One of my new favorite baseball metrics is batting runs, which attempts to value the contribution of each play by calculating the average runs scored in an inning before and after that play occurred. It can also be applied to a particular count, which is what I’m going to look at here. (I have some links at the end of the article that provide a better explanation and discussion about this metric.) In the middle of last season, Fangraphs added a “pitch value” statistic that measures the value of each pitch thrown in terms of batting runs (or linear weights, which name you prefer). It’s an extremely useful tool, as it can tell what the most effective fastball, curveball, changeup, slider, splitter, or knuckleball was in terms of run expectancy. I figured that if you summed up the values for all the pitches, it would give you a pretty good idea of who was the most effective pitcher in the season. So here, thanks to Fangraphs, I have compiled the list of 2009 leaders and trailers in terms of Runs Saved and Runs Saved per 100 pitches (2000 pitch minimum for starters, 650 for relievers):
| Pitcher | RSv |
| Tim Lincecum | 55.1 |
| Chris Carpenter | 49.6 |
| Zack Greinke | 45.8 |
| Javier Vazquez | 43.6 |
| Dan Haren | 38.2 |
| CC Sabathia | 37.2 |
| Clayton Kershaw | 36.7 |
| Josh Johnson | 36.4 |
| Felix Hernandez | 36.1 |
| Ubaldo Jimenez | 34.9 |
| Pitcher | Rsv |
| Jeff Suppan | -27.6 |
| Manny Parra | -27.6 |
| Jason Berken | -26.7 |
| Fausto Carmona | -25.6 |
| Braden Looper | -25.4 |
| Jeremy Guthrie | -18.5 |
| Scott Richmond | -17.9 |
| Luke Hochevar | -17.5 |
| Gil Meche | -17.4 |
| Trevor Cahill | -16.3 |
| Pitcher | RSv/100 |
| Chris Carpenter | 1.86 |
| Tim Lincecum | 1.60 |
| Zack Greinke | 1.32 |
| Javier Vazquez | 1.32 |
| Clayton Kershaw | 1.23 |
| Josh Johnson | 1.11 |
| Dan Haren | 1.10 |
| CC Sabathia | 1.04 |
| Felix Hernandez | 0.99 |
| Ubaldo Jimenez | 0.98 |
| Pitcher | RSv/100 |
| Jason Berken | -1.31 |
| Fausto Carmona | -1.13 |
| Manny Parra | -1.08 |
| Jeff Suppan | -1.01 |
| Scott Richmond | -0.79 |
| Braden Looper | -0.78 |
| Gil Meche | -0.76 |
| Luke Hochevar | -0.74 |
| Armando Galarraga | -0.68 |
| David Huff | -0.66 |
How about the relief pitchers in 2009:
| Pitcher | RSv |
| Andrew Bailey | 26.3 |
| Jonathan Broxton | 23.5 |
| Phil Hughes | 19.9 |
| Trevor Hoffman | 19 |
| Nick Masset | 19 |
| Joe Nathan | 18.9 |
| Jeremy Affeldt | 18.9 |
| Heath Bell | 18.7 |
| Michael Wuertz | 18.4 |
| David Aardsma | 17.9 |
| Pitcher | RSv |
| Brad Lidge | -16.7 |
| Chris Ray | -13.5 |
| Brian Bass | -12.9 |
| Jeff Bennett | -11.9 |
| Scott Linebrink | -11.1 |
| Ron Mahay | -11 |
| Matt Capps | -8.9 |
| R.A. Dickey | -8.7 |
| Santiago Casilla | -8.4 |
| Ron Villone | -8.1 |
| Pitcher | RSv/100 |
| Trevor Hoffman | 2.55 |
| Phil Hughes | 2.38 |
| Andrew Bailey | 2.09 |
| Jeremy Affeldt | 1.96 |
| Jonathan Broxton | 1.92 |
| Huston Street | 1.87 |
| Darren O'Day | 1.85 |
| Nick Masset | 1.78 |
| Mariano Rivera | 1.74 |
| Claudio Vargas | 1.72 |
| Pitcher | RSv/100 |
| Chris Ray | -1.72 |
| Brad Lidge | -1.46 |
| Jeff Bennett | -1.39 |
| Ron Mahay | -1.21 |
| Scott Linebrink | -1.05 |
| Santiago Casilla | -0.99 |
| Matt Capps | -0.95 |
| Rafael Perez | -0.90 |
| Brian Bass | -0.87 |
| Ron Villone | -0.87 |
As you can see, these jive pretty well with who would often be considered the “best pitchers” of the year.
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