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MLB - Official 2012 Season Thread: Bringing in Bobby V to Change Our Culture |OT2|

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S

Sharp

Member
state_vector_collapse said:
To start with, what is ERA? And why does a batter sometimes get to walk to first base? Can't believe I'm hooked on something I barely understand :)
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ERA is how many runs crossed the plate while the pitcher was pitching, divided by the number of innings pitched, times nine. Sort of. It's not really how many runs crossed the plate while the pitcher was pitching, but how many baserunners the pitcher allowed on who reached home. And they don't count if the umpires decide that they wouldn't have scored if it weren't for "errors" (defensive miscues) by fielders. It's actually really stupid but the idea is that since a baseball game is (usually) nine innings, and when the stat was created most pitchers pitched complete games, ERA would tell you how many runs per game the pitcher was likely to give up, in a rate-adjusted way so it would put people who started games or pitched a lot of innings on an equal footing with people who relieved or didn't pitch a lot. Anyway, a better measure is probably RA/37 (37 plate appearances per game on average; of 37 plate appearances against a pitcher, how many runs usually scored?) but people are used to ERA.

In general, ERA works like this (in this era) and this is how people react to it:
5+ = turd
4.5-5 = bad for a reliever, replacement level starter
4-4.5 = replacement level reliever, fair for a starter
3.5-4 = fair for a reliever, good for a starter
3-3.5 = good for a reliever, great for a starter
2.5-3 = great for a reliever, excellent for a starter
2-2.5 = excellent for a reliever, godlike for a starter
2-2.5 = godlike for a reliever, unsustainable for a starter unless you are pitching Jesus.
0-2 = unsustainable and you can make fun of this pitcher for how much he will regress, unless his name is Craig Kimbrel.

You can also be unsustainably bad but you are probably in the minor leagues.
 
W

Windu

never heard about the cat, apparently
and as for a walk. first you need to know about balls and strikes. In order to get a walk, a batter has to receive 4 balls at the plate (balls are pitches out of the umpire's strike zone). As for strikes, those are when the ball is in the umpire's strike zone, when a batter swings and misses or when a batter hits the ball but fouls it (foul means when a ball does not land between the white lines on the field, fair on the other hand is when it lands between those lines and it is in play). A foul ball by the batter when the batter has two strikes against him does not count as a third strike though, the count (for example a batter has 2 balls and 2 strikes) would stay the same and the at bat would continue. (this rule has an exception though, when a batter bunts a ball foul with 2 strikes it counts as a 3rd strike and he is out. Bunting is when you see the batter hold the bat horizontal and tries to tap it somewhere).
 
M

Macattk15

Member
I swear to god if the M's resign Ichiro as a fulltime player and do not let Casper Wells play most of the time in RF .... I will kill someone in the M's FO.
 
W

Windu

never heard about the cat, apparently
Sharp said:
Not even Cy Felix. Though he may be referred to as Pitching Jesus.

I like my chart because it calls Zambrano a "fair" pitcher and that's exactly how I'd categorize him.
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speaking of Zambrano, he needs to be taken out of the game..
 
M

Macattk15

Member
Sharp said:
Not even Cy Felix. Though he may be referred to as Pitching Jesus.

I like my chart because it calls Zambrano a "fair" pitcher and that's exactly how I'd categorize him.
Click to expand...

Pfft. Felix has had two seasons where is ERA was in the "Pitching Jesus Zone"!!!!!!!
 
W

weekend_warrior

Banned
Sharp said:
ERA is how many runs crossed the plate while the pitcher was pitching, divided by the number of innings pitched, times nine. Sort of. It's not really how many runs crossed the plate while the pitcher was pitching, but how many baserunners the pitcher allowed on who reached home. And they don't count if the umpires decide that they wouldn't have scored if it weren't for "errors" (defensive miscues) by fielders. It's actually really stupid but the idea is that since a baseball game is (usually) nine innings, and when the stat was created most pitchers pitched complete games, ERA would tell you how many runs per game the pitcher was likely to give up, in a rate-adjusted way so it would put people who started games or pitched a lot of innings on an equal footing with people who relieved or didn't pitch a lot. Anyway, a better measure is probably RA/37 (37 plate appearances per game on average; of 37 plate appearances against a pitcher, how many runs usually scored?) but people are used to ERA.

In general, ERA works like this (in this era) and this is how people react to it:
5+ = turd
4.5-5 = bad for a reliever, replacement level starter
4-4.5 = replacement level reliever, fair for a starter
3.5-4 = fair for a reliever, good for a starter
3-3.5 = good for a reliever, great for a starter
2.5-3 = great for a reliever, excellent for a starter
2-2.5 = excellent for a reliever, godlike for a starter
2-2.5 = godlike for a reliever, unsustainable for a starter unless you are pitching Jesus.
0-2 = unsustainable and you can make fun of this pitcher for how much he will regress, unless his name is Craig Kimbrel.

You can also be unsustainably bad but you are probably in the minor leagues.
Click to expand...

What about a 2.21 ERA for a reliever over an 18 year career and .70 ERA in 96 postseason appearances?
 
S

Sharp

Member
Macattk15 said:
Pfft. Felix has had two seasons where is ERA was in the "Pitching Jesus Zone"!!!!!!!
Click to expand...
Well yeah, I thought we were just talking about this year.
weekend_warrior said:
What about a 2.21 ERA for a reliever over an 18 year career and .70 ERA in 96 postseason appearances?
Click to expand...
I think Tango Tiger has referred to Mariano as not just the best reliever ever, but arguably the best reliever possible. That said, he slots in nicely in the godlike category. These stats are really for single-year numbers, Mo has kind of had a godlike career.
 
D

dmag1223

Member
Well, we actually hit Miley pretty well. Too bad Bronson basically crapped his pants in the 1st.

I don't think we are going to win this one.
 
C

CygnusXS

will gain confidence one day
Windu said:
so soon? i thought there was a 15 day rule between call ups or something.
Click to expand...

It's 10 days, but MLB makes an exception in the case of (a) replacing an injured player or (b) filling the new 26th Man roster spot for doubleheaders.
 
L

Little Green Yoda

Member
Sharp said:
In general, ERA works like this (in this era) and this is how people react to it:
5+ = turd
4.5-5 = bad for a reliever, replacement level starter
4-4.5 = replacement level reliever, fair for a starter
3.5-4 = fair for a reliever, good for a starter
3-3.5 = good for a reliever, great for a starter
2.5-3 = great for a reliever, excellent for a starter
2-2.5 = excellent for a reliever, godlike for a starter
2-2.5 = godlike for a reliever, unsustainable for a starter unless you are pitching Jesus.
0-2 = unsustainable and you can make fun of this pitcher for how much he will regress, unless his name is Craig Kimbrel.
Click to expand...
Hasn't the run environment (at least in the NL) shifted from this in the past 2 seasons? A 3.50 ERA isn't really a "great starter" any more. In the steroid era, sure.
 
S

Sharp

Member
rando14 said:
hahahahaha
Click to expand...
Why are you laughing, is it because of Jesus Flores
Little Green Yoda said:
Hasn't the run environment (at least in the NL) shifted from this in the past 2 seasons? A 3.50 ERA isn't really a "great starter" any more. In the steroid era, sure.
Click to expand...
3-3.5, and this is taking into account the shifted run environment. During the steroid era 4 was above average. Obviously the upper extreme (3.5) isn't as impressive as the lower extreme (3), of course, but half-season ERAs can look a lot better than end-of-season ones.
 
S

Sharp

Member
The best part, I think, about Lombardozzi hitting leadoff is that he doesn't really walk or hit for power, so you can limit your expectations.
 
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