Episode 1134: Remembering Roy

## Summary

*Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan mourn the loss of (and celebrate the greatness of) Roy Halladay, then answer listener emails about Halladay’s career, what Aaron Judge and the Astros teach us about strikeouts, whether better pitchers are also better at hitting, the players with the wildest fluctuations in WAR, Eric Hosmer’s stats-defying Gold Glove, the ideal sequencing of 2017 World Series games, the difference between tanking and rebuilding, Yasmani Grandal, Austin Barnes, and the value of catchers, pitch-tipping and gamesmanship, an MLB star signing in NPB, and more.*

## Topics

* Career complete game totals
* Changing pitching approaches on 0-2 counts
* Adjusting for high strikeout rates
* Correlation between pitcher pitching and hitting skill
* Large season-by-season fluctuations in WAR
* Eric Hosmer's Gold Glove
* Rearranging games in the 2017 World Series
* WAR by position
* Distinction between tanking and rebuilding
* Gamesmanship and pitch-tipping
* MLB stars signing with NPB

## Banter

* Ben and Jeff mourn the loss and reflect on the career of Roy Halladay, who passed away recently in a plane crash.
* Pitchers inspired by or similar to Roy Halladay
* Halladay's Hall of Fame candidacy

## Email Questions

* John (New Hampshire): "(On Halladay's comments on pitching during 0-2 counts) A pitcher would rather avoid contact if at all possible however Halladay's point about modern pitchers being overly concerned with strikeouts seemed interesting. Do pitchers lose something in efficiency by staying off the plate? Is a starting pitcher throwing fewer innings even a negative thing?"
* Matt: "For every writer and pundit I heard say we live in a new culture about not caring as much about whether a player strikes out, it sure seems like putting the bat on the ball gets you what you're looking for."
* Guy: "I was wondering if there is any correlation between how good a pitcher is at pitching and how good he is at hitting."
* Dylan: "Is Jermaine Dye among a select number of players to see such wild fluctuations in their value by season?"
* Allison: "In what universe can Rawlings justify giving Eric Hosmer a Gold Glove?"
* Tom (Denver, CO): "If you could go back in time and rearrange World Series games for maximum dramatic effect in what order would you arrange the games?"
* Ryan: "Are we in an age when catching tandems possibly contribute 9 wins per year and if so, doesn't that make them clearly the most valuable position?"
* Colin: "What is the line between rebuilding and tanking?"
* Mike: "Could a team fictitiously claim that an opposing pitcher is tipping his pitches in a ploy to rattle him?"
* Nick: "How much money do you think a NPB team would have to pay to get a Cy Young winning pitcher entering their prime? Or is it simply just impossible?"

## Stat Segment

* During his entire career Roy Halladay threw 67 complete games. During that time the San Diego Padres and Milwaukee Brewers had fewer (62 and 65, respectively).
* Roy Halladay averaged just over 14 pitches per inning throughout his career and over 100 pitches per start.

## Notes

* From 2003 to 2011 Roy Halladay threw 61 complete games. During that time no other pitcher threw more than 31 complete games.
* Jeff's research indicated that as ERA- gets better for a pitcher their wRC+ also gets better.
* Ben and Jeff agree that rebuilding is a spectrum where tanking is an extreme end. Jeff thinks a key component of tanking is paying little to no attention to their MLB team and trying to win.

## Links

* Effectively Wild Episode 1134: Remembering Roy
* Effectively Wild Heat Map T-Shirts