When you're talking about a pitcher, particularly a starter, the first thing that you always see is his won/loss record. This is basically the essence of every pitcher's job. Win more games than you lose. However, the second stat you see is his ERA, which is a ratio that shows how many runs he is giving up per nine innings that he pitches.
In order to calculate a pitcher's ERA, take the number of runs that he has given up and divide it by the number of outs that he has recorded. In other words, if he pitches 5.0 innings, he got 15 outs. If he pitches 6.1 innings, he got 19 outs. Then multiply that number by 27, the total number of outs in nine innings.
A perfect ERA is 0.00, meaning you're giving up no runs over the course of whatever period of time it is that you are pitching. Most starting pitchers that you will see in MLB betting action have ERAs in the 3.00s and 4.00s. 4.00 is a fairly average number, as most starters end up somewhere in that range. Anything over 5.00 should send up a red flag in your mind, especially if he is pitching a bunch of innings and still has an ERA that high.
The last thing to keep in mind with ERA, is that the fewer number of innings that you have pitched, the less indicative the stat really is. If Roy Halladay goes out and allows six runs in five innings in his first start of the year, his ERA is going to be 10.80. We know that he's going to have an ERA in the high 2.00s or low 3.00s by season's end, and that will be his average.
Be sure to research MLB ERA leaders from the 2011 MLB season. It doesn't automatically make them successful for the 2012 MLB season but it's worth the note.
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