SP Getting Off To A Bad Start
Posted by Steve Lombardi on April 15, 2011
Since 1919, how many starting pitchers have had 3+ games within his team's first 15 games of the season where he pitched 5 innings or less while allowing 5 ER or more?
Here's the list:
| Rk | Player | Year 5 | #Matching | W | L | GS | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | ER | HR | BB | SO | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paul Foytack | 1959 | 3 | Ind. Games | 0 | 3 | .000 | 22.09 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.1 | 18 | 18 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3.00 |
| 2 | Don Gullett | 1972 | 3 | Ind. Games | 0 | 2 | .000 | 13.09 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11.0 | 21 | 16 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 2.18 |
| 3 | Steve Blass | 1973 | 3 | Ind. Games | 0 | 1 | .000 | 11.68 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12.1 | 18 | 16 | 2 | 9 | 2 | 2.19 |
| 4 | Dennis Lamp | 1980 | 3 | Ind. Games | 0 | 2 | .000 | 17.61 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.2 | 22 | 15 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3.13 |
| 5 | Jimmy Key | 1986 | 3 | Ind. Games | 0 | 1 | .000 | 17.28 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8.1 | 16 | 16 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 2.76 |
| 6 | Dave Stieb | 1986 | 3 | Ind. Games | 0 | 2 | .000 | 10.12 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13.1 | 22 | 15 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 2.03 |
| 7 | Jack Morris | 1993 | 3 | Ind. Games | 0 | 3 | .000 | 17.18 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11.0 | 29 | 21 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 3.18 |
| 8 | Bryan Rekar | 1996 | 3 | Ind. Games | 0 | 1 | .000 | 13.50 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12.0 | 24 | 18 | 3 | 6 | 12 | 2.50 |
| 9 | Jim Bullinger | 1997 | 3 | Ind. Games | 0 | 3 | .000 | 14.73 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11.0 | 20 | 18 | 3 | 12 | 7 | 2.91 |
| 10 | Jack McDowell | 1997 | 3 | Ind. Games | 0 | 2 | .000 | 12.51 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13.2 | 28 | 19 | 4 | 6 | 11 | 2.49 |
| 11 | Jay Witasick | 2000 | 3 | Ind. Games | 0 | 3 | .000 | 10.12 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13.1 | 18 | 15 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 1.88 |
| 12 | Nick Bierbrodt | 2003 | 3 | Ind. Games | 0 | 1 | .000 | 11.77 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13.0 | 27 | 17 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 2.38 |
| 13 | Andrew Miller | 2008 | 3 | Ind. Games | 0 | 2 | .000 | 11.37 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12.2 | 24 | 16 | 2 | 7 | 15 | 2.45 |
| 14 | Chien-Ming Wang | 2009 | 3 | Ind. Games | 0 | 3 | .000 | 34.50 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.0 | 23 | 23 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 4.83 |
| 15 | Jason Marquis | 2010 | 3 | Ind. Games | 0 | 3 | .000 | 20.52 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8.1 | 18 | 19 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 2.88 |
| 16 | Phil Hughes | 2011 | 3 | Ind. Games | 0 | 1 | .000 | 13.94 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10.1 | 19 | 16 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2.23 |
.
Welcome to the club, Phil Hughes.
These are the only ones to do this at age 25 or younger:
| Rk | Player | Year | #Matching | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bryan Rekar | 1996 | 3 | Ind. Games |
| 2 | Andrew Miller | 2008 | 3 | Ind. Games |
| 3 | Jimmy Key | 1986 | 3 | Ind. Games |
| 4 | Phil Hughes | 2011 | 3 | Ind. Games |
| 5 | Don Gullett | 1972 | 3 | Ind. Games |
| 6 | Nick Bierbrodt | 2003 | 3 | Ind. Games |
.
April 15th, 2011 at 1:57 pm
The gods of baseball karma are making Hughes pay for last year's 18-8 record.
April 15th, 2011 at 2:04 pm
How come this never happened until 1959 and then not again until 1973? It seems like it would have happened in the high scoring 1920s or 1930s. I know sometimes back then teams did not really have rotations. Many pitchers who started alot of games also relieved alot. But that is just a guess
April 15th, 2011 at 2:12 pm
Maybe in those days a pitcher might get taken out alot sooner if he was giving up runs. Ray Benge of the Phillies in 1929 had the following in three starts in the first 12 games of the season
IP 4, ER 7
IP 0, ER 4
IP 4, ER 6
April 15th, 2011 at 3:14 pm
Cyril - this list may interest you. It's SP from 1919 to 1940 with 2+ such games within his team's first 15 games:
http://bbref.com/pi/shareit/XYbjA
April 15th, 2011 at 3:28 pm
Since 1919, Hughes is the 29th pitcher to meet the 5- IP 5+ ER requirement in his first 3 starts (regardless of when in the season they occurred. Of those 29, only 4 extended the streak to 4 games.
Generated 4/15/2011.
April 15th, 2011 at 3:32 pm
Wow, great list! Thanks
April 15th, 2011 at 4:12 pm
Of the 15 prior to Hughes, 8 went on to pitch 100+ more innings that year and only two of these logged more than 200+ more innings (Foytack and Key). Only 6 kept their ERA under 4.50 (an assumed cutoff for and ERA+ of 100) for the rest of the year: McDowell (1.333 over 27 innings), Key (3.058 over 223.2 innings), Gullett (3.129 over 123.2 innings), Foytack (4.094 over 233 innings), Marquis (4.291 over 191.2 innings) and Steib (4.367 over 191.2 innings).
April 15th, 2011 at 4:14 pm
Sorry, Marquis was over 50.1 innings.
April 15th, 2011 at 4:31 pm
Mmm, beer brats.
April 15th, 2011 at 4:46 pm
Joe Blanton may very well join this list Sunday
April 15th, 2011 at 4:47 pm
Cancel that, he went six against washington
April 15th, 2011 at 6:15 pm
John Lackey has a chance to do this in his next start.
April 15th, 2011 at 6:48 pm
Man, do I ever remember 1986. Key and Stieb. I can look it up, but if I recall, Key gave up 5 ER on one out in his first start that season.
April 15th, 2011 at 6:48 pm
@12
Hey, three Boston starters have a shot at the list.
Hughes is still leading a charmed life. The Yankees are giving him 6.67 RPG again this year in his starts, although one X-inning game.
His ERA only puts him in the middle of the list, but then again everything is magnified in New York, isn't it? Nothing is as good as it seems in NY and nothing is as bad as it seems in NY
April 15th, 2011 at 6:53 pm
@13
Ah, J.B., a trip down memory lane! Oh for another finesse, control, starting LHP with a great pick off move like Jimmy Key on the Jays' current roster.
April 15th, 2011 at 9:47 pm
A little thought to those who believe Bill James invented baseball.
Pitching today is the worst it's ever been in the history of the game.
Offense and defense isn't far behind.
April 15th, 2011 at 10:42 pm
Wow, I can remember Giant's hurler Ron Bryant getting shelled every time out it seems at the beginning of the season when I was a kid in 1974. We were shocked he didn't win the Cy Young award in '73 when he was the N.L's only twenty game winner with 24!!! We were sure he was going to make the voters pay! Not!
April 16th, 2011 at 1:09 pm
Very interesting names on that list. Of course, at the beginning of the season, you just throw your supposed horses out there regardless. April 1973 was the beginning of the Steve Blass implosion.
April 16th, 2011 at 1:21 pm
Gullet, Morris, McDowell and Wang's teams made the World Series in that year. So don't draw too many conclusions about what it does to the team.