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May 01, 2007
Brandon McCarthy, Part 1: Pitch Data Isn't Everything
Funny, but from looking purely at pitch data, you’d never guess that Brandon McCarthy’s ERA had skyrocketed from 4.41 in 2005-2006 to 9.90 this season.
| Pitches | 05-'06 |
'07 |
| Strikes | 64% | 63% |
| -- Strikes looking | 26% | 28% |
| -- Strikes swinging | 14% | 10% |
| -- Strikes fouled | 32% | 31% |
| -- Strikes hit into play | 28% | 32% |
| 1st-pitch strikes | 56% | 63% |
| 3-0 counts | 6% | 5% |
| 0-2 counts | 18% | 16% |
Based on the number of pitches he’s thrown, the 4% increase in strikes hit into play equals 10 extra balls in play. That’s not an insignificant amount over the course of 20 innings, but certainly not enough to account for a doubling in ERA.
Posted by Lucas at May 1, 2007 06:18 PM