Simon: Who were the overachieving and underachieving pitchers in 2018?
From SABR member Mark Simon at ACTA Sports on March 26, 2019:
Who were the overachievers and underachievers of the 2018 MLB season?
It’s a question to consider for those evaluating their teams and conducting their fantasy drafts as the season begins. Though there are no guarantees that the numbers will even out and that the player will return to his expected norms, understanding who overachieved and underachieved provides context to a player’s past performance.
Last week’s Stat of the Week looked at this for hitters. This week, the focus is on pitchers.
Our Defense-Independent Pitching Statistics (DIPS) can give expected results on every ball in play for a pitcher by comparing the ball’s trajectory, direction and velocity to other similar batted balls and assigning value based on those results. We can then compare those to his actual numbers to determine if a player underachieved or overachieved.
In other words, these numbers can tell us if a player may have pitched in hard luck, worked in an unfriendly ballpark, or been the victim of some poor defense. Or perhaps he pitched with good luck, got a few ballpark-friendly outs, or took advantage of some good defense.
Read the full article here: https://www.statoftheweek.com
Originally published: March 27, 2019. Last Updated: March 27, 2019.