Posted by nanu on 7/3/2013 11:56:00 PM (view original):
Posted by trsnoke on 7/3/2013 10:11:00 PM (view original):
Many of those ahead of him are relievers that pitched a fraction of his 5386 innings. And many of the starters ahead of him pitched a couple/few thousand less innings. Allowing hitters a .204/.307/.298 line over that many innings is great.
Most were fellow starters. But okay. Over 27 seasons and a ton of innings he compiled an 81.8 WAR. That's just north of 3 WAR a season. Even Blyleven averaged over 4.
That opponent hitter statline is awesome - especially in today's context - but remember he pitched when the game was a bit different.
And, as rsp notes - as good as he was, a .500 pitcher.
40% of the list ahead of him in ERA+ pitched 1/3 the amount of innings he did or less and another 25% pitched half his innings or less. Pitching that many more innings above league average is the definition of being above average.
MLB while Ryan was pitching - .257/.323/.381; league walk rate of 8.6%, strikeout rate of 14.1%
since Ryan - .264/.333/.419; league walk rate of 8.7%, strikeout rate of 17.3%. Biggest change is batted balls turning into hits and increase in HR. Looks like league has become more free-swinging, not much more patient.
You know this, but baseball is a team sport. Wins depend on pitching, defense, offense. Ryan had 2 runs of support or less in 37% of his starts. I think league average was about 31%. I'm sure there are teams he could have been on where his record would have been worse but probably more where his record would have been better. Someone else can look up park factors to see how that influenced his pitching and offensive support.