Comments on: Fewest decisions in 30 game starts

By: cboone21

cboone21 — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 13:20:04 +0000

-Gerry: Select a particular pitcher and then "game log" their season in question. At the bottom, the site lists 'team record in player's starts' for that season.

By: JohnnyTwisto

JohnnyTwisto — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 06:50:32 +0000

Of course the average start in 2008 was only 5.81 innings. For those who managed 30+ starts, I'm sure it was higher. Still I'm not so sure the record will be broken soon. There would have to be a major rethinking in how starting pitchers are used, especially in relation to the rest of the staff. That may well happen, as pitcher usage has evolved constantly since the beginning of time. But right now, teams still want to get innings out of their starters (even if those innings are relatively puny compared to yesteryear). As long starters need 5 IP for a win and people are beholden to that stat, it's hard to see starter innings dropping much further.

By: tomepp

tomepp — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 03:37:37 +0000

I think Mr. Baseballcard hit upon the key characteristic – these guys may be decent pitchers, but they aren't workhorses. The fewer innings you pitch per start, the more chances you leave for the lead to change; not to mention that when you don't go at least 5 innings as a starter, you automatically get no decision, no matter what the score. I ran their IP/GS (subtracting the 21 innings they pitched in 14 relief appearances). Over half the list (9 of the 16) averaged less than 6 innings per start for the season in question, and only two – Hamilton (6.76 IP/GS) and Patterson (6.40) – had more than 6 1/3 innings per start. None averaged more than 7 innings per start. As a group, the average was 6.02 IP/GS.

With the modern trend of increased reliance on the bullpen in the middle innings, I would not be surprised to see Blyleven’s 20 NDs challenged or even equaled or broken in the near future - even with just 30-34 starts in a season!

By: Raphy

Raphy — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 02:52:24 +0000

Johnny-

You can use the game finder for seasons since 1956. Blyleven does lead.
http://www.bb-ref.com/pi/shareit/ptp2

By: JohnnyTwisto

JohnnyTwisto — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 02:11:39 +0000

Actually, that would be 20 no-decisions. Has anyone had more? Can PI check that? .... It doesn't appear that you can directly search for no-decisions, but in doing a few searches for fewest decisions with at least X starts, I'm pretty sure Blyleven has the record.

By: JohnnyTwisto

JohnnyTwisto — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 02:08:12 +0000

Bert Blyleven had a notable season when he went just 12-5 in 37 starts for the 1979 world champion Pirates. 17 decisions so he's just off this list, but he made a lot more starts and IP than anyone on it.

By: gerry

gerry — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 00:35:04 +0000

It would be interesting to have another column for the team's W-L record in the games the pitcher started. That might tell us whether it's the bullpen blowing leads or the offense saving the day.

By: mrbaseballcard

mrbaseballcard — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 15:21:04 +0000

Another thing I noticed is that you tend not to be a work horse. Only 1 of these guys (Joey Hamilton) had 200 innings pitched, and none had more than 205. Makes sense as if you leave the gamein the 6th, there are more innings for your bullpen to either give up or blow a lead. Also, makes sense since now adays babies, excuse me, pitchers pitch fewer innings that all of these seasons are post-1976 and all but two are post 1994.

By: cboone21

cboone21 — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 15:00:55 +0000

It was excruciating to watch Patterson's great season. Felt so bad for the guy who threw great game after game only to have his leads lost. Even worse, his career may be over.