A pitcher’s worth can be measured by several statistics. Wins and losses are the most common, with ERA and strikeouts among the biggies. But then there are the stats for the true baseball junkies: Runners per nine, adjusted ERA and WHIP are just a few. A look at three telling statistics and three that just don’t mean much when you get right down to it.

Underrated statistics

WHIP:A combination of walks and hits allowed per innings pitched. Mariano Rivera (1.0199) and Pedro Martinez (1.0512) have the lowest career WHIP among active pitchers with 1,000 innings pitched. Both are surefire Hall of Famers. Johan Santana (1.1024) ranks 20th on the all-time WHIP list and he has a pair of Cy Young Awards. On the list of players with the lowest WHIP of all time, 19 of the top 50 are in the Hall of Fame. Cole Hamels and Jake Peavy are the most recent NL WHIP leaders and Santana led the AL in WHIP four consecutive seasons.

Strikeouts per nine innings:Some consider the strikeout an overrated statistic, but a strikeout can save a run while a ground ball might not be able to. A strikeout can also provide a momentum boost. Strikeouts per nine are also a good barometer of a pitcher’s worth. Randy Johnson (10.670) is the all-time career leader in strikeouts per nine among players with 1,000 innings pitched. Pedro Martinez is No. 3 while Nolan Ryan and Sandy Koufax are in the top five. Johnson has the single-season mark for strikeouts per nine: 13.41 for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2001.

Pitches per inning:New Rangers pitching coach Mike Maddux preaches about a paucity of pitches. That’s fewness. It should come as no surprise that three of the pitchers who threw the most pitches per inning last year have Rangers ties. Bill White was second in the majors with 29.8 pitches per inning. Derrick Turnbow, in camp with the Rangers this spring, was fifth and Elizardo Ramirez was sixth. Throwing too many pitches is death for a starter or a reliever. Future Hall of Famer Greg Maddux needed only 13.2 pitches per inning last year. Derek Lowe, John Lackey, Roy Oswalt, Brandon Webb and Cliff Lee each needed 15 or fewer pitches per inning. You can build a rotation around those five easily.

Overrated statistics

Quality starts:This may be the worst statistic of all time. Really, what is quality about having an ERA of 4.50? But according to the definition of a quality start (at least six innings pitched, three earned runs or less allowed), that’s all you need. Among the pitchers ranked in the top 50 in quality starts in 2008 were Nick Blackburn, Mike Pelfrey, Paul Maholm, Jeremy Guthrie, Kyle Lohse and John Lannan. Lannan, who tied for 16th in the majors with 21 quality starts, was 9-15 in 2008. Is that anyone’s definition of quality?

Complete games:This used to be a huge statistic, but with the emphasis on the bullpen, the complete game is going the way of the dinosaur. Ferguson Jenkins had 29 complete games for the Rangers in 1974. Since 1997, no Ranger has had more than four complete games. It’s not just a Rangers thing. Roy Halladay led the majors last year with nine complete games. In 1998, Curt Schilling led the way with 15. In 1988, Orel Hershiser had 15. In 1978, the leader had 28. It’s not that complete games aren’t nice and save a bullpen, it’s just that they aren’t necessary anymore.

Hold:You know how to tell if a statistic is lousy? When there’s no clear-cut definition. It’s not an official baseball statistic, but a hold is kind of like a poor-man’s save. A pitcher comes into the game in a save situation, records an out and leaves the game with his team still in the lead. That’s the STATS Inc. definition. According to another statistics service, an out doesn’t even need to be recorded. To tell you how much pitchers care about holds, Texas reliever Eddie Guardado didn’t even know he was among the league leaders in holds last year. When informed he was, Guardado wanted to know the definition. He’s not the only one.

Brewers 7, Rangers 4

SURPRISE, Ariz.— Anyone with any concerns about Texas first baseman Chris Davis can rest easy.

Davis hit his third home run in the last five games in the Rangers’ loss to Milwaukee on Friday night.

Davis went 3-for-4 and is hitting .292 for the spring.

"He kept getting at-bats and getting at-bats,"Rangers manager Ron Washington said."Now he’s getting locked in. The good thing is now he’s stopped chasing pitches in the dirt. He’s making them elevate the ball and that’s what he does when they elevate them in the wrong spot."

Rangers starter Kevin Millwood pitched six innings, giving up only four hits. But six runs scored, although only one was earned as two errors led to three runs in each of the first and fourth innings.

Reliever C.J. Wilson worked another hitless inning and has given up two hits in 6 1/3 innings this spring. Josh Rupe worked from the far right side of the rubber for the first time and gave up just a single in his inning. Derrick Turnbow, also competing for a bullpen spot, gave up one run, one hit and walked a batter in his inning.

— Anthony Andro

Former Rangers

Milwaukee Brewers manager Ned Yost , right, is ejected by home plate umpire Larry Vanover for arguing balls and strikes in the fourth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, May 15, 2007, in Philadelphia. Yost engaged in a heated exchange with Vanover after his first ejection of the season and 17th of his managerial career. " align="left" border="0">

For a rookie, Carlos Ruiz sure has the celebration part down perfect. Ruiz hit a solo homer with two outs in the ninth inning to lift the Philadelphia Phillies over the Milwaukee Brewers 4-3 on Tuesday night. Brett Myers allowed Johnny Estrada's tying solo homer in the ninth for his first blown save, but Ruiz connected off Derrick Turnbow (1-2) for his first career game-winning homer.