Pitcher Effectiveness: A step forward for in game analytics and pitcher evaluation

Abstract

With the introduction of Statcast in 2015, baseball analytics have become more precise. Statcast allows every play to be accurately tracked and the data it generates is easily accessible through Baseball Savant, which opens the opportunity for improved performance statistics to be developed. In this paper we propose a new tool, Pitcher Effectiveness, that uses Statcast data to evaluate starting pitchers dynamically, based on the results of in-game outcomes after each pitch. Pitcher Effectiveness successfully predicts instances where starting pitchers give up several runs, which we believe make it a new and important tool for the in-game and post-game evaluation of starting pitchers.