ERA+ has issues. This was brought to my attention awhile ago by Sky Kalkman (see the Storify for lots of gruesome details). I’ve written about some of the issues with ERA+ as they relate to Rick Reuschel. But today I want to bring up something different.
I was looking at the ERA+ career leaders (you know, because Mariano Rivera). I found this:
Only 40 pitchers have an ERA+ of 130 or better (1000+ IP). 174 hitters have an OPS+ of 130 or better (3000+ PA).
— Adam Darowski (@baseballtwit) September 30, 2013
That’s interesting, no? I started to wonder:
Might be one of the reasons guys like Schilling & Kevin Brown (127, tied for 46th) are underrated. If their ERA+ was an OPS+ it’d be T201st.
— Adam Darowski (@baseballtwit) September 30, 2013
Further:
Furthermore, of the 45 pitchers ahead of Schilling and Brown, 20 have between 1000-2000 innings. Brown and Schilling both had over 3200.
— Adam Darowski (@baseballtwit) September 30, 2013
Kind of crazy, no? This trickles down, too. David Cone received no Hall of Fame support. His ERA+ of 121 was actually tied for 46th among pitchers with 2500+ innings. If that was his OPS+, how would it rate among position players with similarly long careers (7500+ PA)? How about tied for 142nd with the likes of Harold Baines, Chili Davis, Al Oliver, and Chet Lemon?
So, we need to remember that while an OPS+ of 120 over a long career is impressive, an ERA+ of 120 over the same career length is downright legendary.