Bottom of the 4th, Justin Verlander commits the 5th error by a Detroit pitcher this series. That was key to a 2-run inning which gives the Cards a 3-2 lead. The game is far from over but the Tigers don’t need to give them any help.
Which brings me to a related point. So many times I hear people lament that unearned runs that stem from pitchers’ errors should count against their ERA.
No, No, and again no!
These misguided fans are looking at the issue from the perspective that baseball statistics exist to reward or punish players. To glorify or demean them. That is not why they exist in my opinion.
Baseball statistics exist to qualify and quantify, the best that they can, the reality that we call baseball. They are not perfect, of course. But they give us a hint of what a player has done and what he might do in the future.
For the current example, the ERA, it is a representation of how well a pitcher pitches. More to the point, how many (or how few) runs he allows regardless of his team’s fielding. And yes, his team’s fielding includes him, too. I don’t want to factor his fielding in with his ERA. That would skew his stats.
There. Got THAT off my chest.