Joe Mantiply's Numbers Might Not Show True Worth

The D-backs left-hander discusses his duties as a reliever and pitcher statistics.

May 8, 2024; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks relief pitcher Joe Mantiply (35) reacts after the victory over the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park. Mandatory Credit: Katie Stratman-USA TODAY Sports / Katie Stratman-USA TODAY Sports

As many might remind one who scrutinizes a pitcher's--especially a reliever's--ERA and surface-level statistics, those rudimentary numbers don't always explain how well an arm might be pitching.

D-backs' veteran lefty and former all-star Joe Mantiply is no exception. Mantiply has been a major factor in Arizona's recent stretch of games, most recently, and notably, their 2-1 series victory at Dodger Stadium.

He worked three straight games, normally a taboo for even the heartiest of relievers, although his workload only spanned a total of 2.0 innings, and his efficiency in those outings was off the charts.

The lefty threw just 12 pitches over that three-appearance span, getting out some of the best hitters in the sport in Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman. He allowed zero hits and zero walks.

One such outing saw him get the official start, as he opened the game with a scoreless inning against those same big three hitters, before handing the ball off to Slade Cecconi after an effective "start."

Mantiply spoke on facing these offensive greats, and how well one has to place and execute pitches in order to avoid a big impact.

“The more they see you, the better you have to be each time. But those guys in particular, I mean, no matter what you throw them, if you don’t execute, there’s a good chance they're going to hit it hard. Even if you do execute, they can still hurt you,” Mantiply said.

“That’s kind of the main focus with those guys, it's not so much what pitch you throw, they can hit whatever pitch they see, it’s just executing that pitch…”

Over 19 1/3 innings in 2024, the left-hander has accrued a 4.19 ERA. It's not the prettiest number, but the fact is, he's been pitching significantly better, and more efficiently, than that number might represent.

He noted how sometimes, a particularly bad outing can spell a much worse looking season total than what is accurate to his overall effectiveness.

“Just with relievers in general, ERA can be kind of a skewed stat," said Mantiply, "the other night I came in against Detroit here, and I ended up giving up three runs, and I only pitched to two guys. I only threw five pitches but I ended up getting charged with three runs.”

“You can put 10 good outings together with no runs, as a reliever, you can have one that you give up some runs, and it can really inflate the ERA. So I think for relievers that’s kind of a skewed stat.”

Utilizing the stat labeled FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching) can provide necessary context for a pitcher's actual performance, without putting the burden on ERA alone.

FIP does not account for how well defense is being played behind a pitcher, and removes balls in play entirely, while focusing on aspects of pitching (such as strikeouts, walks and home runs), that are more in the pitcher's sole ability to execute or prevent.

Examining Mantiply's FIP is an intriguing look. While his ERA looks a bit lopsided, his FIP is an extremely impressive 2.62. This disparity implies that the lefty's overall effectiveness and ability to execute pitches is significantly higher than his flat results.

“[FIP]'s a cool stat, I think that in terms of statistics, it can be a little bit more of a judge of how you’re performing, especially for relievers," said Mantiply, "a lot of times you can be not pitching very well and have a good ERA.”

He noted, accurately, that a pitcher with a very solid ERA might display a FIP that looks worse than his results-only numbers, whereas the inverse--as is the case with Mantiply--will often showcase better peripherals than a less-impressive ERA might suggest.

Regardless of how the numbers might appear to conflict, the former all-star has certainly been an asset for Arizona's injury-ridden bullpen in 2024. His consistency has seen him throw 19 scoreless outings this season over 24 appearances, and he puts forward a solid 1.19 WHIP, with just six walks issued over those 19 1/3 innings.

"I think for me, especially left on left, my biggest attribute is my deception… I’m pretty unique, there’s not many guys I think that are similar to me, which I think can be a little bit of an outlier when it comes to results."

Everyday Joe has certainly been anything but average thus far, but it might take a closer glance to decipher said conclusion from his numbers. Luckily for him, and for the D-backs, all that truly matters is the final score.