Petti: Is Bill James right about groundball pitchers and injuries?
From SABR member Bill Petti at FanGraphs on March 23, 2013:
When Bill James speaks, many in the baseball committee listen intently–as they should. James, while certainly not always correct in his theories (and, really, who is), can always be counted on to provide the larger community with excellent food for thought.
In this most recent case, James claimed that ground ball pitchers have essentially been overrated. Per Rob Neyer:
Any analyst can give you a long list of reasons why ground ball pitchers should be the best pitchers. The problem is, they’re not.
Make a list of the best pitchers in baseball. Make a list of the best pitchers in baseball, in any era, and what you will find is that 80% of them are not ground ball pitchers. They’re fly ball pitchers.
…
What I have never understood about ground ball pitchers, and do not understand now, is why they always get hurt. Show me an extreme ground ball pitcher, a guy with a terrific ground ball rate, and I’ll show you a guy who is going to be good for two years and then get hurt. I’m not saying this about Chien-Ming Wang and Brandon Webb; I was saying this before Chien-Ming Wang and Brandon Webb. They’re just the latest examples. Mark Fidrych. Randy Jones. Ross Grimsley. Mike Caldwell. Rick Langford. Lary Sorensen. Clyde Wright. Fritz Peterson. Dave Roberts. They’re great for two years, and then they blow up. Always.
Now, there is a lot that can be teased out here, but I want to focus on the last part of James’ claim–that ground ball pitchers are more injury prone. Are ground ball pitchers (specifically, extreme ground ball pitchers) more injury prone?
Read the full article here: http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/is-bill-james-right-about-ground-ball-pitchers-and-injuries/
Originally published: March 23, 2013. Last Updated: March 23, 2013.