Pitching and Pitchers Discussion Pitching Stats

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Member

• Jun 2, 2011

• #1

Hello,

I have a question on tracking pitcher stats.
What is the #1 most important stat for a pitcher.
Right now I track "WHIP", ERA, %strikes, %balls, K's per inning, Walks per inning, strikes, balls, Hit batter, K's, walks, Hits, Innings, Pitches per inning.
Is there any other stats I should be keeping?

Thanks

 

default

Member

• Jun 2, 2011

• #2

At the risk of stating the obvious, you will want to track W/Ls )).

Looks like you have most of the stats that are important to college coaches. I'd be interested to hear whether others think that "Batting Average Against" is important to track. Or "HRs Against". Or I guess even "Slugging Percentage Against."

 

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Member

• Jun 2, 2011

• #3

If you are just looking at measuring the effectiveness of the pitcher, I think you have hit on the key ones. I like the following ones for these reasons:

WHIP - If your pitcher can limit the number of base runners to around 1 per inning, that will keep their ERA down and limit the opportunity for the opposing team to score.

ERA - Important, but the decision to score errors or hits can effect the actual number.

Walks/Inning - lower the better - free base runners are not your friends.

B/S ratio - This tells me efficiency.

The wins and losses influenced by the offense - a pitcher can keep a team in a game, but not win games.

 

default

Member

• Jun 2, 2011

• #4

Those are all good stats. I have a worksheet that I use that records 1st and 2nd pitch strike ratios. In addition, I tabulate results for each pitch...fly balls, ground ball outs, etc so that I can give what percentage of certain pitches were thrown for strikes, balls and what types of outs they resulted in. The pitcher can then take this worksheet into practices and begin working game situations, etc. This also allows targeting pitches for additional work.

I guess you need to decide why you are collecting the stats....to set up practices, game situations, college communications, etc...

 

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Member

• Jun 2, 2011

• #5

Depends on what you are analyzing, but ultimately it comes down to just two stats that point to overall effectiveness: ERA and W/L. As the season wears on, all the other stats will generally ride the same curve as these two. Granted, W/L can be greatly skewed by things like poor defense, errors, etc. But you have to look at how the base runners got on. Walks? Hits? Maybe your own offense is weak, which certainly doesn't help getting wins. So, compare your teams overall batting average against your pitcher's ERA, and make some assumptions.

 

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Member

• Jun 3, 2011

• #6

Everyone on this thread is spot on! As a pitching instructor, I keep it simple for my own records so I know what we need to work on to improve. Balls and strikes is a must and we work towards a 70% ratio. Walks are important but when possible I make note of the walks to girls that are a "good walk", language the girls understand. K's are nice numbers to keep and we take them with a grain of salt depending on the level of competition AND the years the pitcher has been throwing. No disrespect but a 3rd or 4th year pitching student throwing high school varsity would have a higher target number then if she was throwing within her age group in a travel tourney. Last; ERA kinda pulls everything together into a nice package and many times will reflect the wins number.

I know I don't formally keep a pitch count on every girl but I'm always aware if I'm in the dugout. In timed tourney action, most pitchers 14u and above should be completing a game within a reasonable time slot with under 100 pitches. I have girls that can complete a game in around 80 pitches but it gets more difficult as they get older. Normally if you see a girl throwing a timed game (or any game) and the pitch count climbs above 125-150, the loss number normally gets higher.

 

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Member

• Jun 3, 2011

• #7

The things I look at most are ball/strike ratio (like daboss, I want to see it near 70%), walks per game (around one per game), and ERA (depends on level of competition). If those three things are in line, then the W's will follow.

 

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Member

• Jun 3, 2011

• #8

Read the above article I posted on D1 Recruting. It spells this out for you. Notice how many coaches don't even look at stats!

 

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Member

• Jun 3, 2011

• #9

DD just had a college coach ask for her HS stats and I think sideliner has the main pitching ones right. They never ask about the team's record.

 

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Member

• Jun 3, 2011

• #10

gamechanger.com has a great app I put on my Droid phone you can do the game and you can let family and friends watch play by play and when you get home log on and everything is done for you, EVERYTHING % to spray charts and it's free!

 

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Member

• Jun 3, 2011

• #11

For recruiting, nearly every college coach will take the word of a trusted individual who has a track record of identifying a college capable pitcher, and they of course trust their own eyes at showcase tournaments. Stats can give a very distorted view - especially HS stats. Every DI college capable pitcher is going to have a sub 1.0 HS ERA, and should be hitting between .400 & .500. I don't think those stats transfer to college level very accurately, and the coaches know that. Most go by the theory "seeing is believing".

If you are keeping stats for future recruiting purposes, keep them for your DD's self-improvement to gauge her progress, but don't expect to wow a college coach with stats. If they DO ask for stats, and you fail to produce something that doesn't look darn impressive, it's a huge red flag.

 

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Member

• Apr 19, 2012

• #12

Semi-related question. OHSAA - Starting pitcher pitches 2 innings and her team is losing by 1 when 2nd pitcher enters the game. 2nd pitcher pitches all 5 remaining innings and team wins. In the stats, I have the 2nd pitcher with a save. Is that right or is there something about the number of innings required. Bottom line, does the 2nd pitcher get a save or a win?

 

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Member

• Apr 19, 2012

• #13

Its not a save, Pitcher 2 gets the win. Pitcher 1 gets a no decision, but could of gotten the loss.

 

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Member

• Apr 19, 2012

• #14

TR ... first of all, starting pitcher must pitch at least half of the innings to get a win pretty much regardless of winning or losing at the time that comes out. Secondly, the starting pitcher was losing when she left the game and the basic rule is that whoever was pitching at the time the winning team took the lead for good gets the win. So the answer is "no" ... pitcher 2 doesn't get a save, she gets the win.

 

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Member

• Apr 19, 2012

• #15

Thanks for the quick responses. Great stuff. One point I'm still a little fuzy on: If I understand coachjwb correctly, assume starting pitcher pitches first 3 innings and has a substantial lead so a coach, trying to get 2nd and 3rd string pitchers some time on the rubber, lets the latter split the remaining 4 innings and the team holds their lead to the end. Starting pitcher did not pitch at least half the innings; did the coach take the win away from her? If so, who gets it?
Thanks again, folks.

 

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Member

• Apr 19, 2012

• #16

Without looking up the exact wording, if I recall, I think there can be an exception for the situation you describe.

 

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Member

• Apr 20, 2012

• #17

cjusports said:

Hello,

I have a question on tracking pitcher stats.
What is the #1 most important stat for a pitcher.
Right now I track "WHIP", ERA, %strikes, %balls, K's per inning, Walks per inning, strikes, balls, Hit batter, K's, walks, Hits, Innings, Pitches per inning.
Is there any other stats I should be keeping?

Thanks

Click to expand...

High school pitcher stats are 100% meaningless except for strikeouts. Errors are the biggest joke there is.