Phils' under-discussed quality
We forget sometimes the power of a pitcher going six innings.
Phils' under-discussed quality
Rich Hofmann, Daily News Sports Columnist
During all of the fretting and all of the wondering of another baseball summer in Philadelphia, we sometimes forget what really matters. We have been wowed by Brad Lidge, the team's most consistenly-excellent player if the measure is from April to the wire. We have been awed by Ryan Howard and how he has propped up this team as August turned into the seriousness of September.
But night after night, slog after slog, it is the starting pitcher going six innings, six reasonable innings or more, who has saved this season for the Phillies.
With the offense all over the place -- different contributors, sometimes no contributors -- it has been the starters who have been the backbone. With the bullpen -- so strong early, then taking a big dip, now stabilizing again -- it has been the starters who have kept order.
Last night in Atlanta, it was Cole Hamels. He quite obviously was not himself. He wasn't exactly struggling -- he gave up only six hits, and scattered them expertly -- but he was not close to cruising, either. This was real work. He has pitched more than 220 innings, more than anyone in baseball except Milwaukee's CC Sabathia and Toronto's Roy Halladay, and nothing is easy anymore. You can tell. You can see the strain on his face, the muttering he is doing now after somebody gets a hit. It is hard labor.
But he lasted six innings and it meant everything. People make fun of the "quality start" stat -- at least six innings pitched and three or fewer earned runs allowed -- but it might be the best measure of the brutal-but-calming, night-after-night effect that consistent starting pitching can have on a team. It settles things down. It gives you a chance.
The Phillies have 83 quality starts this year, the second-most in the National League. All of last year, they had only 74, 11th in the league. With nine games still to play, we are talking about a huge jump. With the offense so scattershot for so long, we are talking about the Phillies' lifeline.
This is a great point. It has also been more evident as the middle relievers specifically Durbin have started to wear down. Manuel aslo deserves some credit for hanging with Burrell who has won two games with his bat this week despite the 5K performance vs ATL. This team also seems to thrive with its back against the wall. The Marlins series should tell a lot.— natedog- There goes Rich again, working with facts....providing insight from them. I wish some of our other columnists would follow his lead.— Bake McBride
- Count me as one who makes fun of the Quality Start stat. A "Quality Start" is the equivalent of having a 4.50 ERA. If that's quality you can have it. This ranks right up there with the way they measure saves. A guy comes into a game with a three run lead, nobody on and two outs and gets one batter out and he gets a save. It is just another way to inflate these overpaid palayers' egos.— Bama
- Hoffman, you are consistently providing the best insight and most rational analysis of any of the columnists in Philly. Keep it up.— PhillyinDC
- now starts probably the most critical of the three remaining series...3 games against the stinking fish in the fishbowl. HAVE to take at least 2 of 3. GO PHILLIES!!!
- Agree-look at the team BA and OPS compared to last year. Everyone is down. Cole would have 17 wins last year, Moyer a couple more, even Myers 1 or 2. They just need to get something out of #5. Balnton is ok at #4.— sleepy
- Response to Bama: Proving the quality of the Bama educational system it only works out to a 4.50 ERA if every time you have a quality start you are taken out after the sixth and give up exactly three runs. Everything better than that (i.e. fewer runs and more innings) is a lower ERA. So most quality start result in a lower ERA. Also, below is the definition of a save from MLB (note you have to face the potential tying run). Have you ever actually watched baseball? Saves: Rule 10.20 in the Official Rule Book states: Credit a pitcher with a save when he meets all three of the following conditions: (1) He is the finishing pitcher in a game won by his club; and (2) He is not the winning pitcher; and (3) He qualifies under one of the following conditions: - (a) He enters the game with a lead of no more than three runs and pitches for at least one inning; or - (b) He enters the game, regardless of the count, with the potential tying run either on base, or at bat, or on deck (that is, the potential tying run is either already on base or is one of the first two batsmen he faces; or - (c) He pitches effectively for at least three innings. No more than one save may be credited in each game.— jyd2001
- Hoffman... give up— aman1711
- Another response to Bama: I completely agree with jyd2001. Six innings and three runs occurs in less than 6% of all Quality Starts. The average ERA for a pitcher in his Quality Start games is 1.91 (7.65 in his non-Quality Start games). From 2000-2007, the average ERA for a pitcher in his Quality Start games is 2.06 (since starting pitchers don't pitch as deep into games as they used to). When a pitcher has a Quality Start, his team wins 73.6% of the time. Yeah, I think it is an important stat, even more important (in my opinion) than a pitcher's Win/Loss record. http://www.diamond-mind.com/articles/qstart.htm; http://sonsofsamhorn.net/index.php?showtopic=22595— GBGB
Is Hamels arbitration eligible this off season?— RAS- In response to Jyd2001 responding to Bama, you're missing the point. Its the broad criteria of the rule thats at fault. If even one pitcher is pulled out after six and has given up 3 runs, then its flawed...because that sure isnt quality by any definition. No one is disputing that a quality start is a valuable stat, just not with such a broad definition.— IRAMITLA
