Ben Hayes
Posted by Andy on February 12, 2009
I just noticed an autographed baseball card from onetime Reds pitcher Ben Hayes posted at the 83F Project blog. I had never heard of Hayes before. He had one great year, one awful year, and then appeared in the majors again.
I noticed that he had a very high WHIP in 1983 but still appeared in 60 games.
So I searched for the highest WHIPs in players appearing in at least 60 games. Here are the top 10:
Cnt Player **WHIP** G Year Age Tm Lg GS CG SHO GF W L W-L% SV IP H R ER BB SO ERA ERA+ HR BF AB 2B 3B IBB HBP SH SF GDP SB CS Pk BK WP BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+ Pit Str +----+-----------------+---------+---+----+---+---+--+---+--+---+--+--+--+-----+--+-----+---+---+---+---+---+------+----+--+----+----+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+--+--+--+-----+-----+-----+-----+----+----+----+ 1 Rob Murphy 2.053 68 1990 30 BOS AL 0 0 0 20 0 6 .000 7 57 85 46 40 32 54 6.32 65 10 285 244 16 1 3 1 4 4 5 5 3 0 0 4 .348 .420 .545 .965 162 2 Jim Poole 1.986 63 1997 31 SFG NL 0 0 0 11 3 1 .750 0 49.1 73 44 39 25 26 7.11 58 6 242 207 17 0 4 4 4 2 5 3 4 1 0 5 .353 .429 .522 .951 156 3 Norm Charlton 1.962 71 1997 34 SEA AL 0 0 0 38 3 8 .273 14 69.1 89 59 56 47 55 7.27 62 7 343 285 15 2 2 4 7 0 4 5 5 1 1 7 .312 .417 .453 .870 128 4 Shawn Chacon 1.942 66 2004 26 COL NL 0 0 0 60 1 9 .100 35 63.1 71 52 50 52 52 7.11 69 12 316 252 13 3 7 5 7 0 3 5 0 1 0 9 .282 .414 .500 .914 128 1265 737 5 LaTroy Hawkins 1.909 62 2001 28 MIN AL 0 0 0 51 1 5 .167 28 51.1 59 34 34 39 36 5.96 77 3 248 203 10 0 3 1 1 4 5 4 1 0 0 7 .291 .401 .384 .785 108 928 547 6 Danny Kolb 1.855 65 2005 30 ATL NL 0 0 0 34 3 8 .273 11 57.2 78 39 38 29 39 5.93 71 5 270 237 12 1 5 1 2 1 14 3 0 0 0 5 .329 .403 .451 .854 129 1021 642 7 Mike Munoz 1.855 64 1995 29 COL NL 0 0 0 19 2 4 .333 2 43.2 54 38 36 27 37 7.42 73 9 208 176 8 2 0 1 2 2 2 3 0 0 0 5 .307 .398 .528 .926 124 8 Antonio Alfonseca 1.852 61 2007 35 PHI NL 0 0 0 22 5 2 .714 8 49.2 65 31 30 27 24 5.44 85 3 236 207 17 1 6 1 0 1 3 7 0 0 0 1 .314 .394 .449 .843 120 892 544 9 Jesse Orosco 1.842 65 2003 46 TOT ML 0 0 0 13 2 2 .500 2 33.2 41 31 29 21 29 7.75 53 4 166 137 8 1 3 3 1 4 0 7 0 0 0 7 .299 .394 .460 .854 134 647 376 10 Andrew Sisco 1.817 65 2006 23 KCR AL 0 0 0 16 1 3 .250 1 58.1 66 47 46 40 52 7.10 66 8 278 228 10 0 6 1 4 5 4 5 1 0 0 4 .289 .391 .439 .830 113 1104 636
They are all recent, coming since 1990. That's true all the way down to #33 on the list, Hayes' 1983 season.
Here are the worst such seasons up to 1989:
Cnt Player **WHIP** G Year Age Tm Lg GS CG SHO GF W L W-L% SV IP H R ER BB SO ERA ERA+ HR BF AB 2B 3B IBB HBP SH SF GDP SB CS Pk BK WP BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+ Pit Str +----+-----------------+---------+---+----+---+---+--+---+--+---+--+--+--+-----+--+-----+---+---+---+---+---+------+----+--+----+----+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+--+--+--+-----+-----+-----+-----+----+----+----+ 1 Ben Hayes 1.716 60 1983 25 CIN NL 0 0 0 34 4 6 .400 7 69.1 82 53 50 37 44 6.49 58 8 318 272 12 3 6 1 3 5 5 6 2 0 1 1 .301 .381 .456 .837 136 2 Rod Scurry 1.706 61 1983 27 PIT NL 0 0 0 25 4 9 .308 7 68 63 45 42 53 67 5.56 67 6 317 253 13 3 7 4 3 4 4 11 1 1 0 6 .249 .382 .395 .777 120 3 Larry Hardy 1.702 76 1974 26 SDP NL 1 0 0 25 9 4 .692 2 101.2 129 58 53 44 57 4.69 76 9 468 407 22 2 14 0 13 4 10 12 3 0 0 4 .317 .380 .447 .827 141 4 Dan Spillner 1.679 60 1983 31 CLE AL 0 0 0 41 2 9 .182 8 92.1 117 54 52 38 48 5.07 84 7 418 371 21 2 9 2 0 7 10 8 1 0 0 4 .315 .376 .439 .815 121 5 Dale Murray 1.676 61 1977 27 CIN NL 1 0 0 20 7 2 .778 4 102 125 60 56 46 42 4.94 80 13 457 398 21 2 6 2 4 7 17 3 3 1 1 4 .314 .382 .475 .857 133 6 Jimmy Key 1.645 63 1984 23 TOR AL 0 0 0 24 4 5 .444 10 62 70 37 32 32 44 4.65 89 8 285 245 11 2 8 1 6 1 3 2 0 0 1 3 .286 .369 .445 .814 119 7 Ed Vande Berg 1.626 60 1986 27 LAD NL 0 0 0 29 1 5 .167 0 71.1 83 32 27 33 42 3.41 102 8 325 286 11 2 7 1 4 1 2 6 7 0 0 1 .290 .364 .427 .791 131 8 Dave Heaverlo 1.623 62 1979 28 OAK AL 0 0 0 42 4 11 .267 9 85.2 97 42 40 42 40 4.20 97 7 392 330 14 3 18 4 12 4 4 7 2 0 1 0 .294 .376 .418 .794 117 9 Bob Stanley 1.591 66 1986 31 BOS AL 1 0 0 50 6 6 .500 16 82.1 109 48 40 22 54 4.37 96 9 366 338 16 2 8 0 2 4 12 3 2 0 0 1 .322 .360 .462 .822 121 10 John Smiley 1.587 63 1987 22 PIT NL 0 0 0 19 5 5 .500 4 75 69 49 48 50 58 5.76 71 7 336 283 16 2 8 0 0 3 9 4 2 1 1 5 .244 .354 .389 .743 104 11 Ken Trinkle 1.580 62 1947 27 NYG NL 0 0 0 38 8 4 .667 10 93.2 100 47 39 48 37 3.75 109 3 416 1 0 2 0 12 Dale Murray 1.577 67 1979 29 TOT NL 0 0 0 27 5 10 .333 5 110.1 119 62 56 55 41 4.57 80 7 481 414 17 2 16 0 8 4 15 7 6 0 0 3 .287 .368 .389 .757 116 13 Marlin Stuart 1.574 60 1953 34 SLB AL 2 0 0 30 8 2 .800 7 114.1 136 62 50 44 46 3.94 107 6 509 1 0 3 0 14 Greg Minton 1.572 68 1985 33 SFG NL 0 0 0 36 5 4 .556 4 96.2 98 42 38 54 37 3.54 98 6 424 360 14 2 18 0 6 4 13 15 4 0 0 2 .272 .364 .372 .736 117 15 Hoyt Wilhelm 1.567 64 1956 33 NYG NL 0 0 0 38 4 9 .308 8 89.1 97 45 38 43 71 3.83 98 7 403 344 8 0 10 2 10 1 5 7 6 0 0 6 .282 .364 .366 .730 84 16 Grant Jackson 1.565 60 1978 35 PIT NL 0 0 0 25 7 5 .583 5 77.1 89 32 28 32 45 3.26 114 5 346 299 19 1 9 1 9 5 5 10 3 0 1 2 .298 .362 .418 .780 118 17 Al Brazle 1.565 60 1953 39 STL NL 0 0 0 33 6 7 .462 18 92 101 47 43 43 57 4.21 101 8 417 2 0 0 0 18 Turk Lown 1.563 61 1956 32 CHC NL 0 0 0 47 9 8 .529 13 110.2 95 49 44 78 74 3.58 106 10 489 395 9 2 12 1 9 4 11 4 3 0 0 1 .241 .364 .349 .713 71 19 Gary Lavelle 1.555 65 1975 26 SFG NL 0 0 0 29 6 3 .667 8 82.1 80 30 27 48 51 2.95 129 3 370 308 10 1 12 3 10 1 12 7 1 0 3 2 .260 .364 .328 .692 94 20 Dale Murray 1.554 63 1975 25 MON NL 0 0 0 40 15 8 .652 9 111.1 134 59 49 39 43 3.96 97 0 499 440 22 3 10 3 12 5 10 2 5 0 2 2 .305 .361 .368 .729 104
February 12th, 2009 at 3:28 pm
There have been 2016 seasons of at least 60 games pitched. Many of those were by starting pitchers in the 1880s, when some of the most shocking pitcher stats ever were amassed.
No one has started 60 games in a season since the mound was moved back in 1893. 1946 of the 60-game seasons have occurred since then. 1338 of those, more than two-thirds, have occurred since 1990. Unsurprisingly, the number of 60-game seasons keeps rising. There were 92 of them in 2007, the most ever.
February 12th, 2009 at 4:16 pm
You said that he appeared in the major's again. He actually never appeared again.
February 12th, 2009 at 4:32 pm
(continuing on my tangent)
I graphed the number of pitchers with 60 games pitched each year. Almost no one did it for a long time after 1892. One starts popping up each year in about 1940. The current exponential rise in the number of guys doing it each season started in about 1960. (Of course, that's also affected by expansion, but I didn't take that into account.)
February 12th, 2009 at 6:48 pm
One interesting difference between the guys pre- and post-1990: most of the top 10 since 1990 have been on playoff teams, including the top three and Orosco being on two playoff teams. Very few of the guys on the latter list are from playoff teams. I know, there are more playoff teams since then, but I find it interesting that the difference is so drastic.
February 12th, 2009 at 7:01 pm
Also, in looking at innings, six times a guy has pitched 100+ innings with a 2+ WHIP. Claude Willoughby did it twice! The year in between he struck out 50 and walked 108! I know that was a hitters' era, but he just might have the worst pitching stats ever: 5.84 ERA (81 ERA+), 1.803 WHIP, 175 K and 406 BB.