Setting up my annual player performance market. I’ve kept the bar for pitchers the same as last year at 6.0 bWAR. The only difference is I’ve added the provision that anyone can add a player to this market. My ask is simply that if you do, please only add the name of the player - teams are always subject to change, and all other 2024 bWAR totals were below 6.0.
This market does NOT round up. A player’s total bWAR at the conclusion of games played for his team must be 6.0 or higher to resolve YES.
Resolves NO for 5.9 and below.
The only way this market will resolve N/A is if 0 MLB games are played for the 2025 season. If even one game is played, and the players strike or the league is dissolved, all players will resolve NO.
I also debated whether or not to close individual players early if they reach 6.0 prior to season's end, but I found this could result in an incorrect resolution if the player falls below the threshold and finishes below the threshold after reaching it. While uncommon, it is possible. All players will be resolved following the end of the regular season.
Update 2025-02-14 (PST) (AI summary of creator comment): Two-way Player Resolution Update
Two-way players have the sum of their hitting and pitching bWAR factored in for resolution.
For the pitcher market, a player’s total bWAR is calculated by adding their hitting and pitching bWAR. For example, if a two-way player earns 3.0 bWAR in hitting and 3.0 bWAR in pitching, they meet the 6.0+ threshold for the pitcher market.
For the hitter market, the threshold remains at 7.0 bWAR, so the same two-way player would not meet the hitter market requirement.
Update 2025-02-14 (PST) (AI summary of creator comment): Update from creator
Two-way Player Eligibility for Pitching:
A two-way player will be considered as having contributed as a pitcher if they accumulate 54 IP or more in a 162-game season.
This threshold is based on historical precedent (using examples like Babe Ruth and Shohei Ohtani) to determine if a dual-role player qualifies as both a hitter and a pitcher.
If a two-way player meets this IP requirement, their pitching and hitting bWAR will both be factored into the resolution for the respective markets.
1,000This got me thinking: what constitutes qualifying as a pitcher if a player is a full-time DH as well? Since I only have two that I can eyeball the stats for (Ruth, Ohtani), I have to go by the precedent they set.
Babe Ruth was in the starting rotation for the Boston Red Sox from 1915-1919 and made a single spot start for the New York Yankees in the first few seasons. One can reasonably deduce he wouldn’t be qualified as a two-way player for the Yankees.
Shohei Ohtani was in the starting rotation for the Angels between 2018-2023. In the seasons where he played at least half the season, he made 10, 23, 28, and 23 starts as a pitcher.
The season (2018, his rookie season) is where I’m focusing because while he was not in rotation for the full season but logged 10 starts with a short hook (roughly 5 IP per start).
No one would argue that Ohtani contributed to the Angels’ pitching staff in 2018, so he would count as a two-way player then.
So my verdict to qualify a two-way player as both a hitter and a pitcher is 54 IP or more for a 162-game season, a minimum of one third the innings pitched required to qualify for starting pitching statistic leader.
Adding a note here as a question regarding Shohei Ohtani was on the hitter market.
Two-way players would have the sum of their hitting and pitching bWAR factored in as a resolution. For example, if Shohei Ohtani played well enough to earn 3.0 bWAR as a hitter and 3.0 bWAR as a pitcher, he would resolve YES as a pitcher but NO as a hitter since the hitter market bar is set at 7.0 bWAR.