Throughout the history of baseball, one thing has remained clear: Good pitching beats good hitting. Always.
The impact of this phenomenon is tough to oversell: From the dead-ball era to the steroid era and everything in between, rosters comprised of premier pitching typically outperform rosters devoid of it.
While good pitching and success still have a strong correlation — the top seven teams by E.R.A. all made the playoffs last season — effective pitching is no longer what it used to be. And for teams like the New York Mets, the effects are already starting to show.