FanPost

Offensive Consistency and Opposing Pitchers

A few days ago I was wondering if there was a reason for the Diamondbacks' dominance of the NL West that goes above and beyond simply pointing to the weakness of the rest of the division.  One of the things that came was the adjustment period that broadcasters always bring up when teams face new pitcher.  My thought was that for a young offense such as this one, they would have a faster learning curve again the pitchers in their division than they would against the out of division pitchers that they rarely see.

To look further into this I've compiled a spreadsheet of this team's offensive performances against all the pitchers faced so far this season while also listing the number of past starts those pitchers have made against Arizona since 2007.  Why 2007?  Well, it was part laziness and part of it just seemed like a good mid-point to choose.  Sure, some players like Drew, CJ and Snyder have had at bats before then, while others like Option J and Reynolds will have never faced some of these pitcher (specifically the NL East pitchers), but I figure it's a start.

That being said, I'm not sure how much analytical value this information will have.  There are some trends, but at the same time there are sample size issues galore.  Also, I just realized that I left out the home parks - something that also can have a big effect.  Nevertheless, I thought some here have probably had the same questions at some time and would be interested in seeing the data.  Also, if anyone wants a copy of the spreadsheet file to do their own monkeying with the data, just shoot me an email.

First, some fun little numbers:

Opposing pitchers' ERA with 7 starts - 10.97

6 starts - 13.94

5 starts-6.11

4 starts-4.86

3 starts- 10.29 (courtesy of Maddux's 9 ER)

2 starts- 6.02

1starts- 5.97

0 starts- 5.23

Also, ERA among pitchers that we've faced more than once this season:

First start - 5.72

Subsequent starts -  10.09

Unfortunately, these numbers are the result of taking a bludgeon to the problem.  To get something more useful you would have to compile the combined pitcher's ERA for each group to account for the differences in quality.  To do that seems daunting, though.  But I've digressed enough, here are the raw numbers:

Player Innings Runs (R/ER) Previous Starts ERA to date
A. Galarraga 6 2.2 0 3.06
B. Myers 5 7.6 0 5.76
H. Kuroda 5.2 4.2 0 3.67
J. Bonderman 6 3.3 0 4.76
J. Cassel 4.2 3.3 0 5.59
J. Cueto 7 1.1 0 5.75
J. de la Rosa 4.2 4.4 0 7.78
J. Santana 6 1.1 0 3.3
K. Kendrick 6 3.3 0 4.76
N. Robertson 5.2 4.4 0 6.08
R. Dempster 6 2.2 0 2.35
S. Gallagher 4.1 4.4 0 4.4
A. Eaton 4 6.6 1 5.59
A. Harang 6 3.2 1 3.12
B. Arroyo 5 4.2 1 6.02
F. Morales (1) 6 0 1 6.39
M. Pelfrey 5 5.5 1 4.17
M. Redman 5.2 5.4 1 7.84
S. Chacon 5 5.5 1 4.14
C. Sampson 4.1 5.5 2 6.46
E. Loaiza 4 4.4 2 5.63
F. Morales (2) 4 7.7 2 6.39
J. Maine 6 2.2 2 2.81
J. Moyer 6 2.2 2 4.89
R. Wolf (1) 6.1 4.4 2 5.05
T. Lilly 7 1.1 2 5.14
D. Lowe 5 1.1 3 5.34
G. Maddux 7 9.9 3 3.98
J. Germano 5 6.6 3 5.88
J. Sanchez 5 4.3 3 4.59
R. Wolf(2) 4 5.5 3 5.05
A. Cook (1) 6 3.3 4 2.82
B. Zito (1) 6 4.3 4 6.25
C. Young 6 2.2 4 4.18
K. Correia (1) 6 5.5 4 4.5
J. Francis (1) 6.1 5.5 5 5.87
A. Cook (2) 5 5.5 5 2.82
B. Zito (2) 3.2 5.5 5 6.25
J. Peavy 7 2.2 5 2.91
K. Correia (2) 6 2.2 5 4.5
C. Billingsley (1) 2.1 5.4 6 4.34
J. Francis (2) 5 7.7 6 5.87
C. Billingsley (2) 6 5.5 7 4.34
J. Francis (3) 4.2 8.8 7 5.87