LOS ANGELES, CA — What makes a Major League pitcher good? What is the criteria for that? Let’s review a few key concepts that have been used in the past and those that have evolved into today’s evaluation benchmark.
Today, pitchers are evaluated using various metric numbers by brilliant college-educated young people who use incredible high-tech equipment that can measure things you can’t see with the naked eye. Spin ratio, launch angle of balls hit, and the all-important metric, velocity. Just remember that these college “scouts” came up with many of the acronyms for their complicated explanations and stats that go along with the information from the mathematical algorithms they invented to gather all this information because it worked for them in fantasy baseball betting.
Image Credit: Bill Menzel/Latino Sports
Too many numbers and acronyms to have to know as a fan. Next time you are at a ballpark look at the giant scoreboard, it looks like the instrument panel of a 747 jetliner!
In the past, pitchers were first given the eyeball test by seasoned baseball men. Those scouts would look at the player’s size. Six feet two inches or more and about 200 pounds was thought to be ideal, though if the prospect could throw hard and had great makeup, like 5’11”, 170 lb. Pedro Martínez, Manoguayabo, Dominican Republic, it would mean he passed the “Eyeball Test.”
As for velocity, many times, seasoned scouts would see 95-98 on their radar gun and know the kid they were watching can throw a ball through a brick wall, but he can’t get it over the plate. Or, he has excellent “Stuff,’ but gets the shakes every time that 6’7” 260lb hitter comes to the plate. Those are things that cannot be seen with numbers gathered using algorithms.
Over many years, these older baseball men have seen with their own eyes things that they remember they got right and got wrong with their evaluation of a pitcher. They will tell you: “Yeah, I got that player right, and I will always remember why, and I remember getting it wrong and will never be fooled again.”
Image Credit: Bill Menzel/Latino Sports
So, what is the number one metric or eyeball thing for evaluating a pitcher? It is the same for both the new analytics and the old eyeball test, and that is, does he get outs and put his team back in the dugout?
Throw all those numbers out the window my friends, A good pitcher is the one who gets outs, period!
Follow us on Social Media for updates and exclusive content
Instagram: @latinosportsoficial
Facebook: Latino Sports
Twitter: @latinosports
