What is the most important pitching stat?

Question

W/L Record

WHIP

ERA

K/BB

Innings Pitched

Total Bases Allowed

HR/9

or others??

or do you believe none of those stats...no matter how many you use...are good to judge pitching by because they're all team statistics...not individual pitching statistics (ex: because the defense behind the pitcher has alot to do with how many runs are allowed)?

Answer 1

WHIP and ERA

Answer 2

ERA

W/L Record

Answer 3

that is true but ERA is that earned runs allowed not just runs

ERA is

Answer 4

W/L record. The rest doesn't matter. If a guy wins, he wins. Even if he wins and allows a lot of hits, a lot of runs, walks a ton of guys, in the end, the name of the game is winning. The job of the pitcher is to put his team in position to win the game. I'd rather have a 20 game winner with an ERA of 5.00 than a five game winner with a 2.00.

Answer 5

Every stat tells us something different.

But the ones which speak most directly to the pitcher's job -- prevent runs, prevent baserunners -- and which are easily available are ERA and WHIP.

After those, innings pitched to provide context. K:BB ratio indicates how well he commands the strike zone. BABIP and support-neutral record are fun and informative but not for everyone.

Eventually I get around to looking at W-L but it doesn't tell me very much at all.

Answer 6

In my personal opinion,I think that WHIP is the best indicator of how a pitcher is performing because anytime a pitcher allows a walk or hit,this puts someone on base,if enough are put on base due to the pitchers errors (walks,hit batsmen,etc) runs will score,when runs score because of the pitchers errors,his ERA rises. So in that respect,the WHIP has a direct impact on a pitchers ERA.

Answer 7

at the end of the day all that matters is the W/L record. so that's what i'd ultimately go with.

HOWEVER, i do use WHIP as the most important stat in finding out how dominant a pitcher can be. ERA can be bloated easily. and W/L, although it's all that really matters, can be a function of run support. WHIP really shows how dominant a pitcher can be.

Answer 8

I think ERA and the strikeout to walk ratio is one of the most important,although I do agree that the defense that is playing behind the pitcher has a lot to do with the runs allowed.

Answer 9

ERA

Answer 10

I usually pay attention to their record, ERA, and K's.

Answer 11

My 5 most important in order:

1.  ERA

2.  K/BB

3.  WHIP

4.  W/L Record

5.  Innings Pitched

Great Question!

Answer 12

E.R.A, WHIP AND K are the most important.

There are different kinds of pitchers, the strikeout pitchers, the one who just use easy outs, etc. So sometimes having so much strikeouts doesn't mean that you are a great pitcher.

Answer 13

WHIP and BB/9 - You can tell a lot about a pitcher by the way he gets into/out of situations he creates for himself with walks. Or if they hardly walk anyone, it would be reflected in most of their other stats.

Answer 14

It depends.  For a starter, WHIP and ERA are probably the most indicative.  For a closer, blown saves (or save pct) is the most important.  ERA for a closer can be pretty meaningless.

Another important stat for all relievers is how many inherited runners score....ie if the reliever comes in with the bases loaded, how many of those score...it show up in the prior pitchers ERA, not the guy who let them in.

Answer 15

ERA, WHIP, and K/BB i think. w/l can totally mislead you. someone could be giving up 5 runs or more in a game and still win because their offense is really good. on the other hand, some pitchers give up 3 runs or less and they still lose because of their terrible offense. if your pitcher has a low ERA and they strike people out a lot more than they walk them, you know they're preforming great even if they dont have a great w/l record. WHIP ties into that

Answer 16

i say all of the above r most important

Answer 17

the most important are w/l record and era

Answer 18

From a team perspective the most important sta is W-L Record because the goal each season is to win as many games as possible.

From an individual's perspective a good ERA and WHIP generally means you're pretty good at what you do.  

Answer 19

WINS !!! If you win 12 - 15 times a year, you can stay in my rotation.

Answer 20

WHIP for sure.  This calculation is the best measurement of a pitchers effectiveness.

Answer 21

The most important pitching statistic is wins. Ok before you starting yelling at your screen, hear me out. I completely understand and agree that wins are probably the worst indicator of a pitcher's performance level because it is a very team dependent stat. However, when you really think about it, is baseball not a TEAM game? And aren't you, as a pitcher, suppose to do the one thing are paid millions to do? Win ball games. And the W/L record reflects how many games you have won.

A 20 game winner with a 5 ERA is better than a 10 game winner with a 2 ERA. Obviously the latter is more effective but the point of baseball first and foremost is win ball games. It's not to have a low ERA or high K rate to win CY Young awards. It's to win. And the pitcher's record indicates how many they have won.

When I rate effectiveness though, I use ERA and WHIP. If you don't give up runs and don't allow base runners to reach, then you are pretty darn good.  

Answer 22

2 out hits given up

it is sooooo important to get that third out, and its the hardest one to get.

"2 out hits get you to heaven" is the saying for hitters, I think vice versa is appropriate for pitchers

Answer 23

ERA definitely- if you can keep people scoreless no one will care if you strike out 0 walk 0 etc. etc.