Who's Tony Vitello

Here's a post I wrote for Market Power last spring about the Missouri pitching coach, Tony Vitello.  With the Mizzou baseball team ranked 6th and expected to finish 2nd in the Big XII, and considering those rankings are due largely to the quality of the pitching staff, props to Vitello are in order.

Although he's got the proper-sounding name, Tony Vitello does not play for Anthrax.  Tony Vitello is the Mizzou pitching coach and is one of the primary reasons the Tigers are about to go to their 5th NCAA regional in a row.

Since Vitello joined the Missouri staff as a full-time assistant in 2004, the Tigers' ERA has improved from 5.07 in 2003 to 3.36 in 2006, including a 3.17 in 2005. The 3.36 mark in 2006 led in the Big 12 Conference and was 11th best in the nation.

Vitello helped mold Max Scherzer into the 11th overall draft pick in last June's Major League Baseball Draft. Scherzer, the 2005 Big 12 Pitcher of the Year and one of the nation's top pitchers the last two years, improved from an ERA of 5.85 as a freshman in 2004 to a dominate 1.86 in his sophomore season when he led the Big 12 in ERA, strikeouts (131) and opponents' batting average (.163). Last year, Scherzer had a 2.25 ERA despite fighting injuries much of the season.

...Over the past three seasons, 13 Mizzou pitchers have been drafted in the Major League Baseball Draft, with five of those eight being selected in the top five rounds. Last year, five Mizzou pitchers were taken in the draft with two drafted in the first four rounds.

And this season:

As the Tigers enter the Big 12 Tournament in Oklahoma City, it’s no surprise that they’re riding the arms of Crow and Rick Zagone, two pitchers who learned from some quality athletes. James, Hill, Broshuis, Scherzer and Culp were all selected in the Major League Baseball draft.

The difference has been staggering.  Here are the batting and pitching statistics as calculated from the 2007 media guide for the three years before and after Vitello first joined the Tigers:

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

Missouri   Tiger Batting Statistics 2001-2006
Year	AB	H	TB	BA	SLG	OPS
2001	1856	524	775	0.282	0.418	0.700
2002	1906	573	848	0.301	0.445	0.746
2003	2002	614	889	0.307	0.444	0.751
2004	2131	619	959	0.290	0.450	0.740
2005	2180	617	882	0.283	0.405	0.688
2006	2170	618	872	0.285	0.402	0.687
2001-2003	5764	1711	2512	0.297	0.436	0.733
2004-2006	6481	1854	2713	0.286	0.419	0.705
Missouri   Tiger Pitching Statistics 2001-2006
Year	IP	ER	BB	K	ERA	K/W
2001	486.333	254	177	380	4.70	2.15
2002	469.667	371	201	395	7.11	1.97
2003	506	285	158	426	5.07	2.70
2004	560.333	234	177	462	3.76	2.61
2005	559.667	197	194	486	3.17	2.51
2006	565.333	211	160	476	3.36	2.98
2001-2003	1462	910	536	1201	5.60	2.24
2004-2006	1685.33	642	531	1424	3.43	2.68

Mizzou's batting statistics fell slightly during Vitello's tenure. But the team's strikeout to walk ratio rose to 2.68 and the ERA fell dramatically from 5.60 to 3.43.  While head coach Tim Jamieson deserves credit, let's also give huge props to coach Vitello.