Friday, January 14, 2011

Same As It Ever Was


Time for another fun little exercise. This time I take a look at similarity scores of NL West starting pitchers. Let's take a look at the scheduled starters from the 5-man rotations of the NL West. The statistics of choice will be K/9, BB/9, GB/FB and age. I will be using the square of the sums to come up with a similarity score for each of the 25 pitchers. Naturally, you don't want your best match to be someone like D.Moseley, T.Stauffer or A.Cook. Let's take a look at the closest overall matches and the closest match for each individual pitcher.

Top 10 Closest Similarity Scores
Rank Pitchers K/9 BB/9 GB/FB Age Score
1 D.Moseley / T.Stauffer 5.69 / 6.05 3.06 / 3.03 1.39 / 1.31 29 / 28 0.405
2 J.Saunders / D.Moseley 5.4 / 5.69 2.85 / 3.06 1.27 / 1.39 29 / 29 0.501
3 J.Saunders / T.Stauffer 5.4 / 6.05 2.85 / 3.25 1.27 / 1.43 29 / 27 0.571
4 C.Richard / T.Stauffer 6.5 / 6.05 3.25 / 3.03 1.43 / 1.31 27 / 28 0.614
5 M.Cain / D.Hudson 7.51 / 8.01 2.66 / 2.69 0.8 / 0.72 26 / 24 0.649
6 J.Garland / J.Saunders 4.84 / 5.40 2.83 / 2.85 1.33 / 1.27 31 / 29 0.651
7 C.Richard / D.Moseley 6.50 / 5.69 3.25 /3.06 1.43 / 1.39 27 / 29 0.797
8 J.Garland / D.Moseley 4.84 / 5.69 2.83 / 3.06 1.33 / 1.39 31 / 29 0.848
9 C.Billingsley / U.Jimenez 8.39 / 8.59 3.34 / 3.59 1.36 / 1.64 26 / 27 0.889
10 M.Cain / I.Kennedy 7.51 / 7.97 2.66 / 3.28 0.80 / 0.84 26 / 26 1.075


Now let's take a look at each pitchers closest match.

Similarities
Pitcher Closest match K/9 BB/9 GB/FB Age Score
C.Kershaw J.Chacin 9.65 / 9.06 3.62 / 3.83 1.06 / 1.45 23 / 23 1.132
C.Billingsley U.Jimenez 8.39 / 8.59 3.34 / 3.59 1.36 / 1.64 26 / 27 0.889
H.Kuroda J.Garland 6.83 / 4.84 2.17 / 2.83 1.59 / 1.33 36 / 31 2.211
T.Lilly A.Harang 7.63 / 7.38 2.23 / 2.69 0.74 / 0.93 35 / 32 1.221
J.Garland J.Saunders 4.84 / 5.40 2.83 / 2.85 1.33 / 1.27 31 / 29 0.651
T.Lincecum C.Billingsley 9.95 / 8.39 3.01 / 3.34 1.37 / 1.36 26 / 26 1.094
M.Cain D.Hudson 7.51 / 8.01 2.66 / 2.69 0.80 / 0.72 26 / 24 0.649
J.Sanchez J.de la Rosa 9.49 / 8.64 4.33 / 4.03 0.98 / 1.31 28 / 29 1.151
B.Zito C.Richard 6.46 / 6.50 3.72 / 3.25 0.89 / 1.43 32 / 27 2.088
M.Bumgarner M.Latos 7.23 / 9.18 2.43 / 2.53 1.23 / 1.03 21 / 23 1.406
U.Jimenez C.Billingsley 8.59 / 8.39 3.59 / 3.34 1.64 / 1.36 27 / 26 0.889
J.de la Rosa J.Sanchez 8.64 / 9.49 4.03 / 4.33 1.31 / 0.98 29 / 28 1.151
J.Hammel T.Stauffer 7.25 / 6.05 2.27 / 3.03 1.33 / 1.31 28 / 28 1.461
A.Cook Z.Duke 3.97 / 4.66 2.78 / 2.46 2.44 / 1.60 32 / 27 2.648
J.Chacin C.Kershaw 9.06 / 9.65 3.83 / 3.62 1.45 / 1.06 23 / 23 1.132
I.Kennedy M.Cain 7.97 / 7.51 3.28 / 2.66 0.84 / 0.80 26 / 26 1.075
D.Hudson M.Cain 8.01 / 7.51 2.69 / 2.66 0.72 / 0.80 24 / 26 0.649
J.Saunders D.Moseley 5.40 / 5.69 2.85 / 3.06 1.27 / 1.39 29 / 29 0.501
B.Enright M.Cain 5.81 / 7.51 2.25 / 2.66 0.70 / 0.80 25 / 26 1.291
Z.Duke J.Saunders 4.66 / 5.40 2.46 / 2.85 1.60 / 1.27 27 / 29 1.282
M.Latos D.Hudson 9.18 / 8.01 2.53 / 2.69 1.03 / 0.72 23 / 24 1.138
C.Richard T.Stauffer 6.50 / 6.05 3.25 / 3.03 1.43 / 1.31 27 / 28 0.614
T.Stauffer D.Moseley 6.05 / 5.69 3.03 / 3.06 1.31 / 1.39 28 / 29 0.405
A.Harang T.Lilly 7.38 / 7.63 2.69 / 2.23 0.93 / 0.74 32 / 35 1.221
D.Moseley T.Stauffer 5.69 / 6.05 3.06 / 3.03 1.39 / 1.31 29 / 28 0.405


Source: Fangraphs

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