Mike Maroth Owns 5th Best ERA
Who would have thought that nearly two months into the season Mike Maroth would have the 5th best ERA in baseball with a 5-2 record to boot? To get right to the point, there’s only one graph you have to look at with Maroth: his left-on-base percentage (LOB%) graph.
Every stat this year except for his ERA and LOB% has shown either no significant change or have been worse than last season. In other words, he’s not really pitching any better than last year, but has been the benefactor of, dare I say, luck? Barring any significant change in his strikeout or walk habits, expect his LOB% to drift back to earth causing his ERA to be more in-line with his career average (4.68).
David Appelman is the creator of FanGraphs.
John Watkins said,
May 22, 2006 @ 8:52 pm
Does this stat take into account good work by relievers or is just the starter.
Where can you view this chart.
Thanks for the great informational site.
John Watkins said,
May 22, 2006 @ 9:53 pm
Found the formula:
LOB% - Left on Base Percentage
[(H + BB + HBP - R) / (H + BB + HBP - (1.4 x HR))]
Never mind………
David Appelman said,
May 22, 2006 @ 11:18 pm
Glad you found the formula, still need to clean up the documentation on the site. It will take into account the work done by relievers, but so does ERA.