A complete beginner’s guide to baseball stats: Pitching statistics, and what they mean

Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty ImagesPitching is a complicated process. Pitchers can use a combination of at least a half-dozen pitches, with different spin rates, into different locations in the strikezone, with a variety of outcomes. The result is a plethora of stats that can befuddle casual baseball fans. We will take a deep dive into the more advanced stats later in the week, but for now we want to make sure all the basics have been covered.

So, we’ll start with our good friend the box score, and then touch on a few other key pitching statistics, to make sure you have a good groundwork in place before we get too deep into the rest of it.

Once again we’ll be using the example of the July 10,…