Pedro in 1999 sets the standard for any season by any pitcher. His BABIP "ruined" that season for what it could've looked like, but a 1.39 is "best closer in baseball" type of stuff.
Extending Chris Sale---what will it take?
- Thread starter RedOctober3829
- Start date
For some reason Fangraphs has ERA- instead of ERA+, but these are the seasons above Chris Sale:
1 2000 Pedro Martinez 35
2 1914 Dutch Leonard 36
3 1999 Pedro Martinez 42
4 1901 Cy Young 44
5 1990 Roger Clemens 47
6 2003 Pedro Martinez 48
7 2002 Pedro Martinez 50
8 1915 Joe Wood 52
9 1908 Cy Young 52
10 1939 Lefty Grove 53
11 2010 Clay Buchholz 54
12 1936 Lefty Grove 54
13 2017 Chris Sale 55
Of course, a third of them are Pedro. It is pretty hard to compare pre-WWII numbers, the stats of meaning are just completely different. But since then it's Pedro 4 times, Roger Clemens, and then, of course, Clay Buchholz. After that is actually a few more Clemens seasons sandwhiched around 2002 Derek Lowe. You can't even throw out the smaller sample thing for Lowe because he pitched 219 innings that year, unlike the 173 inning Buchholz season.
These are the top 15 post 1945 seasons (I cut it off there so you wouldn't have to be reminded of Dice-k):
1 2000 Pedro Martinez 35
2 1999 Pedro Martinez 42
3 1990 Roger Clemens 47
4 2003 Pedro Martinez 48
5 2002 Pedro Martinez 50
6 2010 Clay Buchholz 54
7 2017 Chris Sale 55
8 1994 Roger Clemens 57
9 2002 Derek Lowe 57
10 1986 Roger Clemens 57
11 1992 Roger Clemens 58
12 1972 Luis Tiant 59
13 1995 Tim Wakefield 61
14 1991 Roger Clemens 61
15 1998 Pedro Martinez 61
So clearly a lot of hall of famers and then some good pitchers who had amazing years end up on these two lists. I guess the key is doing it twice, and Sale already has an ERA- season of 56 under his belt (2014).
1 2000 Pedro Martinez 35
2 1914 Dutch Leonard 36
3 1999 Pedro Martinez 42
4 1901 Cy Young 44
5 1990 Roger Clemens 47
6 2003 Pedro Martinez 48
7 2002 Pedro Martinez 50
8 1915 Joe Wood 52
9 1908 Cy Young 52
10 1939 Lefty Grove 53
11 2010 Clay Buchholz 54
12 1936 Lefty Grove 54
13 2017 Chris Sale 55
Of course, a third of them are Pedro. It is pretty hard to compare pre-WWII numbers, the stats of meaning are just completely different. But since then it's Pedro 4 times, Roger Clemens, and then, of course, Clay Buchholz. After that is actually a few more Clemens seasons sandwhiched around 2002 Derek Lowe. You can't even throw out the smaller sample thing for Lowe because he pitched 219 innings that year, unlike the 173 inning Buchholz season.
These are the top 15 post 1945 seasons (I cut it off there so you wouldn't have to be reminded of Dice-k):
1 2000 Pedro Martinez 35
2 1999 Pedro Martinez 42
3 1990 Roger Clemens 47
4 2003 Pedro Martinez 48
5 2002 Pedro Martinez 50
6 2010 Clay Buchholz 54
7 2017 Chris Sale 55
8 1994 Roger Clemens 57
9 2002 Derek Lowe 57
10 1986 Roger Clemens 57
11 1992 Roger Clemens 58
12 1972 Luis Tiant 59
13 1995 Tim Wakefield 61
14 1991 Roger Clemens 61
15 1998 Pedro Martinez 61
So clearly a lot of hall of famers and then some good pitchers who had amazing years end up on these two lists. I guess the key is doing it twice, and Sale already has an ERA- season of 56 under his belt (2014).
Here is Dave Cameron's case for Sale to win the MVP.
http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/chris-sale-for-mvp/
http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/chris-sale-for-mvp/
I had not been paying much attention to Mike Trout this year, because I assumed the Angels were awful and I knew he was injured. I checked his stat line last night and was amazed. I think if he can keep that up(not 100%, but he is Mike Trout) and the Angels get a WC, he should win it, no question.
His line is .341/.468/.690 with 23 HRs in 74 games. The man continues to astound, year after year after year. And that Angels team is essentially just him and Andrelton Simmons. But 5.3 WAR in 74 games.
That line is like Manny Ramirez' 2000 season (118 games of .351/.457/.697), but from a guy who is a good defensive center fielder instead of a terrible defensive corner outfielder.
Wow.
Looking at Pedro's 1999 season game log. Mind boggling.
He had 30 starts that year. God hurt in mid-July. Of those 30 starts, in only 2 of them did he give up more than 3 runs. Two. That's it. One of them was 6 inning, 4 run game, and the other was the Blowup Game on July 18.
3.2 ip, 12 h, 9 r, 7 er, 0 bb, 3 k
That was the game where he probably got hurt, because he ended up not pitching again until August 3.
I know you can't do it, because it all counts, but if you take away that one crazy start, Pedro's final line is:
209.2 ip, 148 h, 47 r, 42 er, 37 bb, 310 k, 1.80 era, 0.88 whip, 13.3 k/9
Absolutely sick.
More of the same in 2000. Of his 29 starts, in just 2 did he give up more than three runs - a 6.2 ip, 4 er game against Toronto, and then the 2000 version of the Blowup Game, on Aug 24 against KC.
8.0 ip, 8 h, 6 r, 6 er, 0 bb, 6 k
Take that game away and his final stat line is:
209.0 ip, 120 h, 38 r, 36 er, 32 bb, 278 k, 1.55 era, 0.73 whip, 12.0 k/9
I mean...the guy wasn't human.
If you want a better counting style stat, we could do WAR:
1 1999 Pedro Martinez 11.6
2 2000 Pedro Martinez 9.4
3 1988 Roger Clemens 9.2
4 1991 Roger Clemens 8.5
5 1987 Roger Clemens 8.4
6 1990 Roger Clemens 8.2
7 1992 Roger Clemens 7.6
8 2017 Chris Sale 7.4
9 2003 Pedro Martinez 7.4
10 2002 Pedro Martinez 7.4
That puts Buchholz' 2010 at the #110 spot, and puts Sale's partially finished season at 8th best since 1945, and roughly on track for #2 behind Pedro's 1999. But with the ever-increasing K-rate and the F-WAR reliance on that stat for estimating value, pitcher WAR may be biased to more recent pitchers. At least at fangraphs. It's a nice list to see Sale on though, isn't it?
I never get tired of reading Pedro's stats. I was lucky enough to see him pitch one time...my first game ever at Fenway in 2000 against the Blue Jays. Of course it was this game and it was one of his rare losses, but regardless it was incredible seeing him live during his peak.
I got to see him two times.
The Sox lost 2-1 to Cleveland after Lowe gave up a run in the 9th. Pedro left after 8 with the score tied at 1.
The Sox lost in New York 2-1 as Pedro got out dueled by Mussina a couple of months before 9/11.
So two awesome performances. Two losses, both by a 2-1 score. Frustrating but still. So glad to have seen him in person.