Pitchers Can Win Games Without Pitching
PLUS: CONTEMPORARY PLAYERS ERAS COMMITTEE STRIKES OUT
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Pregame Pepper
If Max Scherzer keeps on pitching at age 41, it won’t be with the Blue Jays, who have decided against re-signing both Scherzer and fellow starter Chris Bassitt . . .
The $23 million salary Edwin Diaz will earn from the Dodgers in 2026 represents a record annual average for a relief pitcher . . .
Former All-Star closer Robert Suarez, a much-coveted right-handed reliever, will be Atlanta’s closer-in-waiting next year, setting up Raisel Iglesias, before taking the ninth-inning role for the second and third year of his contract (Iglesias signed a one-year deal) . . .
At age 76, future Hall of Fame manager Dusty Baker, Jr. has resurfaced as manager of Team Nigaragua in the World Baseball Classic . . .
Newly-minted Hall of Famer Jeff Kent, who played for Baker in San Francisco, said he would not have reached Cooperstown if he had not been traded to the Giants . . .
Leading Off
A pitcher doesn’t have to pitch to ‘win’ a game
By Andrew Sharp
If any further evidence was needed that a pitcher’s “wins” don’t mean much, the Cy Young award that went to Paul Skenes (10-10) this fall provided it. He matched Jacob deGrom’s victory total in 2018 as the lowest ever by a winner who wasn’t a closer.
Fans have long dismissed the won-loss totals of relievers. Now, when starting pitchers often last no more than six innings, their “wins” (or lack of them) are even less reflective of their performance. MLB’s Anthony Castrovince in his 2020 A Fan’s Guide to Baseball Analytics devoted a chapter to explaining “How the Win Came to Be Baseball’s Most Deceptive Stat.”
Heck, a reliever can earn a victory without even pitching. Lefty Alan Embree of the Colorado Rockies was the winning pitcher against the Washington Nationals at Coors Field on July 7, 2009, even though he didn’t throw a pitch when he came on.
Embree, 39, relieved Joel Peralta with the score 4-4 and two outs in the eighth inning and immediately picked Austin Kearns off first to retire the side. Kearns apparently broke too soon on a steal attempt. The play went 1-3-6, a pickoff/caught stealing. The Rockies took the lead in the bottom of the inning with a run off Julian Taveras and ended up winning, 5-4.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Embree is one of two relievers this century to be awarded a victory without throwing a pitch. The other was B.J. Ryan of the Baltimore Orioles, who did it on May 1, 2004, similarly picking off a runner against the Tigers in Detroit.
Under MLB scoring rule 9.17 (a), Embree was the pitcher of record at the time. Colorado’s Huston Street retired Washington in order in the ninth for his 21st save.
Embree was the winning pitcher in 39 of the 882 games in which he appeared. A victory awarded to a relief pitcher is most often the result of entering a tie game or, worse, yielding a lead. Rule anomalies such as this one or even the discretion of the official scorer can come into play.
Embree’s cumulative bWAR over 16 seasons: 2.4. Ouch. His lifetime ERA was 3.97 (another often maligned stats for relievers), but some team always needed a lefty like him to face a batter or two. His ERA entering this game was 6.09.
To be fair, he had better results in other years and in several post-seasons, beating the Yankees in the 2003 ALCS and getting last out in Game 7 of the 2004 Red Sox World Series’ win.
A classic situational lefty, Embree was in his final big league season. Pitching for nine different teams, he appeared in more games than his total of innings pitched. Today’s rules aimed at speeding up games effectively prohibit the kind of careers Embree and other such left-handers had. We’re looking at you, Jesse Orosco, the all-time leader in games pitched.
This was one game in which Embree’s appearance ended quickly. Three days later, he was hit by a line drive that broke his right leg. It was his last appearance in the majors.
Dean Stone of the 1954 Washington Senators was the winning pitcher in the All-Star Game without retiring a batter, but at least he threw two pitches before he caught a runner trying to steal home.
The July 7, 2009, loss in Colorado dropped the last-place Nats’ record to 25-57, on the way to 103 defeats. After five more games, manager Manny Acta was fired and replaced by Jim Riggleman.
Andrew C. Sharp is a retired newspaper journalist and a SABR member who lives in central New Jersey, but spent his youth in the Washington, D.C., area. He blogs about D.C. baseball at washingtonbaseballhistory.com
Cleaning Up
Dale Murphy Passes “Eye” Test For Hall of Fame
By Dan Schlossberg
The “eye” test is still the best way to judge a future Hall of Famer.
How many fans who saw Jeff Kent play thought to themselves, “Ah, that guy belongs in Cooperstown?”
Yes, he hit more home runs than any second baseman but he was a bat-first guy whose defense was far below Gold Glove caliber — and the main reason he often played first base later in his career. In the days before the DH came to the National League, moving a defensively-flawed player to first was a good way to “hide” him.
Of the eight men whose names appeared on the Contemporary Players Eras Committee ballot, Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens passed the eye test with flying colors. But extenuating circumstances — all self-induced — prevented their election.
Gary Sheffield’s power (509 home runs) scared the living daylights out of infielders who played between third base and shortstop but he too carried the uncertain tag of suspicion when it came to performance-enhancing substances.
Fernando Valenzuela, the only man to win a Cy Young and Rookie of the Year at the same time, burned out too quickly to win a niche in Cooperstown.
So did Don Mattingly, whose tenure included a batting crown and MVP season.
Fellow first baseman Carlos Delgado fell three votes short of the 75 per cent required for election, garnering nine votes, and Dale Murphy, with consecutive MVP trophies, tied Mattingly with six. All three remain eligible for the ballot in three years, when the voters will again consider players whose greatest impact came after 1980.
But none of the others on this year’s ballot will get to return in 2028 because of a new rule stipulating that anyone with fewer than five votes will be off the next ballot — and gone for good if he again nets less than five in a future election.
That means spots will be opening up for such deserving candidates as Lou Whitaker, Keith Hernandez, Tommy John, Dwight Evans, Luis Tiant, and Joe Niekro, among others.
Here’s hoping Murphy has the staying power of Marvin Miller, the outspoken labor leader who was rejected seven times before finally winning election posthumously.
So far, Murf is only 0-for-4 — a collar he rarely wore during his playing days.
I hope the historians on the committee use the next three years to study the statistics of the former Atlanta center-fielder: five Gold Gloves, seven All-Star selections, league leadership in home runs and runs batted in twice apiece, 398 career homers, and more total bases during the ‘80s than any other player.
Plus he was the National League’s version of Cal Ripken, Jr., the Mr. Clean of the American League. Dale never drank, smoked, or swore. But he could rip the cover off the ball, throw it with exceptional velocity, and display durability by playing 162 games four years in a row.
Like Marvin Miller, he deserves another look. Let’s hope the panel that constructs the ballot gives him a chance to be part of the Class of 2029.
HtP weekend editor Dan Schlossberg of Fair Lawn, NJ is the author of 43 baseball books. He covers the game for forbes.com, USA TODAY Sports Weekly, Sports Collectors Digest, Memories & Dreams, and a myriad of other outlets. His email is ballauthor@gmail.com.
Timeless Trivia: Little-Known Stats & Stuff
Free agent closer Kenley Jansen needs three saves for 479 to pass Hall of Famer Lee Smith and claim third place on the lifetime list . . .
Yankees lefty Max Fried leads all active pitchers with a .692 winning percentage (92-41) . . .
Jhostnyxon Garcia, an outfielder traded from the Red Sox to the Pirates during the winter meetings, picked up the appropriate nickname of “Password” . . .
The “Eye Chart” nickname was previously claimed by catcher Dave Gwosdz . . .
The 2025 Mets missed the playoffs because they lost more games (8) to the arch-rival Braves than against any other National League club . . .
New York also went 0-70 in games they trailed after eight innings . . .
The Mets were the only team that failed to win even once in that situation . . .
Philadelphia’s ability to beat American League teams helped make its NL East title possible (the Phils led the NL with a 31-17 mark vs. the Junior Circuit for a .646 winning percentage) . . .
Atlanta tied Pittsburgh with 35 defeats in one-run games, finishing with just 21 wins and a .375 “winning” percentage in that situation.
Know Your Editors
Here’s the Pitch is published daily except Sundays and holidays. Benjamin Chase [gopherben@gmail.com] handles the Monday issue with Dan Freedman [dfreedman@lionsgate.com] editing Tuesday and Jeff Kallman [easyace1955@outlook.com] at the helm Wednesday and Thursday. Original editor Dan Schlossberg [ballauthor@gmail.com], does the weekend editions on Friday and Saturday. Former editor Elizabeth Muratore [nymfan97@gmail.com] is now co-director [with Benjamin Chase and Jonathan Becker] of the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America, which publishes this newsletter and the annual ACTA book of the same name. Readers are encouraged to contribute comments, articles, and letters to the editor. HtP reserves the right to edit for brevity, clarity, and good taste.
Was it The contemporary players eras committee that voted in Dick Allen ? A most deserving man who passed away before his family was able to share that honor with him. And that committee will have the final say on Don Mattingly & Dale Murphy, 2 most deserving gentlemen who also are nearing the finish line.
The 2004 World Series only went four games and Keith Foulke (not Embre) threw the final pitch. Also Jhostynyxon’s nickname is Password not Passport.