Players · B · Pitcher · 2017

Joe Blanton

Washington Nationals National League East

Age: 37
B/T: R/R
Height: 6' 3"
Weight: 225 lb
Number: #56

Born: December 11, 1980 in Nashville, TN, United States
MLB debut: September 21, 2004

dbWAR: 2.4
IP: 44.1
ERA: 5.68
FIP: 5.28
K/9: 7.9
FIP−: 121

Joe Blanton was a relief pitcher for the Washington Nationals. In 2017 he struck out 39 batters over 44.1 innings across 51 appearances, going 2-4. His ERA of 5.68 was 30.4% higher than the league average of 4.36 — 15th of 17 on his team, and 440th of 527 among MLB pitchers with 20+ innings. Stripping out defence, his 5.28 FIP suggests he pitched better than his ERA shows. He missed bats on 28.2% of swings (14.0% of every pitch he threw), walked 6.7% of the batters he faced and struck out 20.0%. His -0.2 dbWAR is built from that FIP rather than runs allowed, so it credits him for what he controls and not for the defence behind him.

League context

Percentile among qualified pitchers, 2017.

FIP5.28

K/97.9

WHIP1.49

WAR-.2

WAR by season

Pitching

Standard and advanced, by season.


2017	WSH	51	0	44.1	2	4	0	53	28	39	13	5.68	5.28	1.49	7.9	2.6	130	121	-0.2
2016	LAD	75	0	80.0	7	2	0	55	22	80	26	2.48	3.33	1.01	9.0	2.9	59	80	1.2
2015	PIT/KC	36	4	76.0	7	2	2	69	24	79	16	2.84	2.92	1.12	9.4	1.9	72	74	1.4

Batting

Standard and advanced, by season.

																					Trend
2017	WSH	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	—	1.000	—	—	—	100.0%	0.0%	.710	+0.3	358	0.0
2015	PIT/KC	4	4	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000	.000	.000	.000	.000	0.0%	25.0%	.000	-1.0	-125	-0.1

Platoon splits

How left- and right-handed hitters fare against him.

Season

Opponent batting by the side the hitter bats from, 2017. Counted from play-by-play, so totals can differ from the box-score season line by a plate appearance or two.
Split	PA	AB	H	HR	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	wOBA	K%
vs LHB	72	65	21	3	6	13	.323	.389	.600	.416	18.1%
vs RHB	123	114	32	7	7	26	.281	.320	.500	.344	21.1%

Hot and cold zones

Batting average by pitch location, 2017.

Pitch sequencing

What Joe Blanton throws in each count, and what he follows each pitch with. Select any cell for the breakdown.

ShowBatter

SliderFour-seamChangeupCurveballSinker

Select a count to see exactly what Joe Blanton throws in it.

Pitch arsenal

What he throws, how hard, how often it misses, and what hitters do with it.

Season


Slider	34.1%	261	86.1	2,351	42.9%	28.9%	73	.247	.728
Four-Seam Fastball	28.2%	216	90.2	2,151	51.4%	20.3%	48	.417	1.265
Changeup	15.4%	118	85.4	1,805	39.0%	43.3%	32	.219	.546
Curveball	11.9%	91	79.4	2,479	44.0%	8.3%	12	—	—
Sinker	10.3%	79	90.4	2,176	57.0%	38.1%	14	—	—

Joe Blanton's arsenal by usage. Velocity is average release speed in mph, spin in rpm, and whiff rate is misses per swing — the cleanest single measure of whether a pitch beats hitters. BAA and OPS are what hitters did against each pitch, credited to the one that ended the plate appearance, and are left blank under 15 at-bats.

Head to head

Put Joe Blanton beside up to three others.

Compare — add up to 3 more players

Joe Blanton

Similar players

Nearest 2017 seasons by command, run prevention and role, on rate statistics rather than totals.

Buddy BoshersMIN

ERA: 4.89
FIP: 5.19
SO: 28
WAR: -0.1

Very close

Asher WojciechowskiCIN

ERA: 6.50
FIP: 5.18
SO: 64
WAR: -0.1

Mike Wright Jr.BAL

ERA: 5.76
FIP: 4.72
SO: 28
WAR: 0.1

Tony SippHOU

ERA: 5.79
FIP: 5.22
SO: 39
WAR: -0.2

How these are computed

wOBA uses linear weights measured from this season's own play-by-play rather than published constants, and wRC+ is park-adjusted against that same league. dbWAR is our own open implementation — not fWAR or bWAR — and the full derivation, including its simplifications, is on the methodology page.