Rick Reuschel
| Birthdate | 5/16/1949 |
| Death Date | |
| Debut Year | 1972 |
| Year of Induction | |
| Teams | Cubs, Giants, Pirates, Yankees |
| Position | Pitcher |
All Star, Gold Glover, & 214-game winner Rick Reuschel has a higher career WAR than Bob Feller, Sandy Koufax, Juan Marichal & Don Drysdale.
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Rick Reuschel is one of the most underappreciated players in baseball history
Rick Reuschel is one of the most underappreciated players in baseball history
Rick Reuschel enjoyed a 19-year career that included multiple All Star appearances and Gold Gloves. The former 20-game winner finished with 214 wins and 2,015 strikeouts.
“Big Daddy” had a portly build belied his athleticism. Reuschel earned two Gold Glove Awards. Runners were caught stealing against him at 42% of the time compared to the league average 33%. Solid with the glove, his fielding percentage was 21 points better than league average.
A sabermetric darling, Reuschel’s career is best appreciated through the lens of advanced metrics. His strikeout-to-walk ratio is 31% better than league average. He gave up 21.6% fewer homers than his NL counterparts.
Reuschel played on some bad teams. His 214-191 record is good for a .528 winning percentage. When he wasn’t on the mound, his teams went 1358-1515, a .473 winning percentage. Reuschel’s mark is 55 points higher.
His career WAR is a stunning 69.5. That ranks just above the average for Hall of Fame pitchers. Among those with a lower WAR than Reuschel are no-doubt Hall of Famers Sandy Koufax, Bob Feller, and Carl Hubbell.
Reuschel pitched with bad defenses behind him. More than 10% of the runs he gave up were unearned. That no doubt hurt his win total. He was also hampered by his home park of more than a dozen years. Chicago’s Wrigley Field is one of the worst pitchers’ parks of his era.
Reuschel retired in 1991, well before the sabermetric revolution. Five years later when he was on the Hall of Fame ballot, only 2 of the 473 baseball writers voted for him.
As analysis of performance continues to improve, many are calling for a second look at Reuschel’s Cooperstown candidacy.
In the collection is this trio of Topps baseball cards. The middle card is from the 1977 set and is signed by the Reuschel brothers Rick and Paul. It’s flanked by 1978 Topps cards also autographed by the siblings.
Big Daddy belongs in the Hall of Fame!
Wins are useful but often misleading. In 3548.1 innings Rick Reuschel had a WAA(wins above average of 37.9 according to baseball Reference. He should have been about 235-157 losses (37.9+(348.333/18)=37.9+197.1=235- (37.9*2)=235-157
Now he did not come close to that with 214=191 record because he got terrible run support for his career. He allowed 3.79 RA9 (runs per game) and the teams he pitched on in the parks they played in and the defensive they support received should have gotten 4.66 RA (runs per game allowed) which is how we arrive at about a 235-157 record. Only Reuschel only got 4.09 runs per game support for his career, and he pitched out of a very deep hole for his career. (see the career line here https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/reuscri01.shtml And pay attention to the career line in Player Value—–Pitching
When controlled for what I call team factor they were a .435 team (4.09/4.66)=.8777 squared=.770 divided by itself + one (1) or .770/1.770= .435. Now when we compare his support to the runs he allowed we would expect him to have a .538 win-lost percentage. 4.09/3.79=1.079squared=1.165 divided by 2/165=1.165/2.165=.538 But on his teams an average pitcher would have gotten 4.66 runs like the line on the Baseball Reference page and that means he would have been a .599 pitcher. Instead he was a .599 pitcher dressed in .528 won-lost stat attire.
And we can further proof that by using the .435 team factor in a formula or .500+(.528-.435)=.593. So think of him in a neutral world as somewhere between a .593 and .599 pitcher who would probably have been in the HOF for about 15 years