Do ERA's tell the whole story?

[Jimnesie]

Blanton had a rocky start on Mon. night.  But the fact is he did have a three run lead.  Then a solid single and a bloop single.  Exit Blanton and in comes De La Rosa who promptly gives up a walk and an RBI single.  The two runs get charged to Blanton. 

 

The fact is that a true reliever (something that is rare in Anaheim) should have stopped the Rangers without scoring.  Afterall, his arm is fresh, he is being seen for the first time that night. 

 

Don't ever trust ERA's they don't reflect the true story.

 

BTW, the Angel position players need make the pitching staff and especially the relievers, take a separate plane on road trips.  Because these guys aren't acting like they want to pitch in the major leagues and most of them are a big waste of a uniform.

[Reveille1984]

At this point with how many advanced stats there are to interpret pretty much every variation in player performance, I doubt anybody would only use ERA to represent a pitcher's value.  It's more like ERA is one slice of a statistical pie.  Things like WHIP, BB/9, K/9, LD%, xFIP, velocity, and etc. in combination with ERA will tell a more complete story of how a pitcher is doing.

[Blarg]

Blanton has earned his ERA so far this season.

 

Also you have your facts wrong. Blanton only faced one batter in the 7th that was credited to his Earned Runs for the game. Roth came in for one batter and added a runner before De La Rosa blew it up.

[katie]

ERA's what

 

 

Ohhhhh ERAs

[Fontana Halo]

Every stat in some way is flawed. 

 

That being said, I believe WHIP is a better indication of how well a pitcher is pitching as opposed to ERA. 

[YouthofToday]

Of course ERA doesn't tell the whole story. Nobody could argue otherwise. I agree with Fontana Halo that WHIP is better. Still has issues though.

K/bb is another good one.

[Tyler]

Count me in the group of one stat never tells the whole story. I'm looking at you WAR-heads.

[Docwaukee]

I like WPA for pitchers.  not perfect by any stretch though.  WPA/LI is good for relievers. 

[AZMike]

Every stat in some way is flawed. 

 

That being said, I believe WHIP is a better indication of how well a pitcher is pitching as opposed to ERA. 

Carlos Marmol and Fernando Rodney disagree. Craig Kimbrel gives a thumbs up.

[dimitrig]

Yes. Yes they do. The whole story condensed into one number. Like WAR.

[Jason]

They do when they are results of home runs.

[AZMike]

They do when they are results of home runs.

Joe Blanton would prefer we use xFIP

[gotbeer]

I prefer a combination of ERA with WHIP.  Sometimes I'll go into the other numbers, but in most cases, those two combined can answer 80% of the questions.  Even a win loss in combination of those two stats can tell you a lot about a pitcher.  But with any stats, there will be those anomolies, in which you will have to delve into other stats.

[Corona]

It tells a lot of the story, by the end of the season the top 10 guys in ERA are typically 10 of the best pitchers that season, if not the 10 best.

[Jason]

Now some guys are crappier than their ERA shows. CJ Wilson would be the example.