Scoreless Outing Percentage and Goose Eggs, 2022
Presenting the full list of Scoreless Outing Percentage (ScOtg%), Goose Eggs (GE), and related statistics for 2022.
Statistics run through the end of play on October 3.
These statistics aim to further measure effectiveness of relief pitchers. Scoreless Outing Percentage, which first appeared in this piece, is based on the premise that a reliever’s job is to go into the game and “put up a zero.” His goal is to not allow any more runs to score, whether they be charged to him or inherited. This percentage looks at how often he, basically, did his job.
Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight.com invented Goose Eggs (GE), Broken Eggs (BE), and Mehs (M). These statistics aim to measure clutch late-inning relief in a more meaningful way than the save, which is a stat that has some flaws.
Scoreless Outing Team Statistics
Explanations
GR = Games in Relief
ScOtg = Scoreless Outing, a GR where the pitcher has no runs charged to him (earned or unearned).
IOtg = I stands for Inherited Run and indicates a ScOtg where he allowed inherited runs to score.
UOtg = U is Unearned Run. It does not count as a ScOtg, but it notes that the run wasn’t entirely the reliever’s fault.
ScOtg% = ScOtg divided by GR, rounded to the nearest tenth of a percentage point.
Leaders and Tables
AL Average: 71.1%
Team Leaders: Houston Astros, 78.2%; Seattle Mariners, 76.1%; New York Yankees, 74.3%
Current Roster Team Leaders: Tampa Bay Rays, 79.7%; Seattle Mariners, 79.6%; Houston Astros, 79.2%
NL Average: 69.2%
Team Leaders: Los Angeles Dodgers, 76.5%; Atlanta Braves, 72.4%; New York Mets, 70.7%
Current Roster Team Leaders: Los Angeles Dodgers, 80.9%; St. Louis Cardinals, 77.5%; Atlanta Braves, 73.6%
MLB Average: 70.2%
Current Rosters
Scoreless Outing and Goose Egg Individual Statistics
Pink shading indicates that player name appears with more than one team.
Goose Egg Team Statistics
Explanations
GE = Goose Egg
BE = Broken Egg
M = Meh
GE/BE = Goose Eggs per Broken Egg. The historical average, dating back to 1921, is 3.0. This is the most important stat of the four.
Here are the definitions of each statistic, as quoted from Nate Silver’s original article.
A relief pitcher records a goose egg for each inning in which:
- It’s the seventh inning or later;
- At the time the pitcher faces his first batter of the inning:
- His team leads by no more than two runs, or
- The score is tied, or
- The tying run is on base or at bat;
- No runs (earned or unearned) are charged to the pitcher in the inning and no inherited runners score while the pitcher is in the game;
- And the pitcher either:
- Records three outs (one inning pitched), or
- Records at least one out, and the number of outs recorded plus the number of inherited runners totals at least three.
A relief pitcher records a broken egg for each inning in which:
- He could have (had) a goose egg if he’d recorded enough outs;
- At least one earned run is charged to the pitcher; and
- The pitcher does not close out the win for his team.
A relief appearance in a goose egg situation that results in neither a goose egg nor a broken egg is a meh.
Leaders and Tables
AL Average GE/BE: 3.2
Team Leaders, GE/BE: Houston Astros, 4.6; Cleveland Guardians, 4.6; Seattle Mariners, 4.4
Current Roster Team Leaders, GE/BE: Kansas City Royals, 5.3 (very small numbers, though); Houston Astros, 5.0; Seattle Mariners, 4.7; Cleveland Guardians, 4.3
NL Average GE/BE: 3.1
Team Leaders, GE/BE: San Diego Padres, 4.4; St. Louis Cardinals, 4.2; Los Angeles Dodgers, 3.6
Current Roster Team Leaders, GE/BE: San Diego Padres, 5.3; St. Louis Cardinals, 4.2; Los Angeles Dodgers, 4.1
MLB Average: 3.2
