Highest single season ERA+ for a relief pitcher
craig44
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Is Zack Brittons 2016 season the best ever when it comes to single season ERA+ for a reliever? his was a staggering 803!!!!
to put into reference, Eric Gagne's 2003 season, when he was 55/55 in converting saves and seemingly untouchable was at 337.
803 just seems unfathomable. even for a reliever who doesnt pitch many innings.
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
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I'd probably still take Mariano Rivera though
@craig44
look up Devin Williams' 2020 season when he won rookie of the year
fasten your seat belt
The dispartity in the ERA plus between and Britton and Gagne is a joke. All of Gagnes numbers were better other than ERA which was very close and Britton got help with when half his runs given up were called unearned
Fire AJ Preller
I don't know about that whole scoring aspect... but I think between the numbers Gagne's season was more impressive for the obvious reasons. In small samples like that where ERA is going to play a huge role as it does with a closer ERA really makes ERA+ look useless.
To be fair, that was barely a third of a season.
Gagne's ERA was nearly 2.5x as high as Britton's. You're right about the other stats but their ERAs were not that close.
he pitched enough to be named ROY, as well as receive CYA & MVP votes on top of that
The ERA and the ERA+ only matter as much as the standard deviation a single sample can produce. Applying meaning to lucky numbers is the job of the guy making the fortune cookie and not the statistician.
I can put Gagne in perspective from having the privilege of seeing the locals on TV long before they packaged them into a pay-to-watch event. I also attended several games. In all my years of watching baseball, I don't think I've ever seen anyone who was more automatic for a time then Gagne. When he strolled to the mound, you knew the game was over. That was their mantra. GAME OVER. He dominated unlike anyone else in the closer role. Whatever was getting him there, it worked for awhile. As with many, he peaked, then spun deeper and deeper into ultimate irrelevancy. But, for that short period in time there was no one better.
It sounds worse saying it was 2x but its a 1.20 era va a 0.584
Gagne gave up 12 runs in 82.1 innings and Britton gave up 7 in 67 innings. 11 of the 12 for Gagne were counted as earned, only 4 of the 7 were counted as earned for Britton. Thats a very high percentage of unearned runs. The difference in their era was just a couple runs, and scorer decisions on errors. It not even 3/4ths of a point difference.
Theres no reason Brittons ERA+ should be almost triple Gagnes for those two seasons
Fire AJ Preller
Well, Gagne pitched in a strong pitcher-favoring stadium and Britton pitched in a hitter-favoring stadium and, again, Gagne's ERA was 2.5x that of Britton.
Sure - and was still a rookie the following year because he'd thrown so few innings. He was great but it was just 27 innings in a 60-game season.
what's your point exactly? trying to diminish what he accomplished because his body of work didn't match your own personal criteria? good thing the ROY, CYA & MVP voters don't think the way you do. would have been a shame not to reward a guy who had the lowest ERA in a single season with at least 21 innings pitched since earned runs became an official stat in 1913.
12 Runs vs 7 with almost 20 more innings pitched. The hardest park to pitch in the league is Colorado, Arizona was top 10 as well in 2003. In 2016 the two hardest were Colorado and Arizona.
One or 2 scorers decisions changes the ERA dramatically. Weather plays a role but theres no justification for the ERA+ to be so far off
Fire AJ Preller
Small denominators because of the limited event opportunities makes it less than ideal given the impact of any outcome.
For closers, and most relief pitchers, use FIP and WPA. Even K-BB is more meaningful.
ERA is not the right statistic for this. Here it’s a good luck stat -like most HRs with a hangover.
You kind of answer your own question.
Did you know that Terry Forster has a higher lifetime batting average than Ted Williams?
When working with percentages, the sample size is of huge importance. You are talking about 67 IP for a season, and just one or two bad outings can change that percentage tremendously.
But saying the ERA+ is 'wrong' or whatever is weird. It isn't wrong. It express his ERA compared to the league perfectly correctly. It just doesn't account fully for the value since it does not account for the Innings Pitched.
Yes, the ballpark factor can be fudging it a little.
However, in that same vein, Mark Prior was far, far more worthy of the Cy Young that year than Gagne anyway
Im a firm believer that the CY young should be for starters not relievers and that the MVP should be for position players not pitchers. All groups have their own awards and pitchers are the only ones that can win them all. I do think innings pitched/games played/at bats etc should all matter in the stats.
I would have given the CY to Prior as well.
My gripe with the Gagne Britton seasons is the discrepancy with the ERA+. Id even be fine if Brittons was a little higher though I dont think it should be is that looking at the two seasons to have an 800+ vs a 300+ . Gange had one bad game where he gave up 4 runs and 1 game where he gave up 2 at Colorado. Britton had a game where he gave up 3 and didnt finish the inning but they were all called unearned.
Fire AJ Preller
I mean, yeah, that is the point. Tons of guys have 27-inning stretches that are just as good or better. Heck, there's a guy in Philly right now working on 44 straight scoreless innings.
2006 Cla Meredith another sick season for a reliever and over 30 innings scoreless streak.
Agreed 27 innings is not enough and really the 60 game season in general just whatever thats not even half a season
Fire AJ Preller
That guy in Philly has the inside track on the Cy Young award over Ohtani because he’s already pitched 24 more innings than Shohei. As great as Shohei has been, innings pitched does matter like you say.
Per modern times, Tyler Olson in 2017 had a 0.00 ERA over 20 IP. His ERA+ is blank because it is incalculable....so it is impossible to beat per your entry.
So if looking at the value of all the mentioned, here are their Runs saved compared to the league average and league replacement pitcher(accounts for IP and other factors)....
Britton 25 runs above league average, and 32 above league replacement level.
Gagne 22 and 29
Tyler Olson 10 and 12
Devin Williams 9 and 11
And none of them as valuable as John Hiller in 1973 as Hiller was 39 runs above league average and 51 above replacement...with his 38 saves. Of course, not many relief pitchers can match those single season numbers by Hiller. Hiller does have the highest single season WAR for a modern RP.
if you're a reliever and are going to string together 20, 30 or 40 immaculate innings, it's very important to do so in a pandemic year so you can take home some hardware
in all seriousness, i actually feel sorry for the guy now. it seems as if he forgot how to pitch after he left bgr's team. actually, he foreshadowed what was to come in a game i was at in St. Louis when he still played for Milwaukee. easiest save situation of his career and he could not throw a strike if his life had depended on it. walked himself right into a blown save that was so egregious that it compelled me to look him up to see who he was. when i checked his stats and saw how unhittable he had been for multiple years, i couldn't believe it. that guy was not on the mound that night.
And if you drop the cutoff even one out, the number gets beaten by Craig Kimbrel, with his 0.44 ERA.
and he'll still be rookie of the year no matter how many times you attempt to undermine what he accomplished
that is an excellent point!! I think they should just include an infinity symbol in the slot for his ERA+!
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.