Bruce Sutter | Baseball Prospectus

Biographical

Bruce Sutter P

Career Summary

Years	IP	W	L	SV	SO	ERA
0	1042	68	71	300	861	2.83

Birth Date	1-8-1953
Height	6' 2"
Weight	190 lbs

Bats	R
Throws	R

WARP Summary

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YEAR	TEAM	AGE	G	GS	IP	IP-SP	IP-RP	W	L	SV	BS	QS	BQS	PA	H	R	ER	HR	TB	BB	UBB	HBP	SO	ERA	FIP	FRA	VORP	WARP
Career			661	0	1042.0	0.0	1042.0	68	71	300	101	0	0	4251	879	370	328	77	1302	309	226	13	861	2.83	2.94	4.05	78.0	7.9

Advanced

'opp' stats - quality of opponents faced - have been moved and are available only as OPP_QUAL in the Statistics reports now.

YEAR	Team	Lg	G	IP	FRA	FRA+	TAv	oppAVG	oppOBP	oppSLG	oppTAv	BABIP	PPF	PVORP	PWARP	VORP	WARP
1976	CHN	MLB	52	83.3	2.85	137	.214	.265	.330	.384	.271	.258	113	17.4	1.9	16.8	1.8
1977	CHN	MLB	62	107.3	2.62	144	.181	.277	.342	.432	.273	.253	107	27.2	2.8	26.7	2.8
1978	CHN	MLB	64	98.7	4.15	106	.240	.267	.331	.401	.271	.274	110	7.3	0.8	9.0	0.8
1979	CHN	MLB	62	101.3	3.18	130	.194	.276	.340	.417	.271	.248	108	17.0	1.8	18.0	1.8
1980	CHN	MLB	60	102.3	4.28	99	.232	.274	.336	.402	.268	.278	105	4.1	0.4	2.6	0.1
1981	SLN	MLB	48	82.3	3.70	109	.230	.269	.330	.389	.270	.245	104	6.1	0.7	6.4	0.6
1982	SLN	MLB	70	102.3	4.58	88	.244	.272	.333	.406	.269	.252	100	0.8	0.1	1.8	0.2
1983	SLN	MLB	60	89.3	5.02	78	.255	.267	.335	.402	.270	.292	100	-1.3	-0.1	-1.6	0.0
1984	SLN	MLB	71	122.7	4.04	94	.218	.272	.336	.404	.271	.272	93	6.1	0.6	5.3	0.6
1985	ATL	MLB	58	88.3	5.87	55	.270	.265	.330	.399	.265	.274	100	-9.7	-1.0	-10.1	-1.0
1986	ATL	MLB	16	18.7	6.22	56	.259	.267	.337	.407	.267	.269	103	-1.6	-0.2	-1.8	-0.2
1988	ATL	MLB	38	45.3	3.84	104	.256	.262	.322	.386	.265	.328	103	5.1	0.6	5.0	0.5
Career		MLB		1042.0	4.05	103	.229	.270	.334	.403	.270	.268	104	78.4	8.4	78.0	7.9

Statistics For All Levels

Year	Team	Lg	W	L	SV	G	IP	H	BB	SO	HR	GB%	BABIP	H/9	BB/9	HR/9	K/9	WHIP	ERA	VORP	WARP
1976	CHN	MLB	6	3	10	52	83.3	63	26	73	4	54%	.258	6.8	2.8	0.4	7.9	1.07	2.70	16.8	1.8
1977	CHN	MLB	7	3	31	62	107.3	69	23	129	5	61%	.253	5.8	1.9	0.4	10.8	0.86	1.34	26.7	2.8
1978	CHN	MLB	8	10	27	64	98.7	82	34	106	10	59%	.274	7.5	3.1	0.9	9.7	1.18	3.19	9.0	0.8
1979	CHN	MLB	6	6	37	62	101.3	67	32	110	3	72%	.248	6.0	2.8	0.3	9.8	0.98	2.22	18.0	1.8
1980	CHN	MLB	5	8	28	60	102.3	90	34	76	5	71%	.278	7.9	3.0	0.4	6.7	1.21	2.64	2.6	0.1
1981	SLN	MLB	3	5	25	48	82.3	64	24	57	5	64%	.245	7.0	2.6	0.5	6.2	1.07	2.62	6.4	0.6
1982	SLN	MLB	9	8	36	70	102.3	88	34	61	8	63%	.252	7.7	3.0	0.7	5.4	1.19	2.90	1.8	0.2
1983	SLN	MLB	9	10	21	60	89.3	90	30	64	8	70%	.292	9.1	3.0	0.8	6.4	1.34	4.23	-1.6	0.0
1984	SLN	MLB	5	7	45	71	122.7	109	23	77	9	63%	.272	8.0	1.7	0.7	5.6	1.08	1.54	5.3	0.6
1985	ATL	MLB	7	7	23	58	88.3	91	29	52	13	56%	.274	9.3	3.0	1.3	5.3	1.36	4.48	-10.1	-1.0
1986	ATL	MLB	2	0	3	16	18.7	17	9	16	3	57%	.269	8.2	4.3	1.4	7.7	1.39	4.34	-1.8	-0.2
1988	ATL	MLB	1	4	14	38	45.3	49	11	40	4	55%	.328	9.7	2.2	0.8	7.9	1.32	4.76	5.0	0.5

Injury History beta

Date On	Date Off	Transaction	Days	Games	Side	Body Part	Injury	Severity	Surgery Date	Reaggravation
1989-04-04	1989-10-02	60-DL	181	161	Right	Shoulder	Strain	Severe Rotator Cuff Tear	-	-
1988-07-24	1988-08-19	15-DL	26	25	-	General Medical	Bells Palsy		-	-
1987-04-07	1987-10-05	60-DL	181	161	-	Shoulder	Surgery	Nerve Possible Thoracic Outlet Syndrome	1987-02-12	-
1986-05-28	1986-10-06	60-DL	131	117	Right	Shoulder	Surgery	Labrum and Partial Rotator Cuff	1986-08-13	-
1985-12-13	1985-12-13	Off	0	0	Right	Shoulder	Surgery	Thoracic Outlet Syndrome	1985-12-13	-
1985-09-20	1985-10-06	DTD	16	15	Right	Shoulder	Soreness	Thoracic Outlet Syndrome	-	-
1977-08-02	1977-08-23		21	20	-	Low Back	Strain		-	-

Compensation

Year	Team	Salary

Service Time	Agent	Contract Status

Details

BP Annual Player Comments

No BP Book Comments have been found for this player.

BP Articles

Bruce Sutter is referenced in the following articles.

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Title	Author	Date
In A Pickle: All-Stars Are Not All Stars	Jason Wojciechowski	2013-02-21
Skewed Left: Pop Quiz: Throwback Bullpen Guys	Zachary Levine	2013-02-07
In A Pickle: That Blank Expression	Jason Wojciechowski	2013-01-03
Pebble Hunting: A Hall of Fame Brochure for Ryan Klesko	Sam Miller	2012-12-03
The Platoon Advantage: Shaving an Icon	Michael Bates	2012-09-05
BP Unfiltered: Jerry Blevins, Non-Vulture	Sam Miller	2012-07-28
Inside The Park: Can Teams Protect Their Pitchers?	Bradford Doolittle	2012-05-10
Prospectus Hit and Run: The Keltner All Stars, Part I	Jay Jaffe	2012-01-13
Prospectus Hit and Run: Barry, Black Jack, and the Big Ballot Surges	Jay Jaffe	2012-01-10
Prospectus Hit and Run: The Class of 2012: The Catch-All	Jay Jaffe	2012-01-04
Prospectus Hit and Run: Morris on the Ballot, Smith to Close	Jay Jaffe	2011-12-30
Wezen-Ball: The Joy of Being Selected to the Hall of Fame	Larry Granillo	2011-12-05
Wezen-Ball: Player Rankings for Type A/B Calculations, 1982-1984	Larry Granillo	2011-11-02
The Lineup Card: 13 Iconic Instances of Facial Hair	Baseball Prospectus	2011-10-19
Prospectus Hit and Run: Cooperstown's Backhanded Compliment	Jay Jaffe	2011-07-22
On the Beat: Back on the Attack	John Perrotto	2011-06-03
The BP Wayback Machine: How Do You Rate Relief?	Nate Silver	2011-05-26
Changing Speeds: What's In A Name?	Ken Funck	2011-03-08
Future Shock: Philadelphia Phillies Top 11 Prospects	Kevin Goldstein	2011-02-25
On the Beat: Reflecting on Trevor Hoffman	John Perrotto	2011-01-14
Prospectus Hit and Run: Trevor Hoffman and the Coming Wave	Jay Jaffe	2011-01-13
Prospectus Hit and Run: Blyleven in '11 and Other Tales from the Ballot	Jay Jaffe	2011-01-06
Prospectus Hit and Run: Class of 2011: Relief at List	Jay Jaffe	2011-01-05
Prospectus Hit and Run: Class of 2011: Don't Stop The Rock	Jay Jaffe	2011-01-03
Prospectus Hit and Run: Class of 2011: Edgar Martinez	Jay Jaffe	2010-12-30
Spinning Yarn: The Forkball	Mike Fast	2010-12-09
On the Beat: Falling Out of First	John Perrotto	2010-09-08
Prospectus Q&A: Closer Persona: Chris Perez and Brian Wilson	David Laurila	2010-08-31
Contractual Matters: The White Rat Reluctant	Jeff Euston	2010-07-26
You Can Blog It Up: Just in Time for HOF inductions, the Whitey Herzog All-Stars	Steven Goldman	2010-07-24
Changing Speeds: Retro Game Story: Cardinals at Cubs, 6/23/84	Ken Funck	2010-05-11
Prospectus Hit and Run: Chugging Toward Cooperstown	Jay Jaffe	2010-04-09
Prospectus Hit and Run: 10 Men Out	Jay Jaffe	2010-01-13
Prospectus Hit and Run: Hawk, Rock, and a Couple of Shocks	Jay Jaffe	2010-01-07
Prospectus Hit and Run: Hall of Fame Cases for Pitchers	Jay Jaffe	2010-01-06
Prospectus Hit and Run: The Underachieving Class of 2009	Jay Jaffe	2009-09-23
You Could Look It Up: Lest We Forget	Steven Goldman	2009-06-30
You Could Look It Up: The Naked Draft	Steven Goldman	2009-06-09
You Could Look It Up: Fun With PECOTA Comparables III	Steven Goldman	2009-02-20
Prospectus Hit and Run: Protracting the Process	Jay Jaffe	2009-01-22
Prospectus Hit and Run: The Pitchers	Jay Jaffe	2009-01-12
Prospectus Today: The Old You're In, You're Out	Joe Sheehan	2008-12-18
Prospectus Q&A: Richard Dotson	David Laurila	2008-12-14
Prospectus Q&A: Gene Tenace	David Laurila	2008-10-26
You Could Look It Up: Yosted by His Own Petard	Steven Goldman	2008-09-16
Every Given Sunday: Don't Look at Us Now	John Perrotto	2008-09-14
Prospectus Q&A: Tom Foley	David Laurila	2008-06-22
Prospectus Hit and Run: Cooperstown Cases	Jay Jaffe	2008-04-30
Can Of Corn: Pitching Milestones in Reach	Dayn Perry	2008-04-24
Doctoring The Numbers: The Cubs and the Red Sox	Rany Jazayerli	2008-02-27
You Could Look It Up: Topping the Twins, Part Deux	Steven Goldman	2008-02-18
You Could Look It Up: Topping the Twins?	Steven Goldman	2008-02-11
Prospectus Matchups: Putting Cys in Motion	Jim Baker	2008-02-01
Every Given Sunday: Time Flies	John Perrotto	2008-01-13
Prospectus Hit and Run: Dissecting the 2008 Hall of Fame Vote	Jay Jaffe	2008-01-09
The Class of 2008: Relievers	Jay Jaffe	2008-01-04
The Class of 2008: The Starting Pitchers	Jay Jaffe	2008-01-03
Prospectus Today: My Ballot	Joe Sheehan	2007-12-28
Schrodinger's Bat: My First Full Season	Dan Fox	2007-11-01
Prospectus Q&A: Tim Raines	David Laurila	2007-08-19
Every Given Sunday: Saves, Strikes, and Retreads	John Perrotto	2007-06-03
Prospectus Q&A: Pete Palmer	David Laurila	2007-03-11
Prospectus Today: Two Fortysomething Ex-Yankees	Joe Sheehan	2007-01-10
The Class of 2007: The Pitchers	Jay Jaffe	2007-01-09
Prospectus Today: My Hall of Fame Ballot	Joe Sheehan	2007-01-05
Schrodinger's Bat: Thinking and Rethinking: Part 2	Dan Fox	2006-07-07
Schrodinger's Bat: Swing and Miss	Dan Fox	2006-06-08
You Could Look It Up: Specialization Is My Specialty	Steven Goldman	2006-05-15
Prospectus Today: Closing Time	Joe Sheehan	2006-05-10
JAWS 2006: From the Mailbag	Jay Jaffe	2006-01-30
Prospectus Notebook: Dodgers, Cardinals	Baseball Prospectus	2006-01-18
What is Baseball Between the Numbers?: A Look at BP's New Book	Jonah Keri	2006-01-12
Prospectus Today: The Election	Joe Sheehan	2006-01-11
Prospectus Today: The Ballot	Joe Sheehan	2006-01-09
Class of 2006: The Relievers	Jay Jaffe	2005-12-20
The Class of 2006: Starting Pitchers	Jay Jaffe	2005-12-16
Smartball and Moneyball: Sabermetric Innovation Helps Power White Sox' Championship	Jeff Angus	2005-11-29
Lies, Damned Lies: How Do You Rate Relief?	Nate Silver	2005-01-06
The Class of 2005: The Pitchers	Jay Jaffe	2004-12-20
Prospectus Today: The Holdovers	Joe Sheehan	2004-12-01
Prospectus Triple Play: Anaheim Angels, Chicago Cubs, Milwaukee Brewers	Baseball Prospectus	2004-11-26
Under The Knife: Anniversary Edition	Will Carroll	2004-08-03
Prospectus Today: A Slave to the Save	Joe Sheehan	2004-05-17
You Could Look It Up: 1984 Part V: Baseball Prospectus, Circa '84	Steven Goldman	2004-02-23
Prospectus Today: Diggin' in the Mailbag	Joe Sheehan	2004-02-19
Prospectus Today: Foulkelore	Joe Sheehan	2004-01-28
The Class of 2004: Analyzing the Pitchers	Jay Jaffe	2004-01-14
2004 Internet Hall of Fame: The Results Are In	Neal Traven	2004-01-05
2004 Internet Hall of Fame: You Make the Call	Neal Traven	2003-12-02
2003 Internet Hall Of Fame Results: Presented by STATLG-L and Baseball Prospectus	Neal Traven	2003-01-06
Remembering: The Loss of Two Cardinals: The Loss of Two Cardinals	Josh Paley	2002-06-27

BP Chats

Date	Question	Answer
2012-01-09 13:00:00	If you had an "all facial hair" HOF, who would be in your initial class: Bruce Sutter, Jim Kern, Al Hrabosky, others? (dianagram from NYC)	All of those guys would be in eventually but the reliever standard still starts with Rollie Fingers, and I'd want to balance the distribution out so it wasn't all 1970s guys. As the 1994-2005 period was to homers, the Seventies were to facial hair. (Jay Jaffe's Hall of Fame Special)
2011-01-05 13:00:00	Raines' vote total is a shame. (Joe Lefkowitz from NJ)	Well, 36 percent is a marked improvement, and there is now an even greater precedent for people with lower voting percentages on the fourth ballot getting in: Bruce Sutter, Duke Snider and Byleven all had less than 30 percent of the vote on their fourth ballots. His eventual election will depend upon the evolution of the voting body, but I think it will happen. (Jay Jaffe)
2010-10-12 12:00:00	Best (worst) baseball beard: Jim Kern, Jayson Werth, Brian Wilson, Al Hrabosky, other (Beards 'R Us from USA)	Kern had the barely visible mustache, which is a little weird I think. Werth's is great but I think he makes the goatee a little too prominent. The Mad Hungarian gets big style points, but his style has gone out of fashion. I think Bruce Sutter's beard was best. (Tommy Bennett)
2008-02-07 14:00:00	Bill James HOF book showed that about 10% of at bats have gone to hall of famers over the years other than the '20s and '30s, which were higher. This seems like a good barometer. It also seems the '80s & '90s will be lower than this. I think the bar has been raised too high, c.f. Alan Trammell and Tim Raines. Your thoughts? (WillMeier from Muskegon, MI)	It does seem that the BBWAA has become more picky over the years--but then again, they've elected Tony Perez, Bruce Sutter and, next year, Jim Rice. Hard to say they're upholding a standard. Remember that we're not dealing with complete information yet. Only players who ended their careers by 1988 have gone through a full ballot cycle. No one has been elected by the VC yet, and that system will change four more times before lunch. (Joe Sheehan)
2008-01-10 13:00:00	Joe, do you thing Rice would be the worst BBWAA choice ever? I think he might be better than Brock, but Brock had enough mitigating circumstances (3000 hits, stolen base record, 3 really good world series) that it is sort of understandable. (djackson from New York)	He's better than Bruce Sutter and a little bit better, I think, than Tony Perez. The BBWAA has some older weird picks, too. I think Herb Pennock is their nadir. Brock has markers Rice doesn't. (Joe Sheehan)
2008-01-08 14:00:00	How many players have ever been inducted into the Hall with as low of a vote percentage as Raines received today? Also, will we be waiting for Frank Thomas to be inducted for the DH position to be recognized by the Hall? Is Thomas looked at as a first ballot guy? (Brian from Tinley)	In the question above, I meant 15 years on the ballot, not 20 - that's 20 years after the end of his career. As for the question at hand, confining ourselves to the post 1965 annual balloting era, Duke Snider (17.0%), Don Derysdale (21.0%), Billy Williams (23.4%) and Bruce Sutter (23.9%) started out in bigger holes than Raines. As for Frank Thomas, I do think Paul Molitor already scored some points on behalf of the DHs. Thomas, with 500+homers and a 400+ OBP, could well be a first-ballot guy. At 101.7 JAWS, he's about 12 points above the 1B benchmark. (Jay Jaffe)

BP Roundtables

Date	Roundtable Name	Comment
2009-10-15 17:00:00	2009 NLCS Game One (Phillies/Dodgers)	Little known MLB rule: relievers who seek to grow a full beard must receive permission from Bruce Sutter. (Steven Goldman)