Pitcher

The pitcher (abbreviated to P or 1) is a baseball fielding position for the player responsible for throwing (pitching) the baseball to the catcher during an opponent's turn at bat. The pitcher and catcher together are often referred to as the "battery".

The pitcher is a special fielding position, he is required to throw the ball towards home plate only while at least one foot is touching the rubber bar on the pitching mound, which is situated 60 feet and 6 inches away from the front of the home plate. If the pitcher fails to execute a pitch correctly, the umpire can rule a balk has occurred, which will result in any runners who are on-base advancing by one base, including to home plate (if a runner is on third), resulting in a run scored.

The pitcher's goal is to retire a batter, or force them "out". This can be done by causing the batter to swing and miss the ball (a strike) three times for a strikeout, or by forcing the batter to hit the ball poorly so that the batted ball is caught for an out (such as a flyout), or thrown to force a runner or the batter out. Pitchers often use a variety of pitches, speeds and deliveries in order to get the batter out on strikes, or to induce them to swing and hit the ball poorly.

Pitching roles

At most levels of play, pitchers are divided into Starting Pitchers (SP) and Relief Pitchers (RP). Starting pitchers are normally part of a team's pitching rotation and take turns being the first pitcher, the one who starts a game. These pitchers will accumulate a game started statistic. A relief pitcher is normally one who substitutes for another pitcher at some later part of the game. A relief pitcher may be used to start a game, and a starting pitcher may appear in a relief role, but for game strategy purposes many teams try to keep the roles separate, partly to ensure that they always have a rested starting pitcher for future games.

A pitcher who is regularly the last pitcher to play in a game can be said to have the "closer" position (often abbreviated to CL). A closer is normally one of the best relief pitchers on a team's roster, who is effective at keeping the opposing team from scoring in late innings, when the starting pitcher would normally be tired.

Pitching statistics

Pitchers have unique statistics recorded only for them, such as Earned run average, innings pitched, shutouts, and others. In some leagues, where pitchers appear in the batting lineup (leagues without a DH rule), they also accumulate batting statistics.

Pitching statistics - Bull League leaderboard

Min. 82 IP for single-season averages, 410 IP for career averages

Statistic	Single-season record	Year set	Player	Career record	Player
ERA	0.28	1993	Iron Arm	2.23	Iron Arm
Wins	14	2012	Lien-ying Li	138	Angelo Rodriguez
Losses	13	2001	Logan Starr	91	Ian Love
Win Pct.	1.000	2009	Matt Hanna	.771	Andres Zarate
Saves	29	2015	Nate Kremer	234	Nick MacLellan
Games	51	2000	Nick MacLellan	587	Leonard Hurrach
GS	21	1995	Dan Kirk	253	Asif Ibrahim
CG	9	2015	Niek Rodriguez	58	Angelo Rodriguez
Shutouts	4	2011	Niek Rodriguez	22	Iron Arm
IP	156.0	1995	F.Y. Jackass	1,974.2	Angelo Rodriguez
Hits allowed	168	2015	Bob Finney	1,819	Angelo Rodriguez
HR allowed	28	2014	Yoshiaki Fujimara	207	Mu-ruo Chen
Strikeouts (K)	195	2011	Ricky Terrazas	2,017	Angelo Rodriguez
Bases on balls	79	2002	Logan Starr	723	Dan Robinson
BB/9 IP	0.20	2002	Dandy Lundgren	0.83	Dandy Lundgren
HA/9 IP	1.87	1993	Iron Arm	6.34	William Febres
K/9 IP	14.96	2012	William Febres	12.42	Micah Jones
BB+K/IP	0.38	1993	Iron Arm	0.97	Ricky Rodriguez
Opp. BA	.000	1993	Iron Arm	.195	William Febres
Opp. OBP	.214	2008	Ricky Terrazas	.258	Ricky Rodriguez
Opp. SLG	.000	1993	Iron Arm	.306	Ricky Terrazas
Opp. OPS	.426	2008	Ricky Terrazas	.580	Ricky Terrazas
WAR	6.4	1999	Iron Arm	67.0	Iron Arm

Pitching Awards

In the Bull League, pitchers can win a fielding award called the Platinum Glove Award. The Sandy Koufax Award is awarded to the best pitcher in each of the American Eagle League and the Lake League. The best relief pitcher may also win the Woodchuck Trophy.