Big 12 Returning Pitchers Sorted by WARc

Who returns the most productive pitchers in the Big 12 in 2025?

The Big 12 is returning some incredible arms this season. Let’s skip the intros and jump right in to today’s project.

(If you missed it, I’ve already worked on answering a similar returning production question for hitters, here).

Unlike hitting WAR, there are a few different approaches to calculating WAR for pitchers. The two most common are RA9 (runs allowed per nine innings pitched) and FIP (fielding independent pitching), and each has a significant pro and a significant con.

RA9 is a reminder that pitching doesn’t occur in a vacuum, and that pitchers are dependent on the rest of their team. It accounts for all runs allowed, but is also influenced by defensive errors and bad luck.

FIP, on the other hand, is perfect for isolating a pitcher’s skill and is generally a better predictor of future performance, but ignores balls in play, which still matters.

To combat both of these cons and try to get the most accurate data point possible, I’ve gone ahead and calculated both, then combined them into WARc (or WAR_composite), weighing WAR_FIP 70% and WAR_RA9 30%.

Here are the results:

The disappointing thing right off the bat here is that the top of the leaderboard, TCU’s Ben Abeldt, was just announced as being out for the year with a partially torn UCL. That’s a big blow to TCU, who was already going to rely quite a bit on younger, unproven talent and a few portal adds to supplement a handful of veteran returners.

Besides Abeldt, Preseason All-Big 12 pitchers Dom Stagliano, Dominic Castellano, Dominic Voegele and Stone Cushing find themselves in the top 15, and indicator that we’re seeing here what voters are seeing.

There’s some divergence, too. Ben Jacobs, Gabe Davis and Nathan Taylor were all also tabbed Preseason All-Big 12, but find themselves at 30, 32, and 33, respectively in WARc. This might be an indication of some tweaks that need to be made to the script, but we’ll let the season get rolling and determine if weighing each separate WAR needs to change a bit.

Overall, though, I’m pleased with how this turned out for a first run. Taking a look at transfers tomorrow!