As we are a good 35 games into Season 7 it was time to reflect on who is the greatest pitcher in our league history.
I don't think anybody would argue who is No. 1 as Danny Cummings has won 131 games with a a career 2.10 ERA and five Cy Young awards, but who is No. 2 or 3 or 4?
It's like arguing who is the greatest quarterback in NFL history ... everybody has a different way they analyze the numbers or what is most important to them, and while this won't end any debates, this is one man's opinion based on a stastically formula.
The most important categories are listed below -- Wins, complete games, strikeouts, ERA, WHIP, All-Star Games and Cy Youngs, each having a different weight.
Obviously winning awards and wins had the most weight of any category, while points were also awarded for WHIP and ERA -- the two most important stat-based number for pitchers. If your pitcher allows only 2 runs a game and only 1 baserunner per inning, every team in baseball would want that guy.
Complete games and strikeouts had the lowest point totals assigned to them. One can argue they are worthless, but if a pitcher can pitch an entire game, that's less need for a bullpen. Strikeouts keep the ball out of play of a crappy fielding team.
With a runner on third in a tie game with one out, would you want your pitching getting a strikeout or allowing a ball to go through the SS legs or a sac fly to get the run home? So Ks and CGs are taken into account, but by a very small amount (multiplied by .005, lowest of the categories).
| Player (Age) | W-L | CG | Ks | ERA | WHIP | AS | C.Y. | PTS |
| D. Cummings (32) | 131-30 | 44 | 1,599 | 2.10 | 1.01 | 6 | 5 | 75.295 |
| W. Stratton (32) | 100-51 | 37 | 1,321 | 2.80 | 1.11 | 4 | 2 | 45.455 |
| D. Hunter (35) | 111-52 | 25 | 1,179 | 2.31 | 1.01 | 3 | 1 | 40.245 |
| H. Hendrickson (33) | 107-61 | 36 | 1,343 | 3.78 | 1.28 | 5 | 1 | 40.215 |
| F. Matsui (32) | 94-45 | 3 | 1,140 | 2.83 | 1.07 | 2 | 1 | 32.250 |
| T. Cordero (27) | 89-41 | 6 | 1,097 | 3.15 | 1.15 | 4 | 0 | 30.685 |
| R. Hall (33) | 104-41 | 0 | 871 | 2.94 | 1.10 | 3 | 0 | 28.755 |
| E. Miller (27) | 75-24 | 1 | 761 | 2.96 | 1.12 | 4 | 0 | 28.355 |
| K. Service (35) | 101-52 | 5 | 1,026 | 3.37 | 1.17 | 3 | 0 | 27.480 |
| G. Bennett (34) | 99-59 | 44 | 1,203 | 3.67 | 1.28 | 2 | 0 | 25.115 |
Wins were counted as a tenth of the total. Example -- Cummings 131 wins were 13.1 points. ERA = 6 pts for ERA between 2.00-2.25; 5 pts for ERA 2.26 = 2.50; 4 pts for 2.51-2.75; 3 pts for 2.76-3.00; 2 pts for 3.00-3.25; 1 pt for 3.26-3.50. 0 pts for anything above 3.51. WHIP = 3 pts for WHIP between 1.00-1.09; 2 pts for 1.10-1.19; 1 pt for 1.20-1.29; 0 pts for 1.30 and above. Awards = 5 for Cy Young; 3 for All-Star (This are close to what baseball-reference.com uses to determine how good MLB pitchers are).
Obviously age plays a factor too, because the older a player is, the longer he has played and racked up wins, all-star games, strikeouts, etc. But for now this is a career comparison. We could always break the total point number by the numbers of years they played to get an average.
Some might say Hunter should be No. 2, but he was edged out because of less strikeouts, less all-star games and less Cy Youngs.
Harry Hendrickson is the only player in the Top 10 with an ERA above 3.70. He is third all time in wins, strikeouts and does have five all-star games. Just don't look at his season so far this year. Remember, this isn't the best pitcher in Season 7, its the best pitcher over the past seven seasons.
Despite Frank Matsui's bad year last year, he still has had an excellent career with a 94-45 record, ERA under 3.00, second-lowest career WHIP and a Cy Young award.
Look at the youngsters making the list -- Tony Cordero and Ebenezer Miller. Assuming these guys average 12 wins over the next 5 years, they could have more wins than Cummings had at 32 years old. Two stars to definitely watch.
As for the great Don Lee -- he had only 20.510 points. At 35, he has only 82 wins, 862 striketous and just one all-star game. The ERA and WHIP are very good, but the other numbers hurt him compared to the others. He has worse stats than almost everybody in the Top 10. Two other players that just missed out -- Socks Ferrell (24.195 points) and Al Corenjo (24.045 points).
No comments:
Post a Comment