Pittsburgh Pirates: Best & Worst Average Pitching Seasons in Franchise History

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A few months ago, we looked at the best and worst average seasons for Pittsburgh Pirates position players. But who has the best and worst average seasons among franchise pitchers?

A few months ago, we looked at the best and worst average seasons in Pittsburgh Pirates' history based on statistics like OPS+ and wRC+. OPS+ weighs how good a batter's OPS was to the rest of the league, as well as their ballpark. wRC+ does the same thing, but for weighted on-base average (wOBA).

However, what we didn't cover were pitchers. Like OPS+ and wRC+ are two era, league, and ballpark-adjusted statistics, there are many pitching statistics that do the same, such as ERA+, ERA-, WHIP-, and FIP-. In each of these statistics, 100 is considered the average. If it has a + in front of it, that means that 101 is 1% better than average, 99 is considered 1% worse than average, and so on. If it has a minus sign, it means the opposite (101 is 1% worse than average, 99 is 1% better than average).

These stats help analyze how good a player was to the rest of the league. A 4.00 ERA can mean one thing in the early 2010's, as the league average ERA only surpassed 4.05 once from 2010 to 2014. However, from 1995 to 2000, the average ERA dipped below 4.40 just once. Posting a 4.00 ERA in 2011 might be about average, but posting a 4.00 ERA in 2000 (4.71 league average ERA) would have made you a well-above-average arm.

Another way we will look at this is through fWAR. For a starting pitcher, 2.0 fWAR is considered average. However, WAR won't be much of a factor for relievers here as it's far from a perfect stat, especially for a position that does not appear in very many innings.

So with how I deduced the best/worst seasons out of the way, let's take a look at some of these 'average' players. (Note that this is also post-integration, so after 1947)

The Best Average Seasons

There are 16 instances of a Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher having an ERA- between 99 and 101 in at least 150 innings. Of these 16 seasons, Tommie Sisk had the best average season among them. In 1967, Sisk had a 3.34 ERA, 3.27 FIP, and 1.32 WHIP. Now you're probably seeing that 3.34 ERA and thinking, how can that be average? Keep in mind that in 1967, the league average ERA was 3.30; on average, only 3.8 runs were scored per game.

There have been very few 'average' seasons from a relief pitcher in the team's history. Seven have been just three times a Pirate reliever has pitched 50+ innings with an ERA- in the 99-101 range. Nevertheless, among those three, Roy Face in 1963 takes the cake. In 69.2 innings, Face owned a 3.23 ERA, 3.37 FIP, and 1.35 WHIP. But between these seven, Face had the best ERA and FIP and the second-best WHIP.

In terms of fWAR, there are 25 times a Pirate starter had a mark between 1.8 and 2.2. It was a close toss-up between 1989 John Smiley and 1971 Luke Walker. In '89, Smiley had a 2.81 ERA, 3.73 FIP, and 1.09 WHIP across 205.1 frames. But in 1971, Walker owned a 3.55 ERA, 3.14 FIP, and 1.32 WHIP. While Walker had the much better FIP, Smiley had the better ERA and WHIP by a fair margin.

Since FanGraphs WAR is based on FIP (Fielding independent pitching, which is based on the three true outcomes), it's also worth using this as one of our examination tools. By far, Steve Blass1968 season was the best among Pirates' starters, with 150+ IP and a FIP- between 99 and 101. Blass pitched a total of 220.1 innings, working to a 2.12 ERA, 2.78 FIP, and 1.40 WHIP. This was a very pitching-dominant era in baseball as the average ERA and FIP was 2.98. After adjusting for other park factors, Blass FIP was average at 100 on the dot.

While there were very few average seasons per ERA for Pirate relievers, there were many more for FIP, 14 to be exact. Ron Kline's 1968 season is easily the best here. During this season, Kline worked to a 1.68 ERA, 2.76 FIP, and 1.11 WHIP across 112.2 innings. Kline's ERA was well above the average as he registered a 173 ERA+ and 57 ERA-, though as we talked about with Blass in the same year, that's only about average once you adjust for the rest of the league and park factors.

The Worst Average Seasons

Per ERA-, the worst season among Pirates' starters was 2006 Zach Duke. Duke worked to a 4.47 ERA, 4.13 FIP, and 1.5 WHIP in 215.1 innings. Like with Sisk, it's hard to believe that a pitcher can have a mid-4 ERA and not be terrible. But Duke's ERA was actually slightly better than the average as the rest of MLB had a 4.53 ERA. Nearly five runs were scored per game, on average. But once you use park factors, his ERA comes out to league average, as he had a 100 ERA+ and ERA-.

As stated earlier, there were very few average seasons per ERA- for relievers. Blas Minor had the worst among these seven, per ERA. During 1993, Minor pitched a total of 94.1 innings for the Pirates, working to a 4.10 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, and 3.26 FIP. Minor registered a 101 ERA- and 98 ERA+, but his FIP was well above the average as he posted an 81 FIP-. Keep in mind the average ERA for this season was 4.19.

The worst average season per fWAR was a hard one to decide. In 2010, Paul Maholm had a 5.10 ERA, 4.18 FIP, and 1.57 WHIP. However, because of his respectable FIP, he had an fWAR of 1.9. On the other hand, you have Ian Snell in 2006. Snell's ERA wasn't anything to be proud of either, with a 4.74 mark, but he had a far worse FIP at 4.58. Snell also had a 1.9 fWAR.

Now moving on to FIP, Murry Dickson's 1953 season is the worst. Ironically this was his one and only All-Star season, but despite that, he had a 4.53 ERA, 4.38 FIP, and 1.49 WHIP across 200.2 innings. Both his ERA and FIP were about average. He had a 100 ERA+, 103 ERA-, and 100 FIP-. The league average mark in FIP during this year was 4.14.

Among relievers, Junior Walsh has the worst league average FIP. In 1950, Walsh's next to last Major League season, the right-hander had a 5.05 ERA, 4.46 FIP, and 1.44 WHIP across 62.1 innings. Walsh's ERA was well below the average this season as he had an 87 ERA+ and 117 ERA-. Though his FIP wasn't too far off from the average, as the rest of the league managed a 4.36 mark.

The Most Average

Now that we've looked at the best and worst average seasons that Pirates pitchers have had, what are the most average, based on all factors? 2011 Paul Maholm takes the title for the starting pitchers. Maholm had a 3.66 ERA and 3.78 FIP, giving him a 99 ERA-, 100 ERA+, and 101 FIP-. On top of that, Maholm had a 2.0 fWAR, on the dot. You could also argue Sisk's '67 season, though, with a slightly higher fWAR, I decided to honor Maholm here.

D.J. Carrasco's 2010 season is named for the relief pitchers. Carrasco has the closest ERA- and FIP- to 100. He clocks in at 99 and 97, respectfully. During the '10 season, Carrasco owned a 3.88 ERA and 3.80 FIP while pitching for the Pirates. But he was traded at the 2010 trade deadline.

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If you want a reliever who spent the entire season with the Pirates, then 1963 Roy Face gets a second mention. He had a 99 ERA- and 104 FIP-. Carrasco was within 3% of the average FIP, though Face was only within 4%. That slightly 1% is why Carrasco was mentioned, though since he didn't spend the entire season in Pittsburgh, you could give it to Face here.

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