Premier12 2019: better pitching, closer games, more emotions

On Sunday 17 November, Japan beat Korea, 4-3, in the Championship Game of the Premier12 2019, in front of almost 45,000 enthusiastic fans that packed the Tokyo Dome. This game put an end to an extremely successful Premier12, a tournament with great pitching and emotive games.

Comparing the numbers of the 2015 and 2019 Premier12, one thing is clear. The pitching level in 2019 was significantly better than in 2015, marking also an increment in the general level of play.

All the pitching stats were better in 2019, but one number, in particular, stands out: the ERA (earned run average) in the tournament decreased 0.91 from 2015 to 2019. In the previous edition, pitchers combined for a 4.37 ERA; while in 2019 the total ERA was 3.46.

Also, the number of strikeouts shows the pitching improvement in this year's edition. In 2015 the stats recorded 568 strikeouts, an average of 14.9 per game (38 games played in 2015). This year, the gross number of strikeouts was 553 (only 15 fewer strikeouts than the previous edition), for an average of 17.3 (32 games played in 2019). It's an increment of 2.5 strikeouts per game.

On the other hand, as a consequence, the number of hits decreased. In 2015 pitchers allowed 17.8 hits per game (677 hits for the tournament). This year, pitchers gave up an average of 14 hits per game (a total of 448). The overall batting average lowered from .267 to .221.

However, the number of home runs didn’t decrease as much. In the first edition of the Premier12, a total of 58 home runs were hit, an average of 1.53 homers per game. In the 2019 edition, fans witnessed 46 homers, 1.44 per game with 20 of those homers hit at Charros de Jalisco Stadium, for the Group A.

As a result of better pitching performance, fans around the world were able to see closer games with more emotion and intensity. Half of the contests played in 2019 were decided by three or fewer runs, including eight of the 12 games of the Super Round, the Bronze Medal Game and the Championship Final.