Are Pitchers Worth Big Money?

Dave Paisley

One of my recent pet peeves has been people who whine on about how starting pitchers aren't worth what a position player is worth because they only play in every fifth game. This is sheer stupidity on the face of it, as the Braves wouldn't be half the team they are without Greg Maddux. Same for the Mariners with a top-form Randy Johnson. Great pitching is harder to find than great hitting, and it's less easily replaced.

So how do we account for the "only plays every fifth game factor"?

Well, it's obvious to most people that a pitcher is more thoroughly involved in the game than any fielder. Every pitch is carefully selected and thrown to the best of the pitcher's ability. A great starter will throw between 100 and 140 pitches in a complete game. An outfielder will see about 16 pitches per game, and handle maybe three chances in the field, so there's an obvious clue. But let's dig a little deeper.

Let's take last year's two premier sluggers, Ken Griffey Jr. and Mark McGwire, and compare them with two ace pitchers, Greg Maddux and Randy Johnson.

The following table shows how many outs, hits and walks each participated in last year. It's interesting to see that the pitchers actually participate in more "plate events" than the hitters do. The fact is that these plate events are simply two sides of the same coin. If we are going to credit hitters with runs, RBI, home runs and the like, we have to credit pitchers with outs and the lack of hits, RBI and home runs by the batters they face.

Player	Outs	Hits	Walks	Plate Events
Ken Griffey Jr.	423	185	76	684
Mark McGwire	392	148	101	641
Randy Johnson	639	147	77	863
Greg Maddux	698	200	20	918

The complexion of the comparison changes when we add in fielding plays, though. The following table adds fielding plays, defined as put outs, assists and errors, to the total.

Player	Outs	Hits	Walks	Plate Events	Field Plays	Total Plays
Ken Griffey Jr.	423	185	76	684	402	1086
Mark McGwire	392	148	101	641	1427	2068
Randy Johnson	639	147	77	863	31	894
Greg Maddux	698	200	20	918	68	986

McGwire, of course, comes up with a huge number of plays as a first baseman, swamping the other players' totals. Most of the plays are routine, however, and could be handled by my maiden aunt. Not necessarily by Frank Thomas (who?), though. Griffey handled about a third of the chances that McGwire did, to significantly outdistance the pitchers.

Nevertheless, I believe the most important numbers are the plate events, and the numbers show that pitchers are more involved there than anyone else.

So the next time anyone tells you Maddux isn't worth the money, point them to this article and tell them to shut up.

We understand that Dave Paisley is currently drawing up a set of pie charts and tables to illustrate the relative quality of beers. Wish him luck (if he's still conscious) at drdjp@strikethree.com.