Wednesday, October 16, 2013

2013 Fun Stats Review: The Pitchers

Welcome back to the 2013 Fun Stats Review and Recap.  What a fun title!  If you missed last week, you missed out on some really fun batting stats.  You can read it here.  Today, I'm going to look for all sorts of fun pitching stats to share with you.  Will I find any?  I certainly hope so; I did write this entire intro paragraph after all.  Enough introducin', more funnin'. 

No-Walkers

If you listen to the Effectively Wild podcast, you are familiar with the concept of a No-Walker.  It's basically a no-hitter, but instead of a complete game shutout with no hits allowed, it is a complete game shutout with no walks allowed.  The EW guys (that's what I call them) think it is equally impressive.  I'm not here to judge, just report.  Here are some fun facts about the 18 No-Walkers from 2013:
  • Shelby Miller had the most strikeouts in a No-Walker with 13
  • Andrew Albers had the fewest strikeouts in a No-Walker with 2
  • Shelby Miller, Yusmeiro Petit, Andrew Cashner and Jon Lester all threw a one-hitter with their no-walker. 
  • Bronson Arroyo gave up the most hits in his no-walker, with 7
  • Chris Archer and Clayton Kershaw each threw two no-walkers in 2013
  • Bartolo Colon threw the fattest no-walker in 2013
Balk Balk!

You know, like a chicken. 

Four pitchers balked twice in one game in 2013:  Stephen Strasburg, Rex Brothers, Wilton Lopez and Alfredo Aceves.  Aceves faced 22 batters on April 23, 2013.  He gave up seven hits, four walks, two balks, seven earned runs, one home run and one double.  He did strike out three.  That adds up to a game score of -666.  I actually didn't look that last part up, so it could be inaccurate. 

For the season, three of those fellows tied Edgmer Escalona for the league-lead with three balks.  It was actually Aceves who never balked again.  It's impossible to know when Aceves will balk again, so please be vigilant and report any future balks to your local authorities.

Winz!

Jose Veras threw the most innings without a win, going 62.2 futile innings.  Josh Beckett made eight starts and did not record a win, but at least he kept that disgusting soul patch in order.  Jason Grilli had the best entrance music of any player without a win, using "Whipping" by Pearl Jam and effectively winning my heart in the process.  Jose Mijares ate the most cheeseburgers of any player without a win, probably.

Joe Martinez pitched five total innings and recorded a win.  John Gast pitched 12.1 innings and recorded two wins.  Vic Black won three games in only 17 innings and I'm pretty sure that's a fake name.  All of those guys make Josh Beckett sick.  Cole Hamels threw 220 innings in 2013, posted a 3.60 ERA, but only knew how to win 8 times.  What a piece of

Adventures in Wins

On April 12, Kyuji Fujikawa entered a game with a 2-0 lead.  He got the first out, then gave up a double, a wild pitch, a single and then hit a guy.  He still had the closer mentality at this point, leading 2-1.  He then got a groundout.  Then, a double that scored two.  Fujikawa doesn't have the closer mentality anymore.  Of course, Dioner Navarro (who is still just 18 years old somehow) hit a leadoff home run, and a couple hits later, the Cubs won, giving Fujikawa the win.  So, he lost his closer mystique and learned how to win in the same game. 

Vance Worley only managed one win in 2013.  In that game, he gave up 11 hits, one walk and struck out one in 5.1 innings.  Worley won 11 games in 2011, 6 games in 2012 and that one lone game in 2013.  If you are good at math, you know that Worley will win -4 games in 2014.      

Birthdays!
  • Seven guys won a game on their birthday! - Hisashi Iwakuma, Luke Gregerson, Max Scherzer, J.J. Hoover, Wade Davis, Anthony Swarzak, and Gio Gonzalez.  Happy birthday indeed!
  • Five guys lost a game on their birthday! - Jeremy Hellickson, Josh Lindblom, Sam Deduno, Tom Gorzelanny, and Juan Nicasio.  Happy birthday, indeed?
  • Four guys saved a game on their birthday!  - Craig Kimbrel, Ernesto Frieri, Joaquin Benoit, and Casey Janssen.  Happy birthday indeed!
  • John Axford blew a save on his birthday.  Happy birthday, indeed?
  • Three guys recorded holds on their birthday!  No one cares about holds.
Random Fun Facts!
  • C.J. Wilson and Erik Bedard each walked 11 batters after having them 0-2.  Pathetic.
  • Justin Verlander, Tim Lincecum, Ian Kennedy and Yu Darvish each struck out 6 batters after letting the count go to 3-0.  Inspiring!
  • Brett Cecil pitched to 18 3-0 counts.  13 of those batters walked.  None scored.  Walks will haunt, eh?
  • Chien-Ming Wang got 4 batters to an 0-2 count and struck out none of them. 
  • Mark Buehrle received at least six runs of support in seven starts, Barry Zito and Pedro Hernandez in eight starts.  Each of these pitchers were horrible with their leads, posting ERAs over seven.  They did win two of those games apiece. 
  • On June 7, Rich Hill entered the game, gave up a single to Brayan Pena and then picked him off.  That was it for Hill that day.  Fun, right?
  • Raul Valdes had the worst first inning ERA in 2013.  His 45 ERA was from his one and only start in 2013.  Not sure why he didn't get another start... 
And with that, the fun has ended.  All the fun stats have been catalogued and posted.  If you ever need to remember what was fun about 2013, just stop by again and review.  If you need, there is a Cliff's Notes version available at your local Barnes and Noble.  Have a great day, everyone

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