Saturday, April 23, 2011

Miguel Tejada and PFF

I recently came across a really cool blog -- JunkStats, devoted to the invention and use of unusual baseball statistics.

One of the statistics tracked on JunkStats is pitcher fatigue factor (PFF).

Here's the explanation...
PFF = (Batter’s Pitches per Out / League’s Pitches per Out) * 100

This stat works like other league-adjusted stats (OPS+, ERA+, etc.) in that 100 is league average and the number of points above/below 100 is the percentage above/below average. Thus, a PFF of 110 means that a batter forces pitchers to throw 10% more pitches than average; a PFF of 94 means that pitchers need 6% fewer pitches than average to get that batter out.

As it happens, it takes almost exactly 100 pitches for the average pitcher to get through six innings of work. Thus, you can think of a player’s PFF as the number of pitches it would take for an average pitcher to get through 6 innings’ work when a lineup is entirely made up of a given batter. So, if a batter has a PFF of 106, it would take about 106 pitches to get through 6 innings.

I absolutely loathe five-pitch innings. I hate it when the Giants just make it easy for a pitcher to get through an inning like that (Tim Hudson had a five-pitch inning today, for example). PFF, essentially, tracks those that are best at making the pitcher fatigued (making them throw more pitches to get through an inning).

Anyway, here's an interesting fact:

Miguel Tejada has a PFF of 71. Meaning, while it would normally take a pitcher 100 pitches to get through six innings against a lineup composed of average hitters, it only takes a pitcher 71 pitches to get through a lineup of Miguel Tejadas. Tejada's PFF ranks worst among qualified players.

Isn't that delightful?



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