A recent subtopic in
one of the popular OOTP9 threads got me thinking:
If you could redefine the save statistic, how would you do it? What about holds?
For those a little rusty on the two:
Save (baseball - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
Hold (baseball - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
ESPN.com: MLB - FAQ and other stuff
What should matter?
I realize some would disagree with crediting a save to someone who gave up say 4 runs in an inning of work, but I'm good with just making sure the pitcher didn't give up the lead meaning you can't give up the tieing run. I think the whole point of the statistic should be that you saved the game from being lost and so even if you gave up a boatload of runs, but still preserved the win, I think you should get the save.
I don't think I have a problem with a 1 out save counting as much as say a 15 out save, but I think you should have to get at least 1 out.
Likewise, I don't think we should care if baserunners are already on when the pitcher takes the mound or not.
I _do_ think you should have to have finished the game (I like a separate hold statistic for those relievers who don't) and I don't think you should get it when having started the game.
As for holds I think everything should be the same except you can't get a hold starting nor finishing the game.
Now yeah, this statistic wouldn't be a good evaluator like some other statistics, but I don't think it needs to be nor should be. Winning the game is the most important thing and so so what if you gave up a tonne of runs and only got 1 out? If you saved the win, you saved the win and should get some kind of credit for it. If you want a better indicator of a reliever's true value, just use a different stat. The problem with the save statistic as it is now is that it tries to be more than what it can be (by including the three save situation criteria). However, make it simpler and I think you've got something that actually might be worth looking at.