Sunday, February 21, 2010
Pleading the Fifth—NL Style
Posted by Chuck BrownsonThe other day over at Fangraphs, R.J. Anderson responded to a quote from Dodgers' GM Ned Colletti about Colletti's desire for a legitimate fifth starter. "We'd love to have a bona fide 5th starter," Colletti stated. Anderson responded by making the case that the Dodgers already have their "bona fide 5th starter" on their roster.
Anderson referenced a quote from Matthew Carruth defining what it meant to be a fifth starter. Essentially, Carruth argues that when fans or GMs argue for "a mythical fifth starter", they're usually arguing for someone who produces a league average ERA, pitches 180+ innings and wins 10-12 games. That pitcher is a myth because Carruth says that the true definition of a fifth starter is one who is "the worst starter to have actually pitched." To illustrate this point, let's examine the 5th best starters in each NL team's rotation from 2009. Here, I'm defining the 5th starter as the starter with the 5th best FIP among the group of starters on each team who started the most games for their respective teams.
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| **Is this guy bona fide, Ned? He was the fifth starter on a division champion last year!** (Icon/SMI) |
Among this group of fifth starters, not one pitched as many as 180 innings in 2009. Again, not one team had its fifth best starter (as defined by FIP) meet the innings "requirement" that most people basically see from a "bona fide 5th starter." In fact, not one even qualified for the ERA title. Aaron Cook led this group by throwing 158 innings, followed closely by Jamie Moyer's 143.1 innings, Kenshin Kawakami's 142.2 innings and Rich Harden's 141 innings. This group of 16 pitchers averaged fewer than 20 starts (19.88) and only 109.1 innings pitched.
Their average record -- 5.75 wins and 8.06 losses. Their average ERA and FIP -- 5.13 and 5.03, respectively. In other words, fifth starters were -- as one would expect -- far worse than league average starters in 2009. In fact, they were basically replacement level starters. Cook's 1.9 WAR led the group, followed closely by Harden's 1.8 and Kawakami's 1.7 WAR. As fifth starters go, these guys did a nice job but they're hardly the innings-eaters Colletti seems to be looking for.
Other members of this illustrious group included Shairon Martis, Josh Geer, Eric Stults, Micah Owings (who's better known for his hitting, by the way!), Yusmeiro Petit, and Chris Volstad. The group also includes David Bush and his 6.27 ERA, Todd Wellemeyer and his 6.08 ERA (and his team won its division!), and Felipe Paulino's 5.69 ERA. It also included future Hall of Famer Randy Johnson.
What, then, are the implications for teams' rosters? The bottom line is that teams do not need to spend valuable resources in an attempt to bring in an innings-eater for the fifth spot in the rotation. While it would be nice to have everyone in the rotation make 28-30 starts and throw 180-plus innings, that's just not realistic. Why pay a guy $5 or $6 million (or more!) if you're only going to get 110 innings and a 5.50 era from him? "Fifth starters", therefore, are very fungible creatures. A team doesn't need a great one in order to reach the postseason or even to reach the World Series. In fact, only Aaron Cook even made his team's playoff roster.
Anderson argues that Colletti's "fifth starter" is probably already on his roster in the form of James McDonald. Even if McDonald's not the answer, he's not going to be that much worse than any other team's fifth starter and it won't take long to figure out that the Dodgers need to try someone else. Moreover, the likelihood that the pitcher who starts the team's fifth game -- or the first time a fifth starter is needed -- also finishes the season in the rotation may not be that great. He probably won't make 25 starts or pitch the 162 innings needed to qualify for the ERA title anyway. And if he does, it's likely that one of the "top four" starters in the rotation failed or injured himself sufficiently to push the "fifth starter" up in the rotation.
So, Ned, don't fret about not being able to pay someone five or six million dollars as your fifth starter. Tell Joe to try McDonald or Stults or one of the other guys you were lamenting in your conversation with Buster Olney. You'll be just fine (as long as Chad Billingsley pitches the way he did in the first half last year!).
Chuck is a lifelong Cardinals fan who welcomes comments below or via email at chuckbtht AT gmail DOT com.
Kawakami threw 156.1 innings.