Phil Bickford vs. Hideki Irabu — Career Comparison

Hideki Irabu built a career as a starting pitcher and Phil Bickford as a reliever — different jobs with different demands — but on the metrics that apply to both, a comparison is still worth making. Their run-prevention marks were nearly identical — ERA+ of 106 for Phil Bickford and 109 for Hideki Irabu, with skill-based marks of DICE+ 98 and 98 respectively. Role difference aside, the slight lean goes to Hideki Irabu — but these two were remarkably close on the shared metrics.