ERA

[Goldfan]

Can someone explain how pitching is so considered so dominant in this new era of baseball with these ERA’s

Monday: Peterson (5-7, 5.97 ERA) vs. Liberatore (5-7, 5.18 ERA)

Tuesday: Rea (7-7, 4.85 ERA) vs. McGreevy (4-8, 3.07 ERA)

Wednesday: Boyd (6-1, 3.81 ERA) vs. May (5-7, 4.59 ERA)

[Futuregm2]

Maybe try other examples than a team that is below league average in ERA sending out their worst starters and a team that is slightly better than league average in ERA sending out their best pitcher, worst pitcher, and meh pitcher?

[Goldfan]

Maybe try other examples than a team that is below league average in ERA sending out their worst starters and a team that is slightly better than league average in ERA sending out their best pitcher, worst pitcher, and meh pitcher?

If MLB pitching is sooo much better than 20yrs ago….why would we need to cherry pick? Shouldn’t the entire league SP be at historical levels considering hitters can’t hit .250?

All I hear is that speed and spin have made hitting impossible. Move back mound….lower mound…..
But you can’t swing a dead cat without finding SP’s with 4 and 5 ERA’s

[icon]

Maybe try other examples than a team that is below league average in ERA sending out their worst starters and a team that is slightly better than league average in ERA sending out their best pitcher, worst pitcher, and meh pitcher?

It's hard to send out your "worst starters" in a 4-game series.

[Goldfan]

What does it say that the best ERA in Cards rotation…..has the least speed and spin

[JuanAgosto]

Maybe try other examples than a team that is below league average in ERA sending out their worst starters and a team that is slightly better than league average in ERA sending out their best pitcher, worst pitcher, and meh pitcher?

If MLB pitching is sooo much better than 20yrs ago….why would we need to cherry pick? Shouldn’t the entire league SP be at historical levels considering hitters can’t hit .250?

All I hear is that speed and spin have made hitting impossible. Move back mound….lower mound…..
But you can’t swing a dead cat without finding SP’s with 4 and 5 ERA’s

Its not better. The game is a shell of what it used to be. Fundamentals and overall skill is much worse.

[JohnnyMO]

Pitchers and hitters both evolved and adapted.

Pitchers sell out for spin and velo which causes hitters to swing and miss more than ever. Hitters decide they better do damage when they do actually connect and sell out for power. End result is the same amount of scoring but less baserunners.

[Cardinals1964]

There’s more teams than when I started watching. Depending on the year cut 60-100 pitchers and 100+ hitters and things would look different I think.

[spfldan]

There’s more teams than when I started watching. Depending on the year cut 60-100 pitchers and 100+ hitters and things would look different I think.

indeed, good point.

[butsir01]

Pitchers and hitters both evolved and adapted.

Pitchers sell out for spin and velo which causes hitters to swing and miss more than ever. Hitters decide they better do damage when they do actually connect and sell out for power. End result is the same amount of scoring but less baserunners.

[mattmitchl44]

By MLB-wide wOBA since 2001:

https://www.mlb.com/glossary/advanced-s ... 19efa360ce

- Four of the seven worst seasons (2022 #1, 2024 #3, 2025 #4, 2021 #7) have come in the last six years, and 2026 #11 and 2023 #13 were no better than average.

And that is with the DH coming to the NL in 2022, which should have cause a bump up in MLB wOBA.

[Goldfan]

Where is the stat boost for PITCHING appearing?
Hitting is terrible…..low BA high K’s
SP only need to go 5 with the lead…..hand over to the speed/spin BP masters and wins should be logged quite frequently>>>>that’s not happening.
Outside the few Elite SP most teams rotations look like the Cardinals which are putting up ERA’s no better than 20-25yrs ago
So where is this unhittable MLB pitching hiding its historic stats?

[JohnnyMO]

Where is the stat boost for PITCHING appearing?
Hitting is terrible…..low BA high K’s
SP only need to go 5 with the lead…..hand over to the speed/spin BP masters and wins should be logged quite frequently>>>>that’s not happening.
Outside the few Elite SP most teams rotations look like the Cardinals which are putting up ERA’s no better than 20-25yrs ago
So where is this unhittable MLB pitching hiding its historic stats?

I explained it, you’re just not interested in hearing it apparently.

[mattmitchl44]

Maybe try other examples than a team that is below league average in ERA sending out their worst starters and a team that is slightly better than league average in ERA sending out their best pitcher, worst pitcher, and meh pitcher?

If MLB pitching is sooo much better than 20yrs ago….why would we need to cherry pick? Shouldn’t the entire league SP be at historical levels considering hitters can’t hit .250?

All I hear is that speed and spin have made hitting impossible. Move back mound….lower mound…..
But you can’t swing a dead cat without finding SP’s with 4 and 5 ERA’s

In 2001, 153 pitchers threw at least 100 IP. 6 of them (4%) had an ERA below 3.00. 49 of them (32%) had an ERA below 4.00.

In 2025, 127 pitchers threw at least 100 IP. 28 of them (22%) had an ERA below 3.00. 65 of them (51%) had an ERA below 4.00.

[NYCardsFan]

League Average ERA (2000-2026):
NL: 4.19
AL: 4.30
MLB: 4.24

League Average ERA (2026):
NL: 4.24
AL: 4.18
MLB: 4.21

Both pitching and hitting evolve over time, and the game finds a competitive equilibrium.

[Futuregm2]

Maybe try other examples than a team that is below league average in ERA sending out their worst starters and a team that is slightly better than league average in ERA sending out their best pitcher, worst pitcher, and meh pitcher?

If MLB pitching is sooo much better than 20yrs ago….why would we need to cherry pick? Shouldn’t the entire league SP be at historical levels considering hitters can’t hit .250?

All I hear is that speed and spin have made hitting impossible. Move back mound….lower mound…..
But you can’t swing a dead cat without finding SP’s with 4 and 5 ERA’s

I wonder what level of elite pitchers got hurt back 20 years ago vs today. When an elite level pitcher gets hurt, that generally will make the pool worse.

Last year’s top 10 in ERA
1. Skenes - 1.97
2. Skubal - 2.21 **missed time this year**
3. Hunter Brown - 2.43 **missed time this year**
4. Yamamoto - 2.49
5. Sanchez - 2.50
6. Crochet - 2.59 **hurt**
7. Peralta - 2.70 **became a Met**
8. Fried - 2.86 **missed time this year**
9. Abbott - 2.87
10. Pivetta - 2.87 **hurt**


2026 top 10
1. Misiorowski - 1.58
2. Schlittler - 2.07
3. Sale - 2.19
4. Burns - 2.42
5. Martinez - 2.45
6. Cease - 2.46
7. Messick - 2.59
8. Wrobleski - 2.62
9. Eduardo Rodriguez - 2.64
10. Max Meyer - 2.68


And what does it say when there currently are 0 pitchers in the top 10 in ERA that were in the top 10 in ERA last year?