SP Not Allowing Many BB & XBH
Posted by Steve Lombardi on August 23, 2010
Using Play Index, I was looking for starting pitchers, post Dead Ball Era, who excelled in a given season at keeping the ball from going over the fence or for extra base hits, period, while also not allowing many free passes.
So, I set the filters in Pitching Season Finder for:
From 1920 to 2010,
Seasons with at least 162 IP, and
Requiring 2B<=20, 3B<=10, BB per 9 IP<=3, HR<.05*IP
And, this is what I found: For single seasons, From 1920 to 2010, (requiring 2B<=20, 3B<=10, BBp9<=3, HR<.05*IP and At least 162 Innings Pitched), sorted by greatest Adjusted ERA+
Rk | Player | 2B | 3B | HR | IP | Year | Age | Tm | Lg | G | GS | CG | SHO | GF | W | L | SV | H | R | ER | BB | SO | BF | AB | IBB | HBP | SH | SF | GDP | SB | CS | PO | BK | WP | Pit | Str | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Dean Chance | 198 | 20 | 4 | 2.78 | 7 | 278.1 | 1964 | 23 | LAA | AL | 46 | 35 | 15 | 11 | 7 | 20 | 9 | .690 | 4 | 194 | 56 | 51 | 86 | 207 | 1.65 | 1093 | 994 | 9 | 2 | 9 | 2 | 31 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 9 | .195 | .260 | .244 | .505 | 53 | ||
2 | Phil Niekro | 179 | 20 | 2 | 2.39 | 9 | 207.0 | 1967 | 28 | ATL | NL | 46 | 20 | 10 | 1 | 20 | 11 | 9 | .550 | 9 | 164 | 64 | 43 | 55 | 129 | 1.87 | 827 | 752 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 21 | 21 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 19 | .218 | .276 | .286 | .562 | 63 | ||
3 | Bill Swift | 159 | 19 | 4 | 2.35 | 6 | 164.2 | 1992 | 30 | SFG | NL | 30 | 22 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 4 | .714 | 1 | 144 | 41 | 38 | 43 | 77 | 2.08 | 655 | 602 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 26 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .239 | .292 | .314 | .606 | 82 | ||
4 | Al Fitzmorris | 136 | 19 | 5 | 2.98 | 8 | 190.0 | 1974 | 28 | KCR | AL | 34 | 27 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 13 | 6 | .684 | 1 | 189 | 73 | 59 | 63 | 53 | 2.79 | 806 | 728 | 10 | 0 | 12 | 4 | 18 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 10 | .260 | .317 | .332 | .649 | 82 | ||
5 | Ken Forsch | 133 | 20 | 2 | 2.53 | 8 | 188.1 | 1971 | 24 | HOU | NL | 33 | 23 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 8 | .500 | 0 | 162 | 60 | 53 | 53 | 131 | 2.53 | 771 | 704 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 17 | 14 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 8 | .230 | .287 | .298 | .585 | 67 | ||
6 | Alejandro Pena | 131 | 13 | 2 | 2.59 | 7 | 177.0 | 1983 | 24 | LAD | NL | 34 | 26 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 12 | 9 | .571 | 1 | 152 | 67 | 54 | 51 | 120 | 2.75 | 730 | 663 | 7 | 1 | 8 | 5 | 12 | 20 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | .229 | .283 | .287 | .570 | 64 | ||
7 | Ray Washburn | 129 | 18 | 8 | 1.96 | 9 | 215.1 | 1968 | 30 | STL | NL | 31 | 30 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 14 | 8 | .636 | 0 | 191 | 67 | 54 | 47 | 124 | 2.26 | 861 | 798 | 7 | 1 | 12 | 3 | 21 | 7 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 3 | .239 | .282 | .316 | .597 | 86 | ||
8 | Don Drysdale | 128 | 14 | 2 | 2.11 | 11 | 239.0 | 1968 | 31 | LAD | NL | 31 | 31 | 12 | 8 | 0 | 14 | 12 | .538 | 0 | 201 | 68 | 57 | 56 | 155 | 2.15 | 954 | 871 | 10 | 12 | 6 | 9 | 16 | 9 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 4 | .231 | .284 | .289 | .573 | 79 | ||
9 | Dock Ellis | 125 | 17 | 5 | 1.82 | 6 | 163.1 | 1972 | 27 | PIT | NL | 25 | 25 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 7 | .682 | 0 | 156 | 60 | 49 | 33 | 96 | 2.70 | 663 | 616 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 20 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .253 | .292 | .326 | .619 | 82 | ||
10 | Lew Burdette | 122 | 18 | 4 | 2.88 | 7 | 175.0 | 1953 | 26 | MLN | NL | 46 | 13 | 6 | 1 | 24 | 15 | 5 | .750 | 8 | 177 | 73 | 63 | 56 | 58 | 3.24 | 741 | 670 | 5 | 9 | 0 | 19 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .264 | .326 | .334 | .660 | 67 | |||
11 | Paul Hartzell | 120 | 19 | 1 | 2.33 | 6 | 166.0 | 1976 | 22 | CAL | AL | 37 | 15 | 7 | 2 | 14 | 7 | 4 | .636 | 2 | 166 | 64 | 51 | 43 | 51 | 2.77 | 692 | 624 | 5 | 10 | 9 | 6 | 25 | 15 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 3 | .266 | .321 | .329 | .649 | 96 | ||
12 | Bill Singer | 117 | 17 | 5 | 2.69 | 5 | 204.1 | 1967 | 23 | LAD | NL | 32 | 29 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 12 | 8 | .600 | 0 | 185 | 68 | 60 | 61 | 169 | 2.64 | 854 | 773 | 11 | 8 | 7 | 4 | 10 | 9 | 5 | 8 | 3 | 10 | .239 | .300 | .294 | .594 | 84 | ||
13 | Dock Ellis | 116 | 12 | 4 | 2.58 | 7 | 192.0 | 1973 | 28 | PIT | NL | 28 | 28 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 14 | .462 | 0 | 176 | 86 | 65 | 55 | 122 | 3.05 | 803 | 732 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 13 | 17 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .240 | .297 | .296 | .594 | 72 | ||
14 | Steve Trout | 114 | 20 | 4 | 2.79 | 7 | 190.0 | 1984 | 26 | CHC | NL | 32 | 31 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 7 | .650 | 0 | 205 | 80 | 72 | 59 | 81 | 3.41 | 797 | 719 | 7 | 2 | 13 | 4 | 33 | 8 | 15 | 1 | 2 | 7 | .285 | .339 | .353 | .693 | 94 |
.
As you can see, Bill Swift in 1992 was the last pitcher to make all these grades. And, Doc Ellis was the only pitcher since 1920 to do this in back-to-back seasons (1972-1973).
Further, what's even more strange is that "it" didn't happen once from 1920 through 1952.
Other odd items: Dean Chance (1964) was the only 20 game winner to do "this." And, Ellis (in 1973) was the only pitcher to do "it" and post a losing record that season.
In any event, when you look at Bill Swift's career, you see that he was an incredibly effective pitcher from 1990 through 1995. It's too bad that his shoulder gave out on him. Perhaps all those innings that he threw in his near Cy Young Award season (1993) did him in? And, you have to wonder, if he had stayed in the bullpen, instead of switching back to starting, in 1992, if his career and effectiveness would have lasted longer?
August 23rd, 2010 at 8:00 pm
This is really since 1950, since without play-by-play we don't have 2B and 3B given up by individual pitchers.
August 23rd, 2010 at 9:19 pm
Ah, that explains the "it" didn't happen once from 1920 through 1952 part. Mea culpa!
August 23rd, 2010 at 10:44 pm
I remembered Swift's '93 season and that he was effective in some surrounding seasons, but I didn't recall just how good he was. He narrowly edged Clemens for the best ERA+ for 1990-1993, min 500 IP.
August 24th, 2010 at 8:32 am
Four thoughts.
(1) Is anyone else surprised to see Drysdale on this list? Maybe not because it was 1968 and there were two from that year and two more from '67. Still, that was the name that caught my attention.
(2) Notice that Bill Swifts big years as a starter were when he went to SF and (I assume) learned the "splitter" from Roger Craig. Seems a lot of SF pitchers did really well early under Craig, then developed arm trouble.
(3) Only Drysdale and Chance pitched significantly more than 200 innings. I wonder if the search parameters were set diffently (SLG against instead of the 2B and 3B criteria) what we would see? I suspect there might be some pitchers whose doubles allowed (for example) were just above the threshold, but who may have pitched 250 innings. That seems more impressive than Bill Swift, who is just under the 2B limit (19) and brushing the bottom of the IP limit (164).
(4) Wonderful to see a Steve Trout reference. A pitcher made for Wrigley Field.