A couple weeks ago I posted about intentional walks in spring. A commenter suggested managers call for IBB in spring in order to get pitchers used to dealing with the pressure of situations that call for putting a baserunner on. I'm kind of dubious about that, but I guess it's possible. Since I wrote about the first two IBB's of spring, there have been five more. The latest victims/beneficiaries: Reds' 1B Kevin Barker, Mariners 3B/1B Russell Branyan, Cardinals SS Tyler Greene, Dodgers IF Mark Loretta, and Royals OF Derrick Robinson. The pitchers tabbed to add a baserunner: Texas RHP's Thomas Diamond and Andrew Laughter, Tigers LHP Fu-Te Ni, Dodgers RHP Ramon Troncoso, and Pirates RHP Ronald Uviedo. Hopefully the experience was useful to them.
Despite only appearing in one game and not giving up a hit, Phillies LHP J.C. Romero is one of only five pitchers with 2 or more pickoffs in spring. In two innings, he walked three batters, picked off two of them, had a throwing error on another pickoff attempt, and allowed a run on a subsequent sacrifice fly. Rockies lefty Franklin Morales leads all pitchers with three pickoffs. Cardinals pitcher Brad Thompson is the only righty with two or more pickoffs. The 1988 season this isn't, but not every pickoff has succeeded. Eighteen pitchers have been called for balks and Morales is the only one with a successful pickoff.
What do Wade LeBlanc, Mike MacDougal, and Luis Perdomo have in common? Each has three wild pitches this spring, and all are one behind Ian Kennedy for the MLB lead. Wildness can be intimidating, too: Wes Littleton, Carlos Marmol, and Jarrod Washburn are tied with three hit by pitches. Inconsistency hits fielders, too: Padres SS Everth Cabrera and Dan Uggla are tied atop the leaderboard with five errors.
Who's played the most innings in the field this spring? If you guessed Colby Rasmus with 99, you'd be correct. Andrew McCutchen and Xavier Paul are second at 96 1/3 and Elvis Andrus leads all infielders with 89 1/3. Jason LaRue leads all catchers with 69 innings. Kyle Lohse and Glen Perkins have pitched fifteen innings, one-third more than Micah Owings.
Micah Hoffpauir has batted the most so far, striding up to home plate 56 times. Despite all the pitchers working on bunting, Brian Barden leads all players with three sacrifices. Jayson Werth has grounded into four double plays despite batting only twenty-six times. Playing a game that's wildly popular for the first week of the regular season, that would put him on pace for about 75 or so this year.
Finally, since I like futility, Chris Nowak is 0 for 12 this spring. He's batted the most without reaching base. With that, it's time to conclude today's roundup of pointless spring trivia.
Showing posts with label Wild Pitches. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wild Pitches. Show all posts
Monday, March 16, 2009
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Crazy and Wild Pitches
Wild pitches are pretty exciting plays...as long as your favorite team is batting. A wild pitch is officially defined as "one so high, so low, or so wide of the plate that it cannot be handled with ordinary effort by the catcher." That doesn't sound so bad as long as there are no baserunners at the time. When there are baserunners, wild pitches mean free bases or, in the worst case for a pitcher, free runs.
It seems this year there's been a lot of wild pitches. Since the start of the 1998 season, only four pitches have reached twenty wild pitches in a season: Matt Clement (23) in 2000, Scott Williamson (21) in 2000, Jose Contreras (20) in 2005, and Freddy Garcia (20) in 2005. Only thirty-eight pitchers have reached 14 or more in a single season since then. A little over halfway through this year, however, four pitchers have already reached double-digits. Those four are Ubaldo Jimenez (13) of Colorado, Manny Parra (11) of Milwaukee, Tim Wakefield (10) of Boston, and Tim Lincecum (10) of San Francisco.
The National League collectively is on pace for 824 wild pitches this season, the most since 2003. The American League is only on pace for 725, actually a decrease from the past two seasons. So, since the AL went and dismissed my idea wild pitches are on an upswing across the board, let's look at potential team records. Through 93 games this season, the Giants have tossed 49 wild pitches. That puts them on pace for a staggering 85 wild pitches this year, the most for an NL team since the Reds went nuts with 96 in 2000 (the '06 Angels and Royals both had 85). As noted, the AL has seen fewer wild pitches and the Royals and Rangers, both with 38 in 94 games, are on pace for "only" 65 this season. That would be the fewest wild pitches by an AL leading team since the 2003 Rays had 65 (the '01 Brewers led the NL with 58).
Houston only has 13 wild pitches in 93 games, putting them on pace for only 23 total this season. That would be the fewest by a major league team since the Mets only had 22 wild pitches in 2002. The AL laggard Oakland A's, already have 18 wild pitches in 93 games, putting them each on pace for 31 wild pitches. The 2005 Indians were the last team in the AL to have fewer than 31 wild pitches in a season.
For fun, I've put together a list of the fifteen pitchers since 1901 who were allowed to throw ten or more wild pitches at a rate of at least one every six innings. That'll be it for the day, as there are more cherries to be picked. :)
It seems this year there's been a lot of wild pitches. Since the start of the 1998 season, only four pitches have reached twenty wild pitches in a season: Matt Clement (23) in 2000, Scott Williamson (21) in 2000, Jose Contreras (20) in 2005, and Freddy Garcia (20) in 2005. Only thirty-eight pitchers have reached 14 or more in a single season since then. A little over halfway through this year, however, four pitchers have already reached double-digits. Those four are Ubaldo Jimenez (13) of Colorado, Manny Parra (11) of Milwaukee, Tim Wakefield (10) of Boston, and Tim Lincecum (10) of San Francisco.
The National League collectively is on pace for 824 wild pitches this season, the most since 2003. The American League is only on pace for 725, actually a decrease from the past two seasons. So, since the AL went and dismissed my idea wild pitches are on an upswing across the board, let's look at potential team records. Through 93 games this season, the Giants have tossed 49 wild pitches. That puts them on pace for a staggering 85 wild pitches this year, the most for an NL team since the Reds went nuts with 96 in 2000 (the '06 Angels and Royals both had 85). As noted, the AL has seen fewer wild pitches and the Royals and Rangers, both with 38 in 94 games, are on pace for "only" 65 this season. That would be the fewest wild pitches by an AL leading team since the 2003 Rays had 65 (the '01 Brewers led the NL with 58).
Houston only has 13 wild pitches in 93 games, putting them on pace for only 23 total this season. That would be the fewest by a major league team since the Mets only had 22 wild pitches in 2002. The AL laggard Oakland A's, already have 18 wild pitches in 93 games, putting them each on pace for 31 wild pitches. The 2005 Indians were the last team in the AL to have fewer than 31 wild pitches in a season.
For fun, I've put together a list of the fifteen pitchers since 1901 who were allowed to throw ten or more wild pitches at a rate of at least one every six innings. That'll be it for the day, as there are more cherries to be picked. :)
Fewest Innings per Wild Pitch in a Season, minimum 10 WP, 1901-2007
- Stu Flythe, 1936 Athletics, 16 WP, 39.3 IP - 2.5 IP/WP
- Jason Grimsley, 1991 Phillies, 14 WP, 61.0 IP - 4.4 IP/WP
- Danny McDevitt, 1962 Athletics, 11 WP, 51.0 IP - 4.6 IP/WP
- Jaret Wright, 2003 Padres/Braves, 12 WP, 56.3 IP - 4.7 IP/WP
- Storm Davis, 1994 Tigers, 10 WP, 48.0 IP - 4.8 IP/WP
- Scott Williamson, 2003 Reds/Red Sox, 12 WP, 62.7 IP - 5.2 IP/WP
- Scott Williamson, 2000 Reds, 21 WP, 112.0 IP - 5.3 IP/WP
- Richie Lewis, 1994 Marlins, 10 WP, 54.0 IP - 5.4 IP/WP
- Mark Guthrie, 2000 Cubs/Devil Rays/Blue Jays, 13 WP, 71.3 IP - 5.5 IP/WP
- Tom Candiotti, 1999 Athletics/Indians, 13 WP, 71.3 IP - 5.5 IP/WP
- Hector Carrasco, 2000 Twins/Red Sox, 14 WP, 78.7 IP - 5.6 IP/WP
- Dave Giusti, 1962 Colt .45's, 13 WP, 73.7 IP - 5.7 IP/WP
- Dennis Higgins, 1969 Senators, 15 WP, 85.3 IP - 5.7 IP/WP
- Jeff Robinson, 1991 Angels, 10 WP, 57.0 IP - 5.7 IP/WP
- Hector Carrasco, 1995 Reds, 15 WP, 87.3 IP - 5.8 IP/WP
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Most Wild Pitches by a Lefty Since 1901
As I noted in my last post, wild pitch totals prior to the founding of the American League in 1901 seem questionable at best. Thus I've decided not to look at them for the purpose of making the following list.
Most Career Wild Pitches by a LHP (1901-2007)
- Tommy John, 187
- Steve Carlton, 183
- Sam McDowell, 140
- Chuck Finley, 130
- Jim Kaat, 128
- Mickey Lolich, 124
- Fernando Valenzuela, 119
- Frank Tanana, 119
- Jerry Reuss, 107
- Vida Blue, 103
- Randy Johnson, 102
- David Wells, 101
- Ken Holtzman, 98
- Eppa Rixey, 97
- Ray Sadecki, 94
- Bob Veale, 92
- Steve Barber, 91
- Mark Langston, 89
- Jerry Koosman, 89
- Fred Norman, 89
A reader extremely well-versed in baseball history will notice that Eppa Rixey is the only lefty on the list to debut prior to 1959. I wonder if that's a reflection of changing ideas of the wild pitch as opposed to the passed ball or just a general decline in pitcher control. Regardless, here are the top active lefties with their place on the all-time LHP list in parentheses after their wild pitch total.
Most Career Wild Pitches by an Active LHP
- Randy Johnson, 102 (11)
- David Wells, 101 (12)
- Kenny Rogers, 75 (34)
- Tom Glavine, 65 (53)
- Mark Redman, 57 (80)
- Dennys Reyes, 56 (81)
- Johan Santana, 55 (88)
- Jamie Moyer, 53 (96)
- Andy Pettitte, 51 (106)
- Darren Oliver, 47 (116)
- Mark Mulder, 46 (122)
- Ron Villone, 45 (124)
- Ted Lilly, 44 (130)
- Doug Davis, 41 (143)
- Rheal Cormier, 39 (159)
- Scott Eyre, 38 (168)
- Billy Wagner, 38 (168)
- Mike Stanton, 35 (189)
- J.C. Romero, 32 (208)
- Barry Zito, 31 (214)
Note: The late Joe Kennedy had 36 career wild pitches, placing him 183rd on the career list for lefthanders.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Most Career Innings Pitched, Zero Wild Pitches
I was a little surprised to find out today that wild pitch totals exist all the way back to the first games of the National League in 1876. For some reason I figured that would be a stat (like strikeouts as a batter?) that didn't pop up until later. Whether they were recorded by contemporary stat crews or figured out later as part of a research project, the data makes for an interesting post.
Though it's cool to know which pitchers were wild in the 19th century, I find some numbers dubious at best. Consider Hall of Famer Tim Keefe, a pitcher from 1880 to 1893. In 5047.2 career innings, he tossed 233 wild pitches, or so the record says. What stands out from his yearly totals, however, is his 1884 season for the American Association's (then the second major league) New York Metropolitans. During that season, Keefe supposedly threw 483 innings without a single wild pitch. The year before he had 26 wild pitches in 619 innings and the year after (back in the National League) he had 35 wild pitches in 400 total innings. Is it possible he had great control that season? Sure, but I find it very unlikely. After all, the 1883 and 1884 New York Metropolitans used the same two catchers for most of each season. Further lending doubt as to the accuracy of his wild pitch count is the AA leaderboard for wild pitches: Bob Emslie had 43 wild pitches, followed by Bill Mountjoy with 18. Tom Sullivan claims fifth in the league...with three. That just seems strange, especially since Emslie only had 12 wild pitches in 1883. Was there a change in the definition of a wild pitch over time?
In any case, the cloudy 19th century data means I'm only going to look at numbers since 1901. That's a pretty common way to view records anyway. There's no guarantee numbers from the beginning part of the 20th century are any better than those of the previous twenty-five years, of course, but we'll hope they are. Let's see which pitchers had the longest careers sans wild pitches.
*Gear also pitched 23 innings in 1896 without a wild pitch. If you count those (and I didn't) he leaps over Dennis Burns and takes over seventh place with 186.0 career innings.
Now, let's look at the active pitchers with the most career innings without a wild pitch. Obviously, Scott Baker leads the list, but who else has more than fifty career innings?
As a final note, the all-time leader for most wild pitches, Nolan Ryan, threw 277 wild pitches, or one every 19.44 innings. Since 2000, 119 players have had MLB pitching careers shorter than 277 total pitches. Of those, 13 were primarily position players, but 106 pitchers, even if many are still active, is still a lot.
Though it's cool to know which pitchers were wild in the 19th century, I find some numbers dubious at best. Consider Hall of Famer Tim Keefe, a pitcher from 1880 to 1893. In 5047.2 career innings, he tossed 233 wild pitches, or so the record says. What stands out from his yearly totals, however, is his 1884 season for the American Association's (then the second major league) New York Metropolitans. During that season, Keefe supposedly threw 483 innings without a single wild pitch. The year before he had 26 wild pitches in 619 innings and the year after (back in the National League) he had 35 wild pitches in 400 total innings. Is it possible he had great control that season? Sure, but I find it very unlikely. After all, the 1883 and 1884 New York Metropolitans used the same two catchers for most of each season. Further lending doubt as to the accuracy of his wild pitch count is the AA leaderboard for wild pitches: Bob Emslie had 43 wild pitches, followed by Bill Mountjoy with 18. Tom Sullivan claims fifth in the league...with three. That just seems strange, especially since Emslie only had 12 wild pitches in 1883. Was there a change in the definition of a wild pitch over time?
In any case, the cloudy 19th century data means I'm only going to look at numbers since 1901. That's a pretty common way to view records anyway. There's no guarantee numbers from the beginning part of the 20th century are any better than those of the previous twenty-five years, of course, but we'll hope they are. Let's see which pitchers had the longest careers sans wild pitches.
Most Career Innings Pitched, Zero Wild Pitches (1901-2007)
| Rank | Name | Career IP | Career Span |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joe Black | 414.0 | 1952-1957 |
| 2 | Scott Baker | 280.2 | 2005-2007 |
| 3 | Cactus Keck | 218.0 | 1922-1923 |
| 4 | Frank Shellenback | 217.2 | 1918-1919 |
| 5 | Max Fiske | 198.0 | 1914 |
| 6 | Tommy de la Cruz | 191.1 | 1944 |
| 7 | Dennis Burns | 181.0 | 1923-1924 |
| 8 | Dale Gear | 163.0 | 1901* |
| 9 | Jim Bivin | 161.2 | 1935 |
| 10 | Rick Williams | 156.0 | 1978-1979 |
| 11 | Mark Brandenburg | 144.1 | 1995-1997 |
| 12 | Clem Dreisewerd | 140.2 | 1944-1948 |
| Farmer Ray | 140.2 | 1910 | |
| 14 | Jim Wright | 139.0 | 1978-1979 |
| 15 | Jess Doyle | 136.0 | 1925-1931 |
| 16 | Bud Smith | 132.2 | 2001-2002 |
| 17 | Lynn Brenton | 131.1 | 1913-1921 |
| 18 | Mark Lee | 127.1 | 1988-1995 |
| 19 | Joe Martina | 125.1 | 1924 |
| 20 | Dick Robertson | 124.2 | 1913-1919 |
*Gear also pitched 23 innings in 1896 without a wild pitch. If you count those (and I didn't) he leaps over Dennis Burns and takes over seventh place with 186.0 career innings.
Now, let's look at the active pitchers with the most career innings without a wild pitch. Obviously, Scott Baker leads the list, but who else has more than fifty career innings?
- Scott Baker, 280.2 IP
- Kyle Kendrick, 121.0
- Manny Delcarmen, 106.1
- Tim Stauffer, 94.2
- Yusmeiro Petit, 83.1
- Edinson Volquez, 80.0
- Ken Ray, 79.0
- Chris Schroeder, 73.2
- Hideki Okajima, 69.0
- Chris Britton, 66.1
- Bill Bray, 65.0
- Jeff Harris, 57.0
- Brian Wilson, 53.2
- Bryan Corey, 53.1
As a final note, the all-time leader for most wild pitches, Nolan Ryan, threw 277 wild pitches, or one every 19.44 innings. Since 2000, 119 players have had MLB pitching careers shorter than 277 total pitches. Of those, 13 were primarily position players, but 106 pitchers, even if many are still active, is still a lot.
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