Recondite Baseball: The Worst K/BB Ratios, Minimum 50 IP

Friday, February 27, 2009

The Worst K/BB Ratios, Minimum 50 IP

This Beyond the Box Score post mentions Mariano Rivera's seventy-seven strikeouts and six walks last season and how his 12.83 K/BB ratio is stunningly high. As a commenter on that post revealed, Dennis Eckersley is the only reliever ever to record a higher ratio in 50 or more innings pitched. Eck had ratios of 18.33 and 18.25 in 1989 and 1990, respectively, with 128 strikeouts against seven walks in the two seasons combined. In fact, only two other pitchers had better ratios than Eckersley. Both pitched in the nineteenth century and both had, suspiciously, only one base on balls allowed. In 1879, Fred Goldsmith struck out 31 batters in 63 innings for Troy of the National League. In 1882, Bert Dorr struck out 34 batters in 66 innings for St. Louis of the American Association. Given the relatively fluid rules and the vagaries of record-keeping back then, I don't think it's unreasonable to discount Goldsmith and Dorr.

But even if you count Goldsmith and Dorr, there's no such controversy on the other end of the list. The all-time worst K/BB among pitchers with 50+ IP in a season belongs to Ted Wingfield. After a couple seasons as a reliable swingman who didn't strike many people out for the Red Sox, Wingfield totally lost his strikeout ability in 1927. In 74 2/3 innings, Wingfield went 1-7 with a 5.06 ERA. He also issued 27 walks against only one strikeout, good for a 0.04 K/BB. He wasn't the only pitcher to struggle in that era, as a look at the ten worst K/BB since 1901 shows.

Worst K/BB Since 1901, Minimum 50 IP

Name	Team	IP	K	BB	K:BB
Ted Wingfield	1927 BOS	74.2	1	27	.037
Ray Moss	1928 BRO	60.1	5	35	.143
Jack Berly	1933 PHI	50.0	4	22	.182
Skinny Graham	1929 DET	51.2	7	33	.212
Jack Dunn	1901 PHI/BLA	64.1	6	28	.214
Dewey Metivier	1923 CLE	73.1	9	38	.237
Les Sweetland	1928 PHI	135.1	23	97	.237
Bob Kline	1933 BOS	127.0	16	67	.239
Joe Coleman	1950 PHA	54.0	12	50	.240
Norman Plitt	1927 BRO/NYG	69.7	9	37	.243

The combination of low strikeout and high walk rates in both major leagues was lethal to these guys. For a more recent feel, let's turn to the worst K:BB rates of the last 10 years:

Worst K/BB Since 1999, Minimum 50 IP

Name	Team	IP	K	BB	K:BB
Dan Serafini	1999 CHC	62.1	17	32	.531
Kirk Rueter	2005 SFG	107.1	25	47	.532
Scott Erickson	2005 LAD	55.1	15	25	.600
Steve Avery	1999 CIN	96.0	51	78	.654
Russ Ortiz	2005 ARI	115.0	46	65	.708
Dewon Brazelton	2005 TBD	71.0	43	60	.717
Steve Trachsel	2007 BAL/CHC	158.0	56	76	.737
Jimmy Anderson	2002 PIT	140.2	47	63	.746
Aaron Cook	2003 COL	124.0	43	57	.754
Ken Cloude	1999 SEA	72.1	35	46	.761

Both 1999 and 2005 show up three times on the list. If you're curious, here are the six major leaguers with 50+ IP and a K:BB of 1.000 or lower in 2008: