Some sports bettors believe that, in baseball, pitchers are the key element to factor in when placing a wager. Many of these bettors use pitchers as the sole factor in coming up with a selection. Even if you look more at the team, the pitcher is still a key position. How does one handicap a pitcher’s performance? The simple way is to view ERA, but that does not tell the real story. Today, we are going to look at the top pitchers from a baserunner perspective.

American League Top 10 Pitchers (number of baserunners per 9 innings)

1. Jose Contreras – 9
2. Mike Mussina – 9.24
3. Roy Halladay – 9.34
4. Johan Santana – 9.61
5. Curt Schilling – 9.87
6. John Lackey – 10.44
7. Dan Haren – 10.61
8. Jeremy Bonderman – 10.73
9. Jarrod Washburn – 11.01
10. Justin Verlander – 11.13

National League Top 10 Pitchers (number of baserunners per 9 innings)

1. Pedro Martinez – 8.37
2. Jason Schmidt – 9.20
3. Brandon Webb – 9.96
4. Chris Young – 10.05
5. Bronson Arroyo – 10.23
6. Tom Glavine – 10.35
7. Derek Lowe – 10.58
8. Chris Capuano 10.97
9. Dave Bush – 10.86
10. Jake Peavy – 10.97

Knowing how many baserunners is one of the keys to handicapping a pitcher. In other installments, we will look at other facets of the game.