How Important Is Pitching?

We have reached the final week of the Big East Baseball season and the conference race is almost to close to call using political terms.  Every Team has a pitcher and when we say pitcher he is the one that can control of his fastball which is fast enough he can throw it by most hitters.  He has a a curve that he can get over the plate and if he is really good can slow a change up and make batters miss by a mile.

Then everyone has players that are used because in practice they are the best of the rest that can get the ball across the plate.  Some can't throw the ball hard enough to break glass which means the only outs they  get are the ones that hit the ball straight at players in the field.

Now let's compare a pitcher and the rest when we look at the 2016 Rocky Mount Gryphons.  Their ace David Harrison has pitched in four conference games.  He has won three of them and when he left the game after six in the other he was ahead 4-2 but the Gryphons lost the game.

Opening night in conference play Harrison on the road lead The Nash Central Bulldogs 4-2 after six innings but once out of the game the other pitchers gave up two runs. In the seventh and lost three innings later 5-4.

The next week against Hunt he pitched a shutout beating the Warriors 1-0.  The following week beat Northern Nash 8-3 and Fike pitched another shutout 1-0.  So far the four games that Harrison did not pitch the  Gryphons Lost 5-4, won 17-0, lost 16-7 and lost 9-1.

The four conference games when Harrison pitched the Gryphons have scored  14 runs that is about 3.5 runs per game.  Yet the Gryphon won three and the one they lost he was already out of the game. Those games Harrison pitch the Gryphons gave up five runs in the innings Harrison has been on the mound.  He has faced every time out the best pitcher the other team had and against the other conference members best the Gryphons won three and had the fourth won while Harrison was on the mound.  Harrison has proven to be the best pitcher in the Big East.

The four games when Harrison played the field and another pitcher pitched, The Gryphons scored in those four games 28 runs and yet won only one of the four because without Harrison on the mound  the Gryphons have allowed 30 losing three of the four.

If I had to make any predictions the upcoming conference tournament and the state playoffs the Gryphons have a good chance to win one game and a crap shoot in the other.  Here is one bad thing how ever in the first game of the playoffs.  Whoever the Gryphons draw they will be facing the best that team has so the first round game will not be a gimme and it will not be a gimme for any team in our league.