by Ben Kapsner
2/23/2018
2/23/2018
We’ve arrived at the iconic position on the wiffleball field. The pitcher. The MNWA has a ton of talent in the pitching department. In 2017 alone, the NWLA ranked four MNWA members to their all NWLA pitching teams. As a brief reminder, total wiffleball rankings have been broken down into four categories:
Top 10 MNWA Pitchers
I graded all MNWA pitchers on a variety of stats. Some are obvious (ERA, Strikeouts, Walks, IP). Others are commonly excepted in the sabermetric community (FIP, WHIP, K/9 BB/9 K:BB ratio). For the nerds at home wondering, yes I did modify the metric “FIP” commonly used in the MLB, to apply to wiffleball. FIP tries to quantify what each pitchers ERA “should” be based on strikeouts, walks, hits and homeruns. Total MNWA FIP=ERA, but FIP and ERA differ between each pitcher (which is the point).
Just Missed:
Peter Monsrud- Just like the Secret Weapon himself, Peter’s pitching is his least dominant. I believe Peter’s “stuff” is absolutely good enough to be an effective pitcher in the MNWA. The biggest challenge for Peter is consistency. If he can improve his control, there is no question in my mind he would be a mid-rotation starter.
Jay Zimmerman- Jay lacks a ton of experience (17 career IP), but in his limited duties he has impressed. Jay brings serious heat to the mound, and has deceptive breaking pitches. We’ve faced him multiple times, and I can personally attest, it is not a pleasant experience. If Jay gets more experience on the mound I could see him cracking the top 10.
Trent Steffes- The southpaw has the tools to be a very effective pitcher in the MNWA, he just needs to harness them. Trent offers a big looping breaking ball, and has better than average control. If Trent can develop a complimentary pitch with greater velocity he could be nasty to face.
10: Chris Neumann
9: Mat Peisert
- Pitching (90 Points)
- Offense (75 Points)
- Fielding (25 Points)
- Intangibles (10 Points)
- Velocity (20 Points)
- Breaking Pitches (20 Points)
- Strikeouts (20 Points)
- Control (20 Points)
- Durability (10 Points)
Top 10 MNWA Pitchers
I graded all MNWA pitchers on a variety of stats. Some are obvious (ERA, Strikeouts, Walks, IP). Others are commonly excepted in the sabermetric community (FIP, WHIP, K/9 BB/9 K:BB ratio). For the nerds at home wondering, yes I did modify the metric “FIP” commonly used in the MLB, to apply to wiffleball. FIP tries to quantify what each pitchers ERA “should” be based on strikeouts, walks, hits and homeruns. Total MNWA FIP=ERA, but FIP and ERA differ between each pitcher (which is the point).
Just Missed:
Peter Monsrud- Just like the Secret Weapon himself, Peter’s pitching is his least dominant. I believe Peter’s “stuff” is absolutely good enough to be an effective pitcher in the MNWA. The biggest challenge for Peter is consistency. If he can improve his control, there is no question in my mind he would be a mid-rotation starter.
Jay Zimmerman- Jay lacks a ton of experience (17 career IP), but in his limited duties he has impressed. Jay brings serious heat to the mound, and has deceptive breaking pitches. We’ve faced him multiple times, and I can personally attest, it is not a pleasant experience. If Jay gets more experience on the mound I could see him cracking the top 10.
Trent Steffes- The southpaw has the tools to be a very effective pitcher in the MNWA, he just needs to harness them. Trent offers a big looping breaking ball, and has better than average control. If Trent can develop a complimentary pitch with greater velocity he could be nasty to face.
10: Chris Neumann
- Velocity: 15, Breaking Pitches: 13, Strikeouts: 12.5, Control: 14, Durability: 3, Pitching: 57.5
- Notable Stats: 1.33 career ERA, 13.5 K/9, 4.138 career FIP, 6 IP
9: Mat Peisert
- Velocity 14.5, Breaking Pitches: 13, Strikeouts: 10, Control: 15, Durability: 6, Pitching 58.5
- Notable Stats: 5.30 career FIP, 6.0 career BB/9, 1.5 career K:BB ratio
8: Kevin Knutson
7: John Cronin
T-5: Jordan Johnson
T-5: Garrett Grage
- Velocity: 14, Breaking Pitches: 15, Strikeouts: 12.5, Control: 9.5, Durability: 8, Pitching: 59
- Notable Stats: 0.80 2017 ERA, 13.5 2017 K/9, 5.28 career ERA
7: John Cronin
- Velocity: 14, Breaking Pitches: 17, Strikeouts: 17, Control: 7, Durability: 5, Pitching: 60
- Notable Stats: 4.54 career ERA, 18.2 career K/9, 2.40 2017 ERA
T-5: Jordan Johnson
- Velocity: 13, Breaking Pitches: 15, Strikeouts:, 11.5, Control: 15.5, Durability: 9, Pitching: 64
- Notable Stats: 2.77 career ERA, 7.7 BB/9, 1.441 K:BB Ratio
T-5: Garrett Grage
- Velocity: 19, Breaking Pitches: 14.5, Strikeouts: 17.5, Control: 7, Durability: 6, Pitching 64
- Notable Stats: 3.64 career ERA, 2.41 Career FIP, 18.4 Career K/9
4: Zack Eustis
3: Zach Bussmann
2: Matt Newell
- Velocity: 17, Breaking Pitches: 15.5, Strikeouts: 18, Control: 18, Durability: 5, Pitching 73.5
- Notable Stats: 2.46 career ERA, 18.7 K/9 6.75 K:BB ratio
3: Zach Bussmann
- Velocity: 18, Breaking Pitches: 18, Strikeouts: 16, Control: 14, Durability: 8, Pitching: 76
- Notable Stats: 2.36 career ERA, 19.0 career K/9, 0.29 2017 ERA
2: Matt Newell
- Velocity: 18, Breaking Pitches: 17, Strikeouts: 17.5, Control: 14, Durability: 10, Pitching: 76.5
- Notable Stats: 2.34 career ERA, 7.2 career BB/9, 21.3 2017 K/9
1: Devin Nelson
- Velocity: 17, Breaking Pitches: 17, Strikeouts: 15, Control: 18, Durability: 10, Pitching: 77
- Notable Stats: 1.82 career ERA, 4.0 BB/9, 1.13 2017 ERA