Exploring DOM, Atlanta's pitching stat of choice
Today at Georgia Tech, Braves GM Frank Wren and Scouting Director John Coppolella were giving a guest lecture in a sports analytics class. The lecture gave an inside look into the Braves operations, and some of their analytical tools. Nothing too note-worthy came out of it, aside from the fact that the Braves use a stat called DOM to evaluate pitchers. DOM is thought of by the organization on the same scale as OPS, with the major league average last season being .602. To calculate DOM, you divide a pitcher's strikeouts by his walks plus his hits. Below is a list of each Braves pitcher's DOM for 2011.
Some interesting observations coming out of the list...
-The holy trinity in the bullpen was excellent
-Of the starters, DOM liked Hanson and Beachy the most
-DOM wasn't a fan of Hudson and Minor
-DOM absoutely hated Delgado, Lowe, and Jurrjens
-Some reliever you didn't expect to be good were (Sherrill, Gearrin, Varvaro)
-The relievers you expected to be bad were (Linebrink, Proctor)
Some things I don't like about DOM...
-It doesn't penalize a fly ball, high home run pitcher
-It doesn't reward a ground ball, weak contact pitcher
One thing I noticed while looking at this is that the stat really doesn't favor some legendary Braves. Greg Maddux's career DOM is .588. Tom Glavine's is .450, and John Smoltz's is .755. Compare that to current players and their career DOMs, like Jonathan Sanchez (.749), Oliver Perez (.684), and Rich Harden (.789). What those numbers tells me is that the stat is skewed towards high strikeout pitchers, and doesn't give "finesse" guys a fair shake.
When tracking the minor league stats for 2012, I'll be keeping track of DOM from now on, just to see if promotions match the newly unearthed stat. It'll be interesting to watch for sure.
| Kris Medlen | 2 | |
| Eric O'Flaherty | 0.838 | |
| Jonny Venters | 1 | |
| Craig Kimbrel | 1.588 | |
| Anthony Varvaro | 0.885 | |
| Randall Delgado | 0.419 | |
| Jair Jurrjens | 0.484 | |
| George Sherrill | 0.844 | |
| Tim Hudson | 0.645 | |
| Peter Moylan | 0.667 | |
| Cristhian Martinez | 0.773 | |
| Tommy Hanson | 0.934 | |
| Scott Linebrink | 0.532 | |
| Brandon Beachy | 0.988 | |
| Mike Minor | 0.626 | |
| Arodys Vizcaino | 0.68 | |
| Julio Teheran | 0.345 | |
| Derek Lowe | 0.486 | |
| Scott Proctor | 0.36 | |
| Jairo Asencio | 0.381 | |
| Cory Gearrin | 0.862 | |
Some interesting observations coming out of the list...
-The holy trinity in the bullpen was excellent
-Of the starters, DOM liked Hanson and Beachy the most
-DOM wasn't a fan of Hudson and Minor
-DOM absoutely hated Delgado, Lowe, and Jurrjens
-Some reliever you didn't expect to be good were (Sherrill, Gearrin, Varvaro)
-The relievers you expected to be bad were (Linebrink, Proctor)
Some things I don't like about DOM...
-It doesn't penalize a fly ball, high home run pitcher
-It doesn't reward a ground ball, weak contact pitcher
One thing I noticed while looking at this is that the stat really doesn't favor some legendary Braves. Greg Maddux's career DOM is .588. Tom Glavine's is .450, and John Smoltz's is .755. Compare that to current players and their career DOMs, like Jonathan Sanchez (.749), Oliver Perez (.684), and Rich Harden (.789). What those numbers tells me is that the stat is skewed towards high strikeout pitchers, and doesn't give "finesse" guys a fair shake.
When tracking the minor league stats for 2012, I'll be keeping track of DOM from now on, just to see if promotions match the newly unearthed stat. It'll be interesting to watch for sure.
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