So, can someone help me out here?  I've been attempting to make myself a little more knowlegable within this game, and I've been using a couple of the sabremetric stats a little more.  ERC being one of them. 

I understand that lower is better, but for starting pitching, how low should I be looking?  I am sure that it depends on the cap, but any guidance on where to begin with some of these numbers would be great. I don't really know what I'm looking at with a lot of these numbers, so...thanks in advance.

I'd look at ERC+ or ERC#. The straight ERC (and other stats) can be misleading based on the season. Pitchers from low-scoring seasons will have better ERC, but their ERC+ would be compared to other pitchers from that season and ERC# would be normalized across the eras. For example:
1908 Mathewson  ERC 1.38    ERC+ 182   ERC# 1.74
2008 Martinez       ERC 1.39    ERC+ 353   ERC# 1.18

That said, there are those (zubinsum, I believe, among others big on spreadsheets and the math behind the game) who wonder why anyone looks at stats not used by the engine. I find the ERC+/# numbers useful as a summary of pitchers' abilities. The straight (ERC) numbers are a good basis in a single-season progressive, when all the players being considered would normalize the same way. But in Open or most Theme leagues, use normalized stats. + figures relate to the player's league and season; an ERC+ of 100 means a pitcher was exactly league average. # stats compare all eras.

Finally, it's a good idea to lok at the $/IP as a check. If you think Pitcher A and Pitcher B are similar, and B has a significantly higher $/IP, that means there's something about Pitcher B that the sim engine likes.

And with ERC+ the higher the better?  And with ERC# the lower?

cash per inning pitched too, I like that idea.

Posted by tropicana on 7/6/2010 5:35:00 PM (view original):
And with ERC+ the higher the better?  And with ERC# the lower?

Yes

Now Tropicana knows our secrets ... We are doomed! ...  ... LOL

Good info Josh. Never knew to look at those stats.

LOL...I'm sure I'll be dominating soon enough...#sarcasm.

IMO the erc# is the most important stat in the game. It takes into account all the pitching stats relative to the game. You can do a general search using erc# as a criteria then weed out guys with a big weakness like hr/9+ and put together a good staff. The erc# is also the category used to determine your AAA players effectiveness. The lower the better. With any plus number like erc+ or hr/9+ the higher the better. Good way to compare guys with same erc numbers is looking at the plus like Josh's example

The $ per IP is another nice tool for a broad search but it will include def and bat avg as well as just pitching stats. From my experience if 2 pitchers are nearly the same in most categories, the power pitching category of k/9 or k/bb will increase the $ per IP category rather signifcantly.

An erc# below 2.00 will usually have good results in most leagues and you can get away with up to 3 in low payroll or progressives. Of course you still need to check and make sure hr/9 and bb/9 totals arent inflated. Some of the greats of the games may have a slightly high hr/9 or bb/9 total and they get punished in WIS more often than not. Since th emost recent update; I have found that bb/9 is more sensative than ever esp at the higher caps.