The Depth of Pitching

by R.J. Anderson on Sep 1, 2008 11:49 AM EDT

No I'm not going to discuss the attrition rates because there are better resources than I could provide that cover that angle of minor league pitching. Instead I'm going to provide information on which of our pitchers strike the most hitters out while walking the least. Some people around here think looking at the K/BB ratio is evil, and well, some people around here are stupid. Generally 2.00 is the lowest accepted K/BB ratio for a pitcher, with 3.00 being pretty good, 4.00 being great, and anything higher being really, really impressive.

K/BB ratio obviously isn't the end all to be all, but the pitchers who strike out three+ times their walk totals are usually going to be succesful. For instance, the top of the K/BB leaderboard this season features names like Dan Haren, Cliff Lee, and Roy Halladay while the bottom has Barry Zito, Daniel Cabrera, and Kenny Rogers.

54% of the Rays pitchers have a K/BB ratio of 2.00 or better and nearly 40% have K/9s of 8 or better. Anyhow here is the list of pitchers, ranked by K/BB ratio in descending order:

Player	Position	Age	Level	K/9	K/BB
Omar Bencomo	RHSP	19	ROK	8.16	18.33
Matthew Gorgen	RHRP	25	L-A	13.91	8.5
Nelson Liriano	RHRP	20	L-A	10.8	8.5
Kyle Ayers	RHRP	18	L-A	7.03	8.33
Jeremy Hellickson	RHSP	21	AA	9.59	8.1
Jamie Bagley	RHRP	20	L-A	11.27	7.6
Jesse Darcy	RHSP	23	L-A	6.63	6.53
Albert Suarez	RHSP	18	L-A	7.63	5.29
Juan Salas	RHRP	29	L-A	10.95	4.83
Wilking Rodriguez	RHSP	18	L-A	9.79	4.83
Neil Schenk	LHRP	22	L-A	12.18	4.6
Joseph Cruz	RHSP	19	L-A	10.33	4.43
Chris Luck	RHRP	18	L-A	8.75	4.38
Lewis Heath Rollins	RHSP	23	AA	7.7	4.18
Carlos Hernandez	LHSP	28	L-A	8.65	4.17
Matthew Moore	LHSP	19	L-A	12.75	4.05
Mitch Talbot	RHSP	24	AAA	7.88	4.03
Michael Jarman	LHRP	23	L-A	10.92	4
James Shields	RHSP	26	MLB	6.82	4
Angel Chapa	RHRP	21	L-A	9.2	3.88
Justin Garcia	RHRP	22	L-A	9.71	3.85
Deivis Mavares	RHRP	21	L-A	11.47	3.65
Austin Hinkle	RHRP	23	L-A	12.92	3.53
Raul Guedez	RHRP	23	L-A	7.71	3.5
Juan Wilsino	RHSP	19	L-A	5.97	3.45
Grant Balfour	RHRP	30	MLB	13.77	3.43
Nick Barnese	RHSP	19	L-A	11.07	3.41
David Price	LHSP	22	AAA	8.95	3.41
Andrew Sonnanstine	RHSP	25	MLB	5.44	3.38
Jeremy Cummings	RHSP	31	AAA	7.9	3.35
Kevin Boggan	RHRP	22	L-A	6.66	3.31
Juan Santana	RHRP	22	L-A	7.31	3.29
Brian Baker	RHRP	25	L-A	7.11	3.24
Scott Dohmann	RHRP	30	AAA	9.75	3.21
Dale Thayer	RHRP	27	AAA	10.01	3.17
Matthew Long	RHRP	23	L-A	12.49	3.1
Eduardo Morlan	RHRP	22	AA	8.62	3
Jose Monegro	RHSP	18	L-A	4.41	3
Elvin Perez	RHRP	22	L-A	8.07	2.91
Ryan Reid	RHRP	23	AA	11.41	2.88
Alexander Cobb	RHSP	20	L-A	6.25	2.77
Frank De Los Santos	LHSP	20	L-A	6.99	2.75
Neal Frontz	RHRP	24	AA	6.84	2.75
Dan Wheeler	RHRP	30	MLB	7.02	2.71
Scott Kazmir	LHSP	24	L-A	9.71	2.68
Marquis Fleming	RHRP	21	L-A	9.6	2.67
Joshua Satow	LHRP	22	L-A	11.36	2.65
Brandon Mann	LHSP	24	L-A	7.09	2.64
Jeremy Hall	RHSP	24	L-A	7.09	2.52
Jason Ragan	RHSP	25	L-A	5.16	2.46
Jeff Niemann	RHSP	25	AAA	8.47	2.44
Shane Dyer	RHSP	20	L-A	7.06	2.42
Colter Bean	RHRP	31	L-A	9.63	2.38
Travis Risser	RHRP	23	H-A	7.5	2.37
Jason Cromer	LHRP	27	L-A	6.48	2.25
J.P Howell	LHRP	25	MLB	9.2	2.24
Eliazer Suero	RHSP	19	ROK	6.71	2.24
Chris Mason	RHSP	23	AAA	7.44	2.17
Luis Yendis	RHSP	18	L-A	6.79	2.16
Matt Garza	RHSP	24	MLB	6.35	2.15
Wade Davis	RHSP	22	AAA	7.62	2.06
Alexander Colome	RHSP	19	L-A	10.1	2
Troy Percival	RHRP	38	MLB	8.31	2
Kevin Chavez	RHSP	19	L-A	6.99	2
Jae Kuk Ryu	RHSP	25	AAA	6.92	2
Wilton Noel	RHRP	23	L-A	6.24	2
Joice Linares	LHRP	18	L-A	5.89	2
Jason McEachern	RHRP	17	L-A	5.76	2
Craig James	RHRP	25	L-A	8.32	1.97
Michael Wlodarczyk	LHRP	25	L-A	7.25	1.94
John Baird	RHRP	21	L-A	9	1.93
James Houser Jr.	LHSP	23	AAA	7.25	1.9
Braulio Lara	LHRP	19	L-A	10.32	1.86
Steve Andrade	RHRP	30	AAA	10.24	1.86
Heath Phillips	LHRP	26	AAA	7.07	1.85
Kevin Lynn	RHRP	29	L-A	6.14	1.84
Ryan Owen	LHRP	23	L-A	8.03	1.83
Eduar Quinonez	RHRP	18	L-A	6.6	1.83
Robert Della Grotta	RHRP	23	L-A	9.62	1.82
Jose Torres	RHRP	17	L-A	6.28	1.82
Ryan Morse	LHSP	25	H-A	5.45	1.82
Jacob McGee	LHSP	21	AA	7.53	1.76
Travis Barnett	RHRP	24	L-A	8.13	1.75
Darin Downs	LHRP	23	L-A	8.21	1.74
Chris Andujar	RHSP	20	L-A	7.63	1.73
Brian Flores	LHSP	23	L-A	5.87	1.71
Joshua Johnson	RHRP	21	L-A	6.1	1.69
Trever Miller	LHRP	35	MLB	8.74	1.65
Richard De Los Santos	RHSP	24	AA	4.44	1.63
Roger Deago	LHRP	31	L-A	6.53	1.59
Tyree Hayes	RHSP	19	L-A	5.43	1.52
Mike Prochaska	LHSP	28	L-A	4.38	1.5
Wade Townsend	RHRP	25	L-A	7.56	1.44
Chad Bradford	RHRP	33	MLB	3.1	1.42
Aneuris Mercedes	RHRP	21	L-A	7.16	1.4
Hugo Duarte	RHRP	18	L-A	8.13	1.39
Victor Mateo	RHSP	18	L-A	6.1	1.38
Carlos Duenas	LHRP	20	L-A	6.2	1.36
Nick DeBarr	RHRP	24	AAA	6.12	1.36
Edwin Jackson	RHSP	24	MLB	5.19	1.3
Francisco Andrade	LHRP	17	L-A	7.22	1.28
Jordi Amargos	RHRP	22	L-A	6.41	1.27
Brian Henderson	LHRP	26	AA	5.22	1.26
Alberto Molina	LHRP	17	L-A	6.95	1.24
Glenn Gibson	LHRP	20	L-A	6.15	1.24
Calvin Medlock	RHRP	25	AAA	5.66	1.22
Jason Hammel	RHRP	25	MLB	4.94	1.22
Kevin Lopez	RHRP	19	L-A	6.09	1.2
Jino Gonzalez	LHRP	25	L-A	6.98	1.19
Jose Angel Mejias	RHRP	24	L-A	4.97	1.19
Diego Echeverria	RHRP	23	L-A	4.77	1.19
Ben Hendrickson	RHSP	27	AAA	4.58	1.14
Woods Fines	RHSP	22	L-A	4.12	1.13
Matthew Walker	RHRP	21	L-A	6.48	1.02
Joselo Jasco	RHRP	19	L-A	6.75	1
Chris Fessler	RHRP	24	L-A	5.4	1
Ali Crespo	RHRP	18	L-A	2.13	1
Chuck Tiffany	LHRP	23	L-A	6.7	0.94
Ronny Ozoria	RHRP	19	L-A	6.75	0.89
Orlando Cabrera	RHRP	18	L-A	5.45	0.84
Chris Kelly	RHRP	25	L-A	4.56	0.84
Jose Fermin	RHRP	17	L-A	5.59	0.78
Joan Guerrero	LHRP	17	L-A	4.71	0.76
Luis Espana	RHRP	19	L-A	3.54	0.73
Robinson Reyes	LHRP	19	L-A	8.33	0.56

Most of the pitchers in the bottom half are likely never going to be successful unless they are a heavy groundballer (Bradford) ora lefty (Miller) or quirky like a knuckleballer (Echeverria). The guys at the top aren't guaranteed success either, sometimes they will find a wall where their stuff or control meets its match, but they have a higher chance of being major leaguers than poor Luis Espana.

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Comments

Bencomo: 60.2 IP 55 SO 3 BB

Last year he had a 67 GB%. I can’t wait to see him stateside.

by R.J. Anderson on Sep 1, 2008 11:58 AM EDT reply actions

McGee was injured this year though, what is his career K/BB number?

by Top Gun Numba 1 on Sep 1, 2008 12:00 PM EDT reply actions

2.74.

by R.J. Anderson on Sep 1, 2008 12:02 PM EDT up reply actions

Better, not great. Is it just the left arm that makes him a prospect, or is he a GB outs machine?

by Top Gun Numba 1 on Sep 1, 2008 12:33 PM EDT up reply actions

It's the left arm that throws a baseball consistently at 94 and sometimes that left arm has been know to move 100mph.

Tools Whore

Sign Bonds!

by Tyler on Sep 1, 2008 12:36 PM EDT up reply actions

Check your level column R.J.

You have quite a few pitchers at the wrong level: Kazmir, Bradford and plenty more.

At the BP event, Friedman said that the Latin America academies are close to feeding some players into the pipeline of talent. That may become one of the more productive investments the Rays have made.

by bobr on Sep 1, 2008 1:33 PM EDT reply actions

Thanks.

That’s odd, it seems when I copied over it didn’t copy that column correctly.

by R.J. Anderson on Sep 1, 2008 2:04 PM EDT up reply actions

as always, the younger a player is, the more you care about "stuff" and the less you care about performance

but for guys in AAA or AA (or the majors), a high K/BB is a really good sign. also, and this goes against what’s true at the MLB level, you actually CAN learn something about a pitcher by his hit-rate

by Sky Kalkman on Sep 1, 2008 2:54 PM EDT reply actions

What this chart says is that we have amazing pitching depth

at all levels. Just staggering.

9=8
TRUE Seminole

by JMB on Sep 1, 2008 6:09 PM EDT reply actions

Talbot and Shields are the two AAA/MLB guys with a K/BB at least 4.0

awesome.

by Sky Kalkman on Sep 1, 2008 6:30 PM EDT reply actions

Heath Rollins is the next of that fabric.

He should hit Durham next year.

by R.J. Anderson on Sep 1, 2008 6:42 PM EDT up reply actions

people underestimate Talbot

I am hoping he is the guy making the spot start in Baltimore

by Dbullsfan on Sep 1, 2008 10:07 PM EDT up reply actions

FWIW

Gorgen is 21, not 25.

It’s probably also worth distinguishing the levels a bit better. The way it’s listed, it doesn’t show a difference between A+ and Rookie ball (and there’s a HUGE difference in how much credence should be given to strikeout and walk numbers between those levels).

Vogt early, Vogt often.

by Brickhaus on Sep 2, 2008 2:05 PM EDT reply actions