Quality Start (QS)

Definition

A starting pitcher records a quality start when he pitches at least six innings and allows three earned runs or fewer. A starting pitcher has two jobs: to prevent runs and get outs. The quality start statistic helps to quantify which pitchers did a "quality" job in those two departments.

Origin:

John Lowe, then a sportswriter for the Philadelphia Inquirer, coined the term in 1985 as a means to gauge whether a pitcher did his job. Lowe also created another wrinkle to go along with the stat. He called quality starts in which a pitcher got the loss "tough losses." And he called non-quality starts in which a pitcher earned the win "cheap wins."

In A Call

"quality outing," "quality performance," "he was quality"