Some historical Twins pitch to contact pitchers

The pitchers on this list had to have pitched at least 25 innings during their stay in Minnesota and it is sorted in “on base %”  (OBP) order.

Johnson, Adam ML debut 07162001

Rk Player OBP IP From To G GS W L SV H BB SO ERA BA
1 Adam Johnson .450 26.1 2001 2003 9 4 1 3 0 40 14 17 10.25 .360
2 Brett Merriman .445 44.0 1993 1994 34 0 1 2 0 54 37 24 8.39 .314
3 Bryan Oelkers .437 34.1 1983 1983 10 8 0 5 0 56 17 13 8.65 .376
4 Sean Bergman .436 68.0 2000 2000 15 14 4 5 0 111 33 35 9.66 .374
5 Jason Marquis .434 34.0 2012 2012 7 7 2 4 0 52 14 12 8.47 .371
6 Vance Worley .427 48.2 2013 2013 10 10 1 5 0 82 15 25 7.21 .381
7 Greg Harris .415 32.2 1995 1995 7 6 0 5 0 50 16 21 8.82 .355
8 Steve Carlton .411 52.2 1987 1988 13 8 1 6 0 74 28 25 8.54 .332
9 Sidney Ponson .409 37.2 2007 2007 7 7 2 5 0 54 17 23 6.93 .335
10 Scott Klingenbeck .408 77.0 1995 1996 28 7 1 3 0 111 34 42 8.30 .339
11 Bob Gebhard .408 39.0 1971 1972 30 0 1 3 1 53 24 26 6.00 .317
12 Erik Bennett .402 27.1 1996 1996 24 0 2 0 1 33 16 13 7.90 .306
13 John Pacella .402 51.2 1982 1982 21 1 1 2 2 61 37 20 7.32 .299
14 Dan Perkins .401 86.2 1999 1999 29 12 1 7 0 117 43 44 6.54 .326
15 Jack Savage .397 26.0 1990 1990 17 0 0 2 1 37 11 12 8.31 .339
16 Pedro Hernandez .392 56.2 2013 2013 14 12 3 3 0 80 23 29 6.83 .338
17 Mike Lincoln .391 97.0 1999 2000 26 19 3 13 0 138 39 42 7.70 .335
18 Erik Schullstrom .387 60.0 1994 1995 46 0 0 0 1 79 27 34 6.00 .317
19 Dan Schatzeder .386 54.0 1987 1988 40 1 3 2 0 72 23 37 5.50 .321
20 Danny Fife .385 56.1 1973 1974 14 7 3 2 0 64 33 21 5.43 .286
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 12/30/2015.

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German born Navy vet 65-68 and served aboard the Shangri La CVA-38. I run https://Twinstrivia.com, best MN Twins historical web site there is. Stop by daily and check out OTD in Twins history and much more. Live in Minnesota and Florida depending on what time of the year it is.

6 comments

  1. Steve Carlton “pitch to contact”? In a time in which he should have retired, only 52.2 innings of pitching for the Twins….. I have never ever seen or heard anyone refer to the great Steve Carlton as a “pitch to contact” pitcher. This is just a pitcher that should have quit by then, and doesn’t deserve to be on this list.

  2. I think there is some confusion over “pitch to contact.” The main indicator is very few walks. Byproducts are few strikeouts and many hits.

    Brett Merriman (54 hits, 37 BB, 24 SO in 44 IP) didn’t “pitched to contact.” He “sucked.”

    The same is true with almost the whole list. If you’re walking more than 4 per 9 IP, you definitely aren’t pitching to contact. If you’re over 3 per 9, you probably aren’t. It’s much better as a worst Twins pitchers list.

  4. What was the determining factor in selecting ‘Pitch To Contact’ group?
    < 6.5 SO/9?

    That is a fantastically ugly group of ERAs.

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