielding percentage…would you also beleive the inverse to be true – that if the pitcher had made a most amazing defensive fielding effort to prevent a run, then he should be charged an EARNED RUN even though one was not scored because his fielding prowess should not be taken into account?

The last two words of the acronym ERA is “RUNS ALLOWED” and an error on the pitcher causes the run to be “allowed” by the hurler.

I’m done.

By: JCM

JCM — Wed, 20 May 2009 14:50:59 +0000

Point well taken ballparkbob…but I would disagree with you.

The pitcher ultimately is evaluated on how effective he is in preventing runs to score. Feilding errors on the field are not attributable to the pitcher because he has no discretionary control over the defense behind him. However, he certainly has ultimate control over his own actions and decisions. A fielding/mental error by the pitcher is his own deficiency and should count against him in calculating earned runs.

(Bad cliche alert) I guess we can agree to disagree.

By: ballparkbob34

ballparkbob34 — Mon, 18 May 2009 01:17:03 +0000

Thanks for the comments JCM. I agree with almost all of them, except for the error by the pitcher. ERA is a judgement of a pitcher’s pitching ability, not his fielding ability. Therefore, although the error is his fault, that should count against only his fielding prowess, not his pitching ability.

I also think that a “mental error” like throwing to a base where a runner is obviously going to be safe should be counted as an error against the fielder.

I also think there should be a “team error” concept. This would be used in a situation where two players watch a routine fly ball drop between them. Or, maybe we could give each fielder a “half error;” after all, in football, they often divide tackles in half for each player.

By: JCM

JCM — Wed, 13 May 2009 14:40:34 +0000

Ohhhh…I almost forgot….throwing(4) consecutive low outside breaking balls to Albert Pujols should be left to the official scorer to decide as to whether it is an intentional base on balls vs an earned walk. Managers “order” the pitcher to effectively walk Pujols thus any runs scored from an unearned intentional base on balls should NOT be counted towards the pitchers ERA, WHIP or debateably Alberts Runs totals…but now I am getting anal again.

By: JCM

JCM — Wed, 13 May 2009 13:38:11 +0000

HBP should count towards WHIP statistics.
But really, there are many other even more aggregious stats that are not calculated properly.
Errors by a pitcher causing a run should be considered an earned run, misplayed flyballs should be an error and not a triple, a ground out to move a player from 2nd to 3rd with less than 2 outs should be scored the same as a sacrifice fly, a baserunning error causing an out should be scored the same as a caught stealing and my favorite stat that I cannot find anywhere – batting average with 2 outs and runners in scoring position…this statistic truly separates the best players in the game like Manny, Albert and Youk from the Grady Sizemores and the Jack Custs.