GIDP (July 14, 2003)
Just a quick note that a reader named Matt asked me to look at GIDP rates for pitchers. While I did not find that a pitcher can induce more GB with the DP in effect, there is some evidence that a pitcher can induce more DP, given that a GB was hit. The effect was not large overall, at around +/- 8 DP for a season.
The best pitcher with the DP skill? None other than the wondrous Kirk Rueter. At the end of the scale, the worst at getting the DP is a recently freed player, Johan Santana. Greg Maddux was near the bottom, as was Mariano Rivera and Paul Shuey. Glavine was average. Shawn Estes was near the top.
I did not control for team, and so, this was just a fun little project.
--posted by TangoTiger at 03:36 PM EDT
Posted 3:13 p.m.,
July 15, 2003
(#1) -
washerdreyer
Apparently I was the only person who was interested in this, but thanks Tango. I was going to e-mail you back about this, but might as well ask here. Rather than looking at DPs which actually took place, might it back more sense to look at DP situations where were ground balls hit to infield zones in which they usually would be turned into double plays and thereby remove the influence of the defense? I understand this is significantly more work and am not asking you to do it, just curious if this method would do a better job of answering the question.
Posted 4:00 p.m.,
July 15, 2003
(#2) -
tangotiger
Yes, that method would be better, so that at least we could control somewhat for the fielder influence.
Also comparing different pitchers on the same team would help too.