RESEARCH: Checking in on Pure Quality Starts

This article also appears in the 2024 Baseball Forecaster.

The Pure Quality Starts (PQS) system has long been a reliable way to summarize a starting pitcher’s performance at a glance with a stat you can calculate in your head. When a pitcher achieves each one of five different outcomes in a start, they earn a PQS point, and they receive an overall score between 0 and 5. The outcomes, along with the current standard, are:

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