Rankometer is a tool that helps you get a quick visual snapshot of a team (in this case the pitching staff) by ranking each of its 5 starting pitchers and 2 best relievers. Rankometer is based on the philosophy of comparing players relative to their peer group and ranking them accordingly. For the starting rotation, we look at each team’s best starting pitcher (described in the first column as #1 STARTER) and rank them based on a chosen stat (in this case we are using an advanced metric called xFIP which is an adjusted earned run average stat). We do the same for each team’s second best starter, third best starter, and so on. The same is done for the team’s best 2 relievers (using a stat called Win Probability Added). With this basic ranking structure in place, we can select any team and see a visualization of how that team’s pitching staff ranks relative to other staffs in the league. Rankometer does this by shading a column below each pitcher on the chosen team, creating a graphic equalizer effect that indicates how good a pitching staff is (tall bars indicate high rankings, low bars indicate low rankings). One additional note: I’ve been updating the stats manually (I haven’t figured out yet how to do that automatically) so the data is a few weeks old.  In the future I’d like to have the data updated on a daily basis).

With Rankometer, we examine a pitcher’s career by visualizing how his WAR stacked up against his peers each season. Since a Hall of Famer should be performing at an elite level, we look at the top 30 starting pitchers in each season, since they would seemingly represent the “elite” (each team’s ace, the top 20 percent, however you want to look at it). So let’s take Rankometer for a spin and see what our eyes tell us.

Let’s first look at a first ballot Hall of Famer, Greg Maddux. What do my eyes tell me? He was the best among the best for a long stretch. Consistent dominance for an extended period of time. The big block of color says “Hall of Famer” to me.

Now let’s look at a borderline candidate, Mike Mussina. Rankometer reveals a lesser pitcher than Maddux, but still an elite pitcher for an extended period of time, with some off-years here and there. Hard to say with Mussina, but after looking at his Rankometer I am more of a believer.

Now, let’s look at Andy Pettitte. What do your eyes tell you when you look at his Rankometer? To me, the visual doesn’t come close to Mussina’s (let alone Maddux’s). I know we’re not considering his postseason resume, which this doesn’t capture (maybe a future revision could). But still, my eyes don’t tell me “Hall of Famer” when I look at this visual. What do you see?

The Twins are another team that got where they are today via big improvements in pitching, although for the last 5 years they’ve consistently lived in “the better part of town” when it comes to pitching and defense.

The Yankees have been amazingly consistent over the last 5 years, especially with their offense.