Pitching once again will be deciding factor

Several of the scheduled pitching matchups in the playoffs offer the possibility of an excellent duel?

Updated: September 30, 2003, 10:38 AM ET
By Jim Baker | MLB Insider
By now you've seen the playoffs assessed from every which way but loose, but that's no reason not to give them a look from one more angle. How likely are the schedule pitching matchups to produce an excellent duel? How can we predict such a thing?

One way to do so is to look at the Average Game Scores of the scheduled starters. Game Scores is a number created by Bill James that measures the quality of a start. Something truly outstanding, like a no-hitter with ten strikeouts, is going to get a pitcher a GS of 100 or so. Getting plastered for six runs in a third of an inning will, naturally, result in something considerably less. ESPN.com keeps track of this stat and posts it at the bottom of every box score. We also keep a running average on how the pitcher is faring. It is calculated this way:


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Jim Baker | email

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Jim Baker is an author at Baseball Prospectus and a frequent contributor to Page 2. You can e-mail Jim at bottlebat@gmail.com.

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