If you’re wondering how the pitching staff for the Phils was so dominating when it came to preventing walks in 2010, Roy Halladay seems like a good place to start. After leading the AL in fewest walks per nine innings in 2009, Halladay led the NL in fewest walks per nine with the lowest walk rate of his career in 2010. In 250 2/3 innings for the Phils last year, Halladay walked 30 batters. That’s 1.078 batters per nine innings. Ted Lilly, who pitched for the Cubs and the Dodgers in 2010, finished second in the league. Between his work with the two teams, Lilly walked 44 in 193 2/3 innings, or 2.045 batters per nine, which is about 1.9 times the walk rate per nine innings for Halladay.
Over the last ten seasons, Greg Maddux led the NL in fewest walks per nine innings five times. Only twice in those ten seasons, Maddux in 2001 (1.043) and David Wells in 2004 (0.920), has the pitcher who lead the NL in fewest walks per nine innings pitched allowed walks at a lower rate than Halladay did in 2010.
So he didn’t walk a lot of folks.
Not only did he not walk a lot of folks, he also pitched a ton of innings. No NL pitcher has thrown more innings than the 250 2/3 that Halladay threw in 2010 since Livan Hernandez threw 255 for the Expos in 2004.
So Halladay was great. There’s a thing, though, and here it is: While it’s easy to attribute the amazing success of the Phillies last year at preventing walks to Roy Halladay, the Phils that weren’t Roy Halladay were great at preventing walks, too.
As I mentioned in my previous post, the Phillies staff overall excelled at preventing walks in 2010. As a team they issued fewer walks than any other NL team since 1995. In 1,456 1/3 innings pitched, they walked just 416 batters, which is just 2.57 batters per nine innings. The St Louis Cardinals were the second-best team in the league at preventing walks overall. They walked 477 in 1,453 2/3 innings (2.95 per nine innings).
Even without Halladay’s numbers, the pitchers for the Phils still walked batters at a lower rate than any other team in the NL:
| INN | BB | BB per 9 | |
| All PHI ’10 | 1456 1/3 | 416 | 2.57 |
| All STL ’10 | 1453 2/3 | 477 | 2.95 |
| ’10 PHI other than Halladay | 1205 2/3 | 386 | 2.88 |
So while Halladay might have been the most outstanding Phillie at preventing walks in 2010, he couldn’t have been the only guy that was really good at preventing the free pass.
Speaking of guys who are great at preventing walks, Cliff Lee says the Phillies are a better team than the Yankees here. I’m sure that will go over well.
In 2010, Lee walked 18 in 212 1/3 innings between the Mariners and the Rangers. That’s about 0.76 per nine innings, which was way lower than Halladay’s mark and way lower than anyone else in the American League. Carl Pavano finished second in walks per nine innings in the AL last year — he walked 1.51 batters per nine, which was way, way behind Lee.
Shane Victorino says he isn’t one to stir the pot or make bold predictions, but “if you look on paper, we’re the favorites to win it all.”
At least nobody is lacking confidence. No word yet that the season has been canceled cause all the other teams decided it was a waste of their time to show up. Further bulletins as events warrant.
February 3rd, 2011 on 11:56 am
I knew that Halladay was good at not walking guys (and Lee too) but didn’t realize the rest of the staff had contributed so much. I guess I never really thought about it. It seems counter-intuitive with some of the bullpen arms that they had last year who seemed to walk everybody after they came into the game. But, at the same time, limiting the innings can do that.
Anyway, this will be something that I’ll actually pay attention to this season now. I would still really like to see Hamels give up less home runs and have a better feeling about the pen, but I guess beggers can’t be choosy. I’m also slightly concerned about how this particular team will score runs.
February 3rd, 2011 on 12:06 pm
The thing I want to know is if this is Amaro’s devious master plan or not. Did he just get great pitchers and partly they are great cause they don’t walk anyone, or is he actively seeking people that don’t walk anyone (ie, giving more weight to preventing walks than other general managers do). I don’t know the answer. In support of the Amaro’s master plan theory, though, I present David Herndon. I see zero reason to keep Herndon on the roster all year in 2010 rather than offer him back to the Angels. If you look at Herndon’s minor league numbers, the most unusual thing about his minor league work is his ability to prevent walks.
I agree with you on the worries about the offense. The dropoff in right field offensively is going to be significant. Possible exception is if Brown is a monster in 2011, but I don’t think that’s going to happen yet. Phils need big rebounds from Utley and Howard.
February 3rd, 2011 on 1:23 pm
Now that it is official that Andy Petit is retiring, I wonder what Joe Blanton is worth on the market. I know he is not a great pitcher, but he is a solid one. And when NEED is great for pitching, and it really is for so many folks, well…. I was just thinking that Big Joe might be looking pretty good to a lot of folks. Folks who have strong farm systems. And the money to make Joe’s contract work.
February 3rd, 2011 on 2:24 pm
I don’t think he’s worth a whole lot, given that he’s going to make more than $8 million this year and threw to an ERA near five in the NL last year. Hopefully I’m wrong. If not, hopefully his value will increase dramatically with a few good starts early in the season.
February 3rd, 2011 on 4:08 pm
I hope they dont trade Blanton. Honestly, the biggest reason being that I want the nickname of the starters to be ‘Fat Joe and the Terror Squad’
No offense to the real Fat Joe and his terror squad records or whatever. Sorry, I’m not a big rap fan. But while I cannot claim using this nickname first, I think its the best.
February 3rd, 2011 on 4:54 pm
Fat Joe and the Terror Squad is pretty good. He’d definitely be one of the better fifth starters in the league. I’m going to be pretty surprised if he ends the year with the Phils, though.
February 3rd, 2011 on 5:25 pm
RE: The Best Team. Got me; talk to me in October. But it is hard to argue with the potential. Of course, as Linus once said, “There is no heavier burden than a great potential.”
February 10th, 2011 on 11:38 am
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