The one thing the Pirates did well this season was pitch. The Bucs pitching staff finished 7th in the league in ERA, and 4th in WAR. Since Don Kelly took over as manager the Bucs were 4th in both metrics.
Below is a table of the full pitching stats and metrics correlations with Runs Allowed.
| Stat/Metric | correlation_with_runs_allowed |
|---|---|
| wsc | -1 |
| sc_x | -1 |
| wsc_c | -1 |
| re24 | -0.971057 |
| rew | -0.967933 |
| ra9_war | -0.939443 |
| lob_pct_plus | -0.93139 |
| wpa_li | -0.928789 |
| rar | -0.883332 |
| war | -0.871787 |
| wfa | -0.822408 |
| wfa_c | -0.783441 |
| inli | -0.766807 |
| w | -0.762761 |
| k_pct_plus | -0.757631 |
| bip_wins | -0.757261 |
| fdp_wins | -0.744337 |
| wsi_c | -0.727155 |
| k_bb_plus | -0.696629 |
| k_bb | -0.6926 |
| stf_plus_si | -0.690576 |
| wfc_c | -0.652931 |
| so | -0.647584 |
| pit_plus_fa | -0.647302 |
| wsi | -0.633839 |
| stf_plus_fa | -0.631975 |
| pluswpa | -0.627962 |
| k_9 | -0.627914 |
| stuff_plus | -0.624063 |
| pli | -0.616823 |
| pitching_plus | -0.616733 |
| k_9_plus | -0.616064 |
| wsl | -0.606124 |
| wsl_c | -0.591093 |
| exli | -0.584039 |
| sv | -0.575991 |
| wch | -0.575018 |
| gmli | -0.57393 |
| loc_plus_fc | -0.563803 |
| ip | -0.561216 |
| sd | -0.531196 |
| wch_c | -0.529038 |
| wcu | -0.509487 |
| wfc | -0.499758 |
| pit_plus_fc | -0.479562 |
| hld | -0.471971 |
| fa_z | -0.457586 |
| wcu_c | -0.447604 |
| wep | -0.438491 |
| si_x | -0.415031 |
| cg | -0.398545 |
| vkn | -0.387509 |
| loc_plus_sl | -0.37694 |
| stf_plus_ch | -0.367579 |
| pit_plus_ch | -0.349118 |
| wep_c | -0.329115 |
| pit_plus_sl | -0.312432 |
| maxev | -0.302577 |
| rs | -0.298095 |
| pit_plus_si | -0.296747 |
| vfa | -0.295261 |
| si_z | -0.29372 |
| location_plus | -0.289821 |
| rs_9 | -0.271623 |
| sho | -0.254483 |
| wfs | -0.229888 |
| fc_z | -0.210053 |
| vep | -0.195907 |
| wfs_c | -0.181985 |
| loc_plus_fa | -0.177457 |
| loc_plus_fs | -0.165914 |
| vfc | -0.159596 |
| wkc | -0.135348 |
| stf_plus_sl | -0.133108 |
| loc_plus_ch | -0.132954 |
| fs_x | -0.131735 |
| stf_plus_kc | -0.126909 |
| lob_wins | -0.113396 |
| pit_plus_fs | -0.107973 |
| gb_pct_plus | -0.0960868 |
| ch_x | -0.0933678 |
| ep_x | -0.082583 |
| wkc_c | -0.0746111 |
| la | -0.0714014 |
| pit_plus_cu | -0.0656322 |
| pit_plus_kc | -0.0562843 |
| kc_x | -0.0406768 |
| sl_x | -0.0337882 |
| fb_pct_plus | -0.0272301 |
| wkn_c | -0.0129626 |
| vsl | -0.0106303 |
| stf_plus_fs | -0.00965412 |
| clutch | -0.00383915 |
| gb_fb | 0.00826206 |
| loc_plus_cu | 0.0147092 |
| vkc | 0.0161522 |
| stf_plus_cu | 0.0360239 |
| vsi | 0.0477547 |
| pace | 0.0509672 |
| pulls | 0.0515466 |
| g | 0.0538775 |
| fa_x | 0.0656841 |
| cu_x | 0.0699447 |
| vcu | 0.0787823 |
| vch | 0.0851148 |
| vfs | 0.0967378 |
| loc_plus_kc | 0.113983 |
| kc_z | 0.115276 |
| ep_z | 0.139177 |
| fc_x | 0.142555 |
| ibb | 0.146075 |
| md | 0.156943 |
| stf_plus_fc | 0.166317 |
| bs | 0.17259 |
| ch_z | 0.188526 |
| kn_x | 0.194751 |
| sl_z | 0.206613 |
| fs_z | 0.223263 |
| kn_z | 0.289527 |
| loc_plus_si | 0.290635 |
| bb_pct_plus | 0.336022 |
| cu_z | 0.342822 |
| hbp | 0.363075 |
| ld_pct_plus | 0.380032 |
| wp | 0.403286 |
| bk | 0.411402 |
| bb | 0.448088 |
| bb_9 | 0.479177 |
| bb_9_plus | 0.481606 |
| strikes | 0.482555 |
| ev | 0.570269 |
| balls | 0.581953 |
| ev90 | 0.600022 |
| wkn | 0.603439 |
| pitches | 0.608891 |
| hr | 0.736035 |
| hr_9 | 0.754156 |
| babip_plus | 0.761962 |
| l | 0.762761 |
| babip | 0.776673 |
| hr_9_plus | 0.778632 |
| barrels | 0.788368 |
| siera | 0.804151 |
| events | 0.839222 |
| hardhit | 0.854923 |
| e_f | 0.865704 |
| xera | 0.895704 |
| avg_plus | 0.904172 |
| tbf | 0.907649 |
| avg | 0.917254 |
| h | 0.924532 |
| whip_plus | 0.94062 |
| whip | 0.94197 |
| era | 0.991859 |
| er | 0.992578 |
| sc_z | 1 |
| vsc | 1 |
One think to note right off the bat (no pun intended), is that avg allowed and hits allowed have a stronger correlation to runs allowed than home runs allowed and walks allowed. Many of the best teams hit for power and are very disciplined in the batter's box, but it seems like swinging for contact surrenders more runs.
Another interesting note is that a location plus is significantly less correlated to allowing fewer runs than stuff plus. To me this is saying weaker command of good stuff is better at preventing runs than stronger command of weaker stuff.