Over the holidays, I received an email from Chris W. who is coming back to the game of APBA. He has a good question regarding some of the relatively new changes in the pitching grading.
He writes:
I’m returning to APBA for the first time in a LONG time!
Since I just got back to it, I see they now have some new pitcher ratings, like R, K, and ZZ.
Do you have any idea how a pitcher gets those ratings? I’m trying to sort of “retro-fit” older seasons I owned in the past. I assume the R rating may be based on something like K/9, but I’m wondering how long it needs to be to warrant an R. And, for that matter, is it era-dependent. For example, is what a pitcher needs to receive an R dependent upon what the league’s K/9 is?
Changes
First of all Chris, welcome back to APBA baseball! There have been some definite changes in the game. Though baseball fans always seem to be resistant to any changes, most people I’ve talk to seem to like the new APBA boards and ratings now in place. 
Now let’s get to your specific question: the pitchers R, K, and ZZ ratings. These ratings are meant to further articulate the strikeout accuracy (in the case of R and K rating) and the walk accuracy (in the case of the ZZ). In combination with the Y, X, and W already in place, APBA hopes to fine tune these stats. While the R (which actually reduce strikeouts by turning them into fly outs and ground outs) and the K strikeout ratings are relatively new the ZZ control rating has been around for some time (anyone have the exact years?).
Nitty-Gritty Values
But what Chris W. really wants to know is how pitchers get these ratings of R, K and ZZ. Well, only APBA knows and they’re not telling. But there are generally accepted values for each rating. I have to admit I was ignorant of what the exact values were off the top of my head. But I sent an email to Steve Stein from the Transcontinental Baseball League who is generally smarter than I in matters like this. Steve had the answer in a jiffy and good one at that.
Here are Steve’s numbers. Keep in mind that he uses K/9 IP and BB/9 IP K/(BF-IBB) and BB/(BF-IBB) where BF=batters faced and IBB=intentional walks but these numbers must be compared to the league average (i.e. 1.00 equals the league average). Steve was nice enough to include all strikeout and walk letters, too.
Pitchers’ Strikeout Ratings
| Strikeout letter | K/(BF-IBB) compared to league average |
|---|---|
| R | less than 0.62 |
| No letters | 0.62-0.92 |
| Y | 0.92-1.17 |
| X | 1.17-1.40 |
| XY | 1.40-1.66 |
| K | 1.66-1.90 |
| KY | 1.90-2.00 |
| KX | 2.00-2.20 |
| KXY | greater than 2.20 |
Pitchers’ Control Ratings
| Control letter | BB/(BF-IBB)* compared to league average |
|---|---|
| ZZ | less than 0.30 |
| Z | 0.30 – 0.83 |
| no letter | 0.83 – 1.26 |
| W | greater than 1.26 |
*use unintentional walks
I hope this answers Chris W.’s question. With a little stat work, he should be able to determine which pitchers in his season warrant an R, a K or a ZZ. Thanks to him for a great question and thanks to Steve Stein for his help!
Let me emphasize that these are not in any way APBA’s formula (we wish we knew!) but hopefully something close.
Thanks for the hat tip. Just a small clarification – I don’t use K/9 and BB/9. I use K/(BF-IBB) and BB/(BF-IBB) where BF=batters faced and IBB=intentional walks. It misses one or two at the margins. If you use K/9 and BB/9 results are similar, but you miss a couple more.
correction noted. I should have known that since APBA has been known to use batters faced instead of innings pitched.
thanks again for your help!!
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I appreciate it!
Ya, I definitely found some things that were interesting once I started to look at the cards, but I think I’ll use these formulas instead.
For example, on 1901 Cubs, Tom Hughes has a Z rating even though his BB/BF vs. NL BB/BF is a 1.38 – by your charts above, he should have a W, not a Z! Which seems to make more sense…
Hello! Just stumbled onto your blog searching for APBA Game Company. You have an outstanding blog.
I used to play APBA back in the 70’s. Went away from it to play Strat-O-Matic. Now have become soured somewhat with the company and the game. I woke the other day and for some strange reason was drawn back to APBA. Looking to order some cards etc. I as the other post noted, saw some card changes and I wondered how that the changes effected the ease of play, which is one of the best attributes of APBA. Hope to hear back from you.
Thanks,
Dale (London, OH)
Did APBA release updates for sets purchased before the new pitcher ratings?
I’ve been playing APBA baseball since 1966 and Masters since 1982, it’d be nice not to have to replace all my card sets in order to get maybe two dozen one letter card changes.
I am about 85% sure that the 1990 season was the first to use the ZZ rating.
you are correct, sir. According to Doug Burg’s 12 list the 1991 set (based on the 1990 season) was the first set to use the ZZ rating.
http://www.apbablog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/APBA12list.pdf
Hello Tom,
Once the numbers for pitcher ratings is determined and a grade has been assigned….for example a pitcher is now a K. How do I know when to assign that particular pitcher a strikeout since the K is not part of the original boards?
Thanks,
Mike
What do the C and H ratingsxteortsebtvon pitcher catfs
I know this is a very old blog post, but I was looking at it and have a comment or question. I noted that the post was edited to show that the calculations are better done on a batters-faced basis, and I agree. However, it I look at the tables, it appears that they are still shown on a per-innings-pitched basis. For example, strikeout rates max out at about 50% (i.e., 0.50 / BF). If you took the table literally, even the highest strikeout pitcher would get an “R” rating, along with everyone else.
I am not sure how to use ZZ compared to Z pitcher
Could you explain please
Re Steve Stein’s formulas: do they really use “league average” rather than “MLB average”? There are so many inter-league games that the average of both leagues together might be suitable.
Has Steve or anyone else already figured out these totals for BFs, Ks, BBs and IBBs for 2023? Or do we each have to add up the published team totals for each league, or for both leagues?