New St. Louis Cardinals reliever (probably) Bud Norris has had a Major League career, to this point, which ranks somewhere between mediocre and nondescript. Norris has started 188 games, appeared in relief in an additional 103 games, and his career ERA stands at 4.49 with a career fielding-independent pitching faring somewhat better, at 4.21. Adjusting for league and park environment, per FanGraphs, Norris has been 13% below-average by ERA and 5% below-average by FIP. But somebody has to be below-average by definition if a league exists with above-average players. There have been more disastrous MLB careers than that of Bud Norris.
How accurate was the “Cy” Norris narrative?
