Greg Maddux Is A Wizard Of Pitch Efficiency

My first post for Beyond the Boxscore is about efficient pitchers. As you might expect, Greg Maddux ranks highly--though you'll be surprised by just how well he does.

Tim Hudson and John Smoltz also make appearances.

about 1 year ago Jacob Peterson 15 comments 0 recs |

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Nice work

I already absolutely love reading BTBS. You’re a great addition to the writing crew over there.

"Is Prince Fielder a legitimate threat to your bag of potato chips?" -Bronn

by kauf67 on May 8, 2011 1:03 PM EDT reply actions

Thanks!

"Yeah, and I have an enchanted jock strap." -- Karl Karlson
I now twitter as @junkstats and blog about made-up stats and general baseball stuff at JunkStats.

by Jacob Peterson on May 8, 2011 11:37 PM EDT up reply actions

I've got a new blog to read now...

geez, thanks! Great work though. You’re the perfect guy for them… Don’t forget about us little guys when you make it to the top though…

by Klemson Krash on May 8, 2011 3:02 PM EDT reply actions

I won’t forget you guys, though I won’t make it “to the top” because I’m pretty sure I can’t turn into Joe Posnanski. But I do appreciate all the support the TC family has given me and my work these past couple years. I’ll still be posting regularly on TC, as much as possible.

"Yeah, and I have an enchanted jock strap." -- Karl Karlson
I now twitter as @junkstats and blog about made-up stats and general baseball stuff at JunkStats.

by Jacob Peterson on May 8, 2011 11:37 PM EDT up reply actions

Just try not to make a post about us trading for Frenchy

"He knows where he's throwing. If he didn't, there'd be dead bodies strewn all over Idaho." - Washington Senators scout on Walter Johnson

by Doghnut on May 8, 2011 5:06 PM EDT reply actions

If I do,

just know in advance that it’s ironic.

"Yeah, and I have an enchanted jock strap." -- Karl Karlson
I now twitter as @junkstats and blog about made-up stats and general baseball stuff at JunkStats.

by Jacob Peterson on May 8, 2011 11:34 PM EDT up reply actions

Does this mean we can’t call you “pac” anymore?

"Life is a lot like a baseball game- you want your team to win, you want it to be a thriller, you don't want it to be called short on account of nature, and you wouldn't mind if it went into extra innings." -Dante Shepherd, survivingtheworld.net

by J-Freak on May 8, 2011 6:25 PM EDT reply actions

You can call me whatever you want,

as long as it’s not Shirley. I’ll certainly answer to “pac” or “pacgnosis”.

"Yeah, and I have an enchanted jock strap." -- Karl Karlson
I now twitter as @junkstats and blog about made-up stats and general baseball stuff at JunkStats.

by Jacob Peterson on May 8, 2011 11:34 PM EDT up reply actions

Wow

What a sweet chart!

I like people until I meet them.

by scorby911 on May 8, 2011 6:45 PM EDT reply actions

Thanks!

"Yeah, and I have an enchanted jock strap." -- Karl Karlson
I now twitter as @junkstats and blog about made-up stats and general baseball stuff at JunkStats.

by Jacob Peterson on May 8, 2011 11:35 PM EDT up reply actions

What's most surprising to me

about this chart is that Smoltz is on it. I would expect that a strikeout pitcher would have more pitches on average — as my anecdotal observations seem to tell me. Yet there he is…

Fangraphs, on Craig Kimbrel: "His strikeout rates look like they’re coming from a video game"

by carpengui on May 9, 2011 8:50 AM EDT reply actions

Must have picked up a thing or two

from Maddux. The interesting thing to me is that Glavine didn’t rate particularly well—only a few pitches below average per 9. I guess that says something about their pitching styles. Smoltz was more apt to go after a guy, whereas Glavine was more of a nibbler who would rather walk a guy than give him a hittable pitch.

"Yeah, and I have an enchanted jock strap." -- Karl Karlson
I now twitter as @junkstats and blog about made-up stats and general baseball stuff at JunkStats.

by Jacob Peterson on May 9, 2011 7:25 PM EDT up reply actions

~740 miles to Cooperstown

Firstly, excellent work, as always. Change your handle to just “JP” and create some doubt to making people believe you might be JoePo – your grasp of obscure stats and reader-friendly delivery of them could fool some, probably.

One thing I’ve always been amused by is like when football players are measured by their cumulative career yards, and then they’re always translated to miles, for perspective. Case in point, Jerry Rice caught for as many career yards as the equivalent of around 13 miles.

Such a pointless conversion isn’t ever really considered in baseball, but it would be amusing if it were: If the average pitcher needs around 77,200 pitches to equal Maddux’s innings, at 60 ft. 6 inches, that’s roughly 885 miles distance of pitches thrown. Compared to the wizard himself, who gets the same amount of innings completed in just roughly 740 miles, to which there’s a 145 mile difference.

No wonder nobody likes you, Tuttle... everything's a (Pujols) damn debate.

by royhobbs on May 9, 2011 11:28 AM EDT reply actions

This is incredible.

Love it when you can put things like “oh he saved 12,600 pitches” into terms like “oh, he saved me the 2 1/2 hour drive to my parents place”.

Our crappy lucky team *WAS* better than your good unlucky team.

by Richard R on May 9, 2011 11:39 AM EDT up reply actions

Awesome.

I never would have thought to do that, but it really puts it in perspective very nicely.

And thank you.

"Yeah, and I have an enchanted jock strap." -- Karl Karlson
I now twitter as @junkstats and blog about made-up stats and general baseball stuff at JunkStats.

by Jacob Peterson on May 9, 2011 7:23 PM EDT up reply actions