Is the Cincinnati Reds Pitching Staff World Series Bound?
Comparing the Cincinnati Reds pitching staff to all-time World Series winners.
The stats prove that Cincinnati owns one of the best pitching staffs in baseball this year. That being said, where do these stats rank the Reds amongst all-time World Series winners?
For this pitching staff, the ERA is arguably the most concerning number. Since the Modern Era of baseball began in 1900, only 21 teams have pitched to a team ERA of 3.85 or higher. The last team to do so was the 2019 Washington Nationals, who owned a 4.28 team ERA. It’s safe to say that Nationals won last year’s championship largely with their bats.
More from Call to the Pen
- Philadelphia Phillies, ready for a stretch run, bomb St. Louis Cardinals
- Philadelphia Phillies: The 4 players on the franchise’s Mount Rushmore
- Boston Red Sox fans should be upset over Mookie Betts’ comment
- Analyzing the Boston Red Sox trade for Dave Henderson and Spike Owen
- 2023 MLB postseason likely to have a strange look without Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals
Baseball stat junkies will declare that team ERA is not sufficient in analyzing a team’s pitching performance. This bodes well for the 2020 Reds. In recent years, WHIP and strikeouts per nine innings have carried far more weight for statisticians.
Of World Series winners in the modern era, only 31 teams rank better in WHIP than Cincinnati. And of these occurrences, 13 took place before 1920 when pitching weighed far more important than success at the plate.
The Reds pitch to a 1.22 WHIP, which ranks similarly to the 1986 New York Mets, the 1978 New York Yankees, and the 1940 Reds. All of these teams won at least 100 regular-season games before winning a title.
Strikeouts bode even better for Cincinnati’s title hopes. Currently, the Reds staff averages a league-leading 10.9 strikeouts per nine innings. In the Modern Era, no World Series winner has ever averaged better than 10 strikeouts per nine. Only three teams have averaged at least nine strikeouts per nine, all in the last three years.
The 2019 Houston Astros are the only team with at least 10 strikeouts per nine innings to even win the pennant.
Another statistic to keep an eye out, especially in today’s era of the home run, is home runs allowed per nine innings. The Reds allow 1.3 homers per nine. Only the 2019 Nationals and 1987 Minnesota Twins allowed that same clip en route to a World Series title.
While Cincinnati’s pitching staff may be worthy of a World Series appearance, the staff doesn’t act alone. Unfortunately for the Reds, a lack of offense is the sole reason this team is only one game above .500 baseball.