Splitsville: 2005 Pitchers
By Keith Glab
It is important to remember when looking at single-season splits, that one season often isn’t a very big sample size. However, a season’s worth of stats is a larger sample size for a starting pitcher than it is for a batter. Enjoy these interesting splits for 2005 pitchers:
Pre/Post All-Star
Break Splits:
Unlike Cesar Izturis and Brian Roberts, winners of the inaugural Alex Gonzalez of the Marlins Award, the following pitchers stepped up their respective games in the second half. Decide for yourself whether the pitcher has turned the corner, gotten lucky, or is just a second half performer:
Scott Kazmir –
|
|
W-L |
ERA |
IP |
K |
BB |
HR |
|
Pre |
3-7 |
4.59 |
102 |
82 |
56 |
8 |
|
Post |
7-2 |
2.79 |
84 |
92 |
44 |
4 |
This, I
believe, is an example of a 21-year old pitcher starting to figure things
out. In the second half, Kazmir struck out more than one batter an inning, and
almost never allowed a homer. Eight of
his 14 second half starts were against the high-powered
|
W-L |
ERA |
IP |
K |
BB |
HR |
|
1-1 |
1.72 |
31.1 |
33 |
10 |
0 |
Noah Lowry –
|
|
W-L |
ERA |
IP |
K |
BB |
HR |
|
Pre |
5-9 |
5.07 |
104.2 |
87 |
44 |
16 |
|
Post |
8-4 |
2.43 |
100 |
85 |
32 |
5 |
Noah turned
25 in October, and is another example of a youngster figuring things out. You can see how his HR and BB rates dropped
as the season went on, while he still maintained a quality K-rate. Just how good is Lowry? If you throw out his three starts in
Jason Schmidt –
|
|
W-L |
ERA |
IP |
K |
BB |
HR |
|
Pre |
6-5 |
5.01 |
93.1 |
88 |
49 |
11 |
|
Post |
6-2 |
3.66 |
78.2 |
77 |
36 |
5 |
Although he didn’t improve by quite as much as Lowry, Jason did get progressively healthier as the 2005 season wore on, and it showed up statistically. A renaissance season from Schmidt could make the Giants favored to win the weak West in ’06.
Jose Contreras –
|
|
W-L |
ERA |
IP |
K |
BB |
HR |
|
Pre |
4-5 |
4.26 |
101.1 |
72 |
48 |
16 |
|
Post |
11-2 |
2.96 |
103.1 |
82 |
27 |
7 |
Okay, so you must have slept through the entire postseason if you didn’t know that Contreras suddenly gained command of his wicked stuff in the second half of the season and into the playoffs. But no compilation of second half pitching heroes would be complete without him.
Johann Santana –
|
|
W-L |
ERA |
IP |
K |
BB |
HR |
|
Pre |
7-5 |
3.98 |
124.1 |
143 |
26 |
15 |
|
Post |
11-2 |
1.59 |
107.1 |
95 |
19 |
7 |
Okay, it’s safe to deem Johann a second-half pitcher now. His career record is 24-16, 4.00 before the break and 35-9, 2.55 afterwards.
Home/Away Splits:
Most pitchers perform better at home, unless they play in an extreme hitter’s park. Consider the following pitchers, however:
Freddy Garcia –
|
|
W-L |
ERA |
IP |
K |
BB |
HR |
|
Home |
4-5 |
4.38 |
109 |
67 |
38 |
17 |
|
Away |
10-3 |
3.40 |
119 |
79 |
22 |
9 |
|
US Cell (career) |
10-9 |
4.67 |
198.1 |
137 |
66 |
30 |
|
162-G Avg |
15-9 |
3.93 |
222 |
166 |
74 |
24 |
Ken Williams might have checked Freddy’s career numbers at US Cellular Field before trading for him last year. Credit Ozzie Guillen and Company (Harold “The Brain” Baines) for noticing the split, however, as they intentionally made Garcia the #4 starter in 7-game playoff series to avoid his pitching the crucial game 7 at home.
Jeff Francis –
|
|
W-L |
ERA |
IP |
K |
BB |
HR |
|
Home |
8-4 |
4.88 |
86.2 |
62 |
25 |
9 |
|
Away |
6-8 |
6.40 |
97 |
66 |
45 |
17 |
What in the
heck is going on here? Freddy Garcia
struggled in a well-known hitter’s park, but Jeff Francis comparatively thrives
in the most extreme hitter’s park of all-time.
Jeff didn’t even spend much time in
Lefty/Righty Splits:
These splits aren’t utilized as often as hitter’s lefty/righty splits, and it’s a shame, because they tend to be more extreme, particularly when the hurler throws from a three-quarters or lower arm angle. Jeff Weaver and his famous Frisbee slider epitomizes this trend:
Jeff Weaver –
|
|
WHIP |
BAA |
IP |
K |
BB |
HR |
|
Vs. L |
1.47 |
.297 |
114.2 |
73 |
30 |
22 |
|
Vs. R |
0.87 |
.208 |
109.1 |
84 |
13 |
13 |
Now look at teammate Derek Lowe’s splits, and tell me how much trouble the Dodgers are in with Barry Bonds’ return and Brian Giles remaining in the division.
Derek Lowe –
|
|
WHIP |
BAA |
IP |
K |
BB |
HR |
|
Vs. L |
1.52 |
.296 |
113 |
68 |
36 |
17 |
|
Vs. R |
0.97 |
.219 |
109 |
78 |
19 |
11 |
Day/Night Splits:
Most people believe day/night splits to be baloney, and I used to be one of them. Most intelligent people believe one season of splits to be not enough of a sample size for relievers and, well, I’m still one of them. But, when you look at both the 2005 numbers and career numbers for certain relievers, their day/night splits look like, well, like day and night:
Brad Lidge –
|
|
W-L |
Sv |
ERA |
IP |
K |
BB |
HR |
|
Day ‘05 |
0-0 |
10 |
0.00 |
14.1 |
17 |
6 |
0 |
|
Night ‘05 |
4-4 |
32 |
2.88 |
56.1 |
86 |
17 |
5 |
|
Career Day |
3-1 |
19 |
1.26 |
71.2 |
97 |
35 |
3 |
|
Career Night |
14-11 |
53 |
3.27 |
187.1 |
272 |
69 |
16 |
That’s right, Lidge was unscored upon during day games in 2005. Why wasn’t more made of that? Maybe because his K/BB ratio was still much better at night, and has been his whole career. Who cares, you say, the Cubs should trade for the man because he gets it done during day games. Well, the thing is, Lidge’s phenomenon isn’t all that uncommon.
Jose Valverde –
|
|
W-L |
Sv |
ERA |
IP |
K |
BB |
HR |
|
Day ‘05 |
1-0 |
4 |
1.56 |
17.1 |
22 |
7 |
0 |
|
Night ‘05 |
2-4 |
11 |
2.76 |
49 |
53 |
13 |
5 |
|
Career Day |
1-0 |
11 |
1.90 |
47.1 |
63 |
23 |
4 |
|
Career Night |
5-7 |
22 |
3.09 |
99 |
121 |
40 |
12 |
Matt Wise -
|
|
W-L |
ERA |
IP |
K |
BB |
HR |
|
Day ‘05 |
1-1 |
1.21 |
22.1 |
17 |
8 |
0 |
|
Night ‘05 |
3-3 |
4.50 |
42.0 |
45 |
17 |
6 |
|
Career Day |
2-3 |
2.52 |
60.2 |
42 |
18 |
4 |
|
Career Night |
7-10 |
4.94 |
151.3 |
126 |
54 |
23 |
What do these three pitchers have in common? Better K/BB numbers at night, better HR/IP number during the day. In fact, in 2005, theses three pitchers didn’t allow a homer in 54 combined innings. For their careers, they allow an aggregate one homer per 16.3 IP during the day and one homer per 8.6 IP at night. THEY GIVE UP TWICE AS MANY HOMERS AT NIGHT!!!!
So even though these late-inning relievers have better K/BB ration at night (doubtless due to batters having worse plate vision) they are much more effective during the day because of the homer factor (possibly due to loss of concentration late at night). So the Cubs shouldn’t pay top dollar or trade top prospects for a reliever who can dominate during the day, since it appears that most relievers can. However, there is a closer who can be more effective at night. Coincidentally, he is the top reliever on the free agent market right now.
Trevor Hoffman –
|
|
W-L |
Sv |
ERA |
IP |
K |
BB |
HR |
|
Day ‘05 |
0-3 |
14 |
4.95 |
20 |
17 |
3 |
2 |
|
Night ‘05 |
1-3 |
29 |
1.91 |
37.2 |
37 |
9 |
1 |
|
Career Day |
13-21 |
138 |
3.11 |
277.2 |
328 |
98 |
33 |
|
Career Night |
36-32 |
298 |
2.58 |
544.2 |
587 |
139 |
41 |
Like Lidge and Valverde, Trevor has a better K/BB ratio at night. However, Hoffman’s career IP/HR is 8.4 during the day, and 13.3 at night. I don’t know what else to attribute this to other than a savvy veteran being able to concentrate more when it’s late and he’s tired. If anyone does conclusive (or heck, even more anecdotal) research on this subject, please share it with us.
Statistics used for
this edition of Splitsville were provided by Yahoo!
Sports, except for Freddy Garcia’s 162-Game Averages which were courtesy of
Baseball-Reference.com. Stay logged for Splitsville: 2005 Hitters.