Harry is Still Better

By James Holland

Derek Holland received a new five-year deal today. Yes, I’m happy that my namesake gets to stick around longer. But something needs to be done with Matt Harrison. Looking at all of the numbers from 2011 it is clear that Harry is the better pitcher. He had a lower ERA, FIP and WHIP.

Last night I read about a new stat developed for evaluating pitchers. It’s the ABA and it should be looked at more than a player’s WHIP. Whereas a WHIP is walks and hits per innings pitched, the ABA is total bases plus walks allowed per inning. Essentially total bases+walks/innings pitched.

Why was this stat created? Ray Flowers developed it as a means to differentiate pitchers who have the same WHIP but clearly aren’t equals on the mound. The example he used was Tim Lincecum versus Colby Lewis. Both had identical WHIP’s of 1.21 last season. But look at their ABA’s and Lincecum had a 1.65 against Lewis’ 1.96.

Big difference.

So what about Dutch versus Harry? Derek Holland’s ABA last season was 1.87. Matt Harrison’s was 1.72.

Harry wins again.

For more info on ABA and it’s developer go here.