This is our old blog. It hasn't been active since 2011. Please see the link above for our current blog or click the logo above to see all of the great data and content on this site.
«
»

Doctor? More like surgeon.

Posted by Andy on April 12, 2010

Yesterday, Roy Halladay pitched one of the most dominant games in history. He didn't pitch a no-hitter or even a shutout, as he allowed one unearned run on 7 hits with no walks and 8 strikeouts. What he did do was throw 111 pitches with only 28 called balls. The other 83 pitches were strikes.

That's a very high percentage. Here are all the games for the years that we have pitch counts where the started threw no more than 111 pitches but at least 83 for strikes:

Rk Player Date Tm Opp Rslt App,Dec IP H R ER BB SO HR Pit Str GSc IR IS BF AB 2B 3B IBB HBP SH SF GDP SB CS PO BK WP ERA WPA RE24 aLI
1 Roy Halladay 2010-04-11 PHI HOU W 2-1 CG 9 ,W 9.0 7 1 0 0 8 0 111 83 79 33 32 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0.00 0.680 3.440 1.760
2 Ted Lilly 2009-09-18 CHC STL L 2-3 GS-8 7.2 5 2 2 0 6 0 110 84 67 29 27 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 2.35 0.217 1.719 1.266
3 Max Scherzer 2009-07-26 ARI PIT W 9-0 GS-7 ,W 7.0 5 0 0 0 8 0 109 85 75 26 26 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.263 3.798 .645
4 Cliff Lee 2008-08-10 CLE TOR W 4-0 GS-8 ,W 8.0 8 0 0 0 1 0 104 83 67 31 31 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.406 4.179 .913
5 Randy Johnson 2008-08-06 ARI PIT L 0-2 GS-8 ,L 7.1 7 2 2 0 7 1 111 84 63 29 29 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2.45 0.104 0.950 .922
6 Cliff Lee 2008-07-20 CLE SEA W 6-2 CG 9 ,W 9.0 11 2 2 0 4 0 109 84 61 36 36 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 2.00 0.202 2.661 .692
7 Aaron Harang 2006-09-24 CIN CHC W 3-2 CG 9 ,W 9.0 6 2 2 0 9 2 110 87 76 34 34 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 2.00 0.212 3.054 1.010
8 Roy Halladay 2006-08-26 TOR KCR L 0-2 CG 9 ,L 9.0 4 2 2 1 7 2 110 84 77 31 30 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2.00 0.168 2.973 .555
9 Jeremy Bonderman 2006-07-07 DET SEA W 6-1 GS-9 ,W 8.2 6 1 1 0 4 0 110 83 72 31 31 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1.04 0.448 3.366 .786
10 Jon Lieber 2006-05-13 PHI CIN W 2-0 GS-9 ,W 8.2 2 0 0 0 6 0 110 83 86 28 28 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.691 4.800 1.072
11 Jose Contreras 2005-09-23 CHW MIN W 3-1 CG 9 ,W 9.0 6 1 1 1 9 0 111 83 79 32 31 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 3 0 0 0 0 1.00 0.446 3.893 1.064
12 Aaron Harang 2005-09-12 CIN CHC W 5-2 GS-9 ,W 8.1 8 2 2 0 5 1 108 85 64 33 33 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2.16 0.478 2.195 1.168
13 Dan Haren 2005-08-23 OAK DET L 1-4 GS-8 ,L 7.1 10 4 4 0 6 2 111 86 48 31 31 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 4.91 -0.056 -0.131 .757
14 Randy Johnson 2005-06-16 NYY PIT W 6-1 CG 9 ,W 9.0 5 1 1 0 11 1 110 86 84 33 33 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1.00 0.201 3.661 .413
15 Brett Tomko 2003-09-10 STL COL W 10-2 CG 9 ,W 9.0 6 2 2 0 8 1 109 84 75 33 33 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2.00 0.146 2.520 .541
16 Ted Lilly 2003-07-30 OAK CLE L 2-4 GS-7 ,L 7.0 6 3 3 0 5 1 109 83 58 27 26 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3.86 0.024 0.774 .984
17 David Wells 2002-09-06 NYY DET W 8-1 CG 9 ,W 9.0 5 1 1 0 5 0 105 83 78 33 31 2 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1.00 0.202 3.893 .676
18 Randy Wolf 2002-09-05 PHI MON W 4-1 CG 9 ,W 9.0 5 1 1 0 5 1 108 85 78 32 32 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.00 0.439 3.591 .927
19 Roy Oswalt 2002-07-16 HOU PIT L 3-7 GS-7 ,L 7.0 9 6 6 0 8 1 110 86 43 29 28 2 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 7.71 -0.266 -2.319 .742
20 Roy Oswalt 2001-08-30 HOU CIN W 6-1 CG 9 ,W 9.0 3 1 1 0 9 1 110 84 86 30 29 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1.00 0.349 4.063 .676
21 Josh Towers 2001-07-21 BAL ANA L 5-6 GS-8 7.2 10 4 4 0 6 2 110 87 49 35 32 2 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 4.70 -0.115 -0.169 .854
22 David Wells 2000-06-28 TOR TBD W 5-2 CG 9 ,W 9.0 5 2 2 0 5 1 108 85 74 32 32 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2.00 0.352 3.331 .823
23 David Wells 1998-09-01 NYY OAK W 7-0 SHO9 ,W 9.0 2 0 0 0 13 0 110 86 96 29 29 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.176 4.944 .247
24 David Wells 1997-08-30 NYY MON L 2-7 GS-8 ,L 8.0 9 6 4 1 8 2 104 84 51 35 34 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 4.50 -0.279 -1.561 .390
25 Greg Maddux 1997-05-21 ATL MON W 3-2 CG 9 ,W 9.0 8 2 2 1 6 0 111 83 68 34 31 3 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 2.00 0.139 2.712 1.148
Rk Player Date Tm Opp Rslt App,Dec IP H R ER BB SO HR Pit Str GSc IR IS BF AB 2B 3B IBB HBP SH SF GDP SB CS PO BK WP ERA WPA RE24 aLI
26 Mark Gardner 1996-09-26 SFG LAD W 6-1 CG 9 ,W 9.0 7 1 1 0 7 0 109 83 76 33 32 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1.00 0.265 3.379 .594
27 Curt Schilling 1993-08-25 PHI COL W 8-5 GS-8 ,W 8.0 9 4 4 2 9 2 109 83 55 34 31 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 4.50 0.019 -0.027 .971
28 Sid Fernandez 1990-08-10 NYM CHC W 5-1 CG 9 ,W 9.0 3 1 1 0 6 1 110 86 83 30 30 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.00 0.300 3.228 .514
29 Mike Scott 1989-07-26 HOU LAD W 6-2 GS-8 ,W 8.0 4 1 1 1 11 0 111 84 80 29 28 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.12 0.321 2.394 .619
30 Don Drysdale 1963-08-10 LAD CIN W 10-3 CG 9 ,W 9.0 8 3 3 0 13 1 110 86 72 34 34 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 3.00 0.108 0.927 1.152
31 Johnny Podres 1962-09-30 LAD STL L 0-1 CG 9 ,L 9.0 5 1 1 0 7 1 109 83 80 32 32 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.00 0.254 3.198 .926
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 4/12/2010.

Undoubtedly there are many more such games but either the pitch data doesn't exist or it's not in the B-R.com database yet.

Note that Boomer Wells shows up here 4 times. Other multiples are Harang, Lee, Johnson, Oswalt, Lilly, and now Halladay.

Keep in mind, once again, that the pitch data is far from complete. I'm having trouble finding exactly which years are covered for pitch data, but I think from 1989-present is complete and before that it's sporadic.

No related posts.

This entry was posted on Monday, April 12th, 2010 at 8:29 am and is filed under Game Finders. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

8 Responses to “Doctor? More like surgeon.”

  1. Around The Majors- News & Notes 4/12 « SprungOnSports Says:
    April 12th, 2010 at 9:53 am

    [...] Brian Roberts on the disabled list. -Only 30 starts in since 1962 was quite like the dominant one Roy Halladay had for the Phillies against the Astros on Sunday. -Who can’t get enough Stephen Strasburg [...]

  2. Kahuna Tuna Says:
    April 12th, 2010 at 10:03 am

    Talk about your hard-luck losses — Podres' gem in 1962, which he lost 1-0 on an eighth-inning homer to Gene Oliver, took place on the last day of the regular season. The Giants won that day, 2-1, on an eighth-inning homer by Willie Mays, to set up the three-game playoff.

  3. eorns Says:
    April 12th, 2010 at 11:19 am

    This list are interesting, but as a comparison for Halliday, it's a little misleading. Just check out the reference from the first comment: "Only 30 starts since 1962 was quite like the dominant one Roy Halladay had." This isn't exactly true for two reasons. First, the criteria are arbitrary. For instance, if you threw 112 pitches with 100 for strikes, it wouldn't show up here. I believe we've had the discussion here before about this kind of thing. Second, strike percentage is only partially indicative of "dominance". Only around half of these games might credibly be categorized as "great", and includes some bad ones. If you bump up the pitch count a touch you get Curt Schilling's 2002 start in which he threw 94 of 114 pitches for strikes while compiling a horrendous GameScore of 18*. Sometimes it's just an indicator of batters putting the ball in play.

    *Schilling is actually the posterboy for these kinds of starts, compiling games of (Pit-Str-GScr): 114-94-18, 120-84-31, 116-86-33, and 117-84-33!

  4. Andy Says:
    April 12th, 2010 at 11:23 am

    The first commenter clearly didn't read the post carefully (or perhaps at all.)

    And I fully agree with your comments, eorns. I wrote the word "dominant" with my tongue firmly in my cheek there. One of the things that has become apparent to me as I've gotten more into this blog is that I can't write things just for the statheads like you and me--nevertheless I completely agree with your analysis.

  5. eorns Says:
    April 12th, 2010 at 1:29 pm

    Gotcha. Sorry I didn't pick on where your tongue was :).

  6. bdunc8 Says:
    April 12th, 2010 at 5:39 pm

    That Schilling start is insane. He faced 37 batters and only 2 of them got to a 2 ball count. 2! It obviously didn't do him any good, but he sure filled up the strike zone that day.

  7. DoubleDiamond Says:
    April 12th, 2010 at 5:44 pm

    Roy Oswalt, who is on the list multiple times, was the other Roy's opposing starter yesterday. I wonder if any of the other starters on this list were opposing starters for any of the other games.

  8. Baseball-Reference Blog » Blog Archive » Card of the Week: 2002 Flair #89 Curt Schilling Says:
    April 17th, 2010 at 7:08 am

    [...] Wells, Paul Byrd, Greg Maddux, Brad Radke, and Schilling. This list is a follow-on to an earlier post I made about Roy Halladay where I noted his high strike percentage but some readers pointed out that this doesn't necessarily [...]

«
»