NEWSLETTER
The goal of pitching is to keep the other team from scoring. The best way to keep the other team from scoring is to keep them off base. In other words, if a successful offense has a high On Base Percentage, then a successful pitching staff should have a low On Base Percentage Allowed.
Someone somewhere is probably tracking OBP Allowed, but it would be somewhat of a wasted effort. We already have a stat that is basically the pitching equivalent of OBP: WHIP. Walks plus Hits divided by Innings Pitched. WHIP isn’t purely about the pitcher – a good defense can take away some hits from the other team and lower the pitcher’s WHIP as a result, for example (also true for many hits that a batter adds to his OBP) – but for a quick rule of thumb style stat, it does a pretty decent job at telling us what pitchers are doing a good job simply keeping base runners off the base paths.
And since it is Monday, you probably know right were this is going. Wrack your brains everyone, because I’m looking for the six minor league starters (minimum five starts) who had a WHIP under 1.200 prior to the start of yesterday’s games.[adinserter block=”1″]
First clue: ignore Iowa. Ryan Williams has the best starter WHIP for the I-Cubs, and his is a (still respectable) 1.260.
Second clue: strikeouts are one way to get outs, but not the only way. It is possible to keep runners off base without piling up a lot of strikeouts.
Third clue: We’re probably looking at a bit of a league effect in this one. Four of the pitchers are on the same team.
Answers are at the very end of today’s column, and if you can get all six without looking them up I will be very seriously impressed. Had I tried to answer this, I think I would missed at least two of them.
Triple A: Iowa Cubs
Round Rock 10, Iowa 7
A usually solid bullpen had some trouble in this one.
Double A: Tennessee Smokies
Tennessee 5, Chattanooga 4
A pair of Chattanooga errors proved beneficial for the Smokies.
High A: Myrtle Beach Pelicans
Lynchburg 3, Myrtle Beach 2
Amaya had a day to remember.
Low A: South Bend Cubs
Bowling Green 6, South Bend 0
The only person between the Cubs and being no hit was P.J. Higgins.
Other Notes
Zach Hedges, Myrtle Beach, 1.044
Paul Blackburn, Tennessee, 1.093
Erick Leal, Myrtle Beach, 1.152
Jake Stinnett, Myrtle Beach, 1.186
Trevor Clifton, Myrtle Beach, 1.192
Adbert Alzolay, South Bend, 1.193
Your browser does not support iframes.
