Quality numbers

If there is one aspect of the game that the Wild Things have become known for during their 11 seasons, then it has to be good pitching. With the exception of 2009 (and maybe 2008), the Wild Things have been one of the best teams in the Frontier League when it comes to pitching, especially the starting rotation.

Washington has won two team ERA titles, and in 2011 set the league record with 57 quality starts (at least six innings pitched and no more than three earned runs allowed). This year, Washington didn't quite match last season's performance on the mound, but the Wild Things' starting rotation performed better than the team's final record would indicate.

Washington finished fifth in the league in ERA at 3.73, which was only .11 higher than last year's league-leading average. The Wild Things also were one of only four teams that gave up fewer than 400 runs. The Wild Things also finished third in the league in quality starts.

Chris Smith had 13 quality starts to lead the staff. Only Justin Hall last year and Aaron Ledbetter in 2007 had more quality starts in a season than Smith's 13.

2012 Quality Starts
52 - Schaumburg
51 - Evansville
50 - Washington
49 - Windy City
48 - Southern Illinois
46 - Traverse City
44 - Florence
44 - Gateway
43 - Joliet
40 - Normal
40 - River City
33 - London
32 - Lake Erie
31 - Rockford
  7 - Road Warriors

Useless information, midseason edition

With the All-Star break at hand, it's a good time to clean the notebook of some statistical drivel that reveals some interesting, and some rather predictable, things about the season's first half.

We know that starting pitching has usually been the Wild Things' strength. This year is no exception, though, as expected, the numbers have fallen off following last year's record-setting performance. Here's a look at the number of quality starts (at least six innings pitched and no more than three earned runs allowed) for each team:

Quality Starts
27 - Evansville
27 - London
25 - Schaumburg
23 - Washington
23 - Windy City
22 - Gateway
22 - River City
20 - Lake Erie
20 - Southern Illinois
20 - Traverse City
19 - Florence
19 - Joliet
18 - Normal
10 - Rockford

You can see why Rockford is last in the league in team ERA (note that two of the RiverHawks' 10 quality starts have come against Washington), but it's surprising that Lake Erie has the lowest ERA yet is in the middle of the pack in quality starts. This is mainly because Crushers manager John Massarelli, more often than any other manager, goes to his bullpen at the start of the sixth inning. Despite being tied for the lead in quality starts, London is in the bottom half of team ERA, which has been caused by its bullpen. As you can see below, the Rippers' relief pitching has been shaky when given a lead.

Blown Saves
10 - Florence
9 - Joliet
9 - London
8 - Washington
6 - Gateway
6 - Lake Erie
6 - Rockford
5 - Southern Illinois
5 - Traverse City
4 - Schaumburg
4 - Windy City
3 - Normal
2 - Evansville
2 - River City

One note about Washington's blown saves: the eight have come from seven different pitchers.

The standings in the West Division today show Schaumburg holding a one-game lead over Windy City and a three-game advantage over River City. As you can see above, the Boomers have gotten there with solid starting pitching and, despite what happened over the weekend against the Wild Things, some dependable relief pitching. But another aspect of Schaumburg's game is its ability to come through offensively in the late innings. The Boomers lead the league in wins in their final at-bat. We're not talking talking walk-off wins, but simply scoring the game-winning run in you team's final inning of batting (extra innings, ninth inning, bottom of the eighth for a home team). The statistic shows a team's ability to keep a game close and then find a way to win late.

Last At-Bat Wins
8 - Schaumburg
7 - Evansville
7 - Florence
7 - River City
6 - Gateway
4 - Lake Erie
4 - London
4 - Traverse City
4 - Washington
3 - Joliet
3 - Windy City
2 - Normal
2 - Southern Illinois
2 - Rockford

The interesting note about Washington's four last at-bat wins is three of them came in the first six games of the season, and they didn't have another until Sunday, the final game of the first half. Washington went a stretch of 40 consecutive games without a last at-bat win.

If you study these three statistics, the one question you might have is this: How is Evansville first in quality starts, have the fewest blown saves and is second in last at-bat wins, but yet is 11 games out of first place in the East? The answer is Otters simply don't score enough (12th in runs) to carry many leads into the late innings.

Best Game by a Hitter in the First Half: Rockford outfielder Javier Herrera, June 28 vs. Evansville. Herrera was 5-for-5, hit for the cycle and drove in 7 runs.

Best Game by a Pitcher in the First Half: Windy City's Mike Recchia, July 2 vs. Evansville. Recchia threw a 9-inning shutout, allowed only 3 hits and 3 walks. He struck out 16 and threw 146 pitches. In his next start, Recchia, had a 2-hit, 10-strikeout shutout of River City.

That's quality

Solid pitching has been a staple of the Wild Things. During their first six seasons, the Wild Things didn't finish worse than fourth in the Frontier League in team ERA.

There were a couple of lean pitching years since, but the Wild Things seemed to correct most of those problems this season. Washington won the league's ERA title for the first time since 2002, posting a 3.62, which was .14 better than second-place Lake Erie. Frontier League champion Joliet finished fifth at 4.06.

The strength of the pitching was the group of starters, even after losing opening day starter Vidal Nuno and FL Rookie of the Year Casey Barnes to affiliated ball. The Wild Things set the league record for quality starts (at least six innings pitched and no more than three earned runs allowed) with 59.

Justin Hall had 14 quality starts among his 20 outings, and they weren't the cheap 6-inning, 3-run variety. Hall led the league in innings pitched and complete games. The 14 quality starts equals the team record set by Aaron Ledbetter in 2007, when he went 14-2. Every start Hall made after the all-star break was rated a quality start, including his 11-inning, 14-strikeout outing on the final day of the season at Windy City.

All of this, combined with the Wild Things finishing in fifth place in the East Division, tells you just how dreadful the Washington offense was. The Wild Things' offense finished last in the league in batting average, hits, runs, walks, doubles, total bases, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. As one visiting manager at Consol Energy Park said this season, "It's not hard to crack the Wild Things' lineup these days."

With the pitching staff it had, if Washington produced only an average hitting team, there's a good chance it would have made the playoffs.

Quality Starts by Team in 2011
*59 - Washington
49 - Windy City
48 - Normal
47 - River City
42 - Florence
41 - Joliet
39 - Lake Erie
36 - Gateway
36 - Southern Illinois
35 - Rockford
34 - Traverse City
31 - Evansville

* League record.

Quality stuff v.2010

At the all-star break, Washington was dead last in the league in quality starts – at least 6 innings pitched and no more than 3 earned runs allowed - with only 12. Billy Muldowney, Jeff Sonnenberg and Justin Edwards helped the Wild Things climb out of the basement in that statistic over the second half of the season.

Normal, which finished in fourth place in the West Division and was eight games under .500, led the league in quality starts with 60. I've only been tracking quality starts since 2006, but Normal's total is the most in that span, topping Rockford's 56 in 2006.

Quality starts
60 - Normal
53 - Windy City
49 - Lake Erie
45 - Oakland County
45 - Southern Illinois
44 - Gateway
44 - Traverse City
43 - River City
35 - Washington
34 - Evansville
31 - Kalamazoo
30 - Florence

Quality work

Here's a statistic you won't find on the Frontier League's homepage: quality starts. If a starting pitcher goes at least six innings and gives up three earned runs or less, he gets a quality start.

48 - Kalamazoo
40 - Rockford
40 - Southern Illinois
40 - Traverse City
39 - Windy City
38 - River City
34 - Florence
34 - Gateway
31 - Lake Erie
31 - Midwest
30 - Washington
26 - Evansville

Washington's leader in quality starts was Zach Groh with 10. Groh and Jason Neitz (7) combined for more than half of the team's quality starts.

The Wild Things' pitchers had 34 quality starts in 2008, 38 in 2007 and 44 in 2006.

Quality stuff

With 60 games to go and the Wild Things back in last place in the East Division, here's a quick check of the "quality starts" (at least six innings pitched and three earned runs or less allowed) made by each pitching staff in the Frontier League:

19 - Kalamazoo
15 - Traverse City
14 - Rockford
12 - Florence
12 - Gateway
12 - River City
11 - Midwest
10 - Lake Erie
9 - Evansville
9 - Southern Illinois
8 - Windy City
7 - Washington

Zach Groh and Jason Neitz each have three quality starts for Washington and Andy Schindling has the seventh.