The only Cubs news is that the team has brought back Kerry Wood on a 1-year deal. The contract includes a club option for $3 million in 2013. Since there’s not much to talk about regarding the Cubs, I thought I’d post the 10 best pitching seasons in my lifetime as measured by rWAR. I was born in 1974, but since I wasn’t a fan the day I was born I’m going with 1980 as the cutoff point.
10. Jose Rijo, 1993, 8.6 rWAR
Despite Rijo being a very good pitcher in the late 80s and early 90s, this season came out of nowhere. It’s kind of funny at this point to look back and see that his 257.1 innings didn’t even lead the league. His 227 strikeouts and 7.9 K/9 did. He made 36 starts and only completed 2 of them. His 2.48 ERA and 168 ERA+ was among the best in the league, but his 14-9 won-loss record prevented him from finishing higher than 5th in the Cy Young Award voting. The winner that year was Greg Maddux who was 2 rWAR worse than Rijo.
Side note: when I decided to look into this I had 5 seasons in mind. Only one of them wasn’t in the top top 10 so I’ll get to the others. Bret Saberhagen’s 1989 season did not appear in the top 10. It is ranked 11th with 8.6 rWAR so only marginally worse than Rijo and the next pitcher on the list.
9. Justin Verlander, 2011, 8.6 rWAR
I figured this one had to be in the top 10 and it was. Verlander threw a league high 251 innings. He allowed a league best 6.2 H/9 while also leading the league in strikeouts, ERA+ and WHIP. He allowed only .92 runners per 9 innings. He had nearly 200 more strikeouts than walks. He won the Cy Young Award and he also won the American League MVP. The Tigers signed him to a 5-year, $80 million contract that began in 2010. That’s quite a team friendly contract for someone as good as Verlander is.
8. Greg Maddux, 1995, 8.8 rWAR
Maddux doesn’t appear on the list higher than this and not again until 17th. In fact, he only has 3 of the 30 single seasons. Maddux was just consistent year in and year out and was exceptionally good. The 1995 season began late and Maddux made only 28 starts, but completed 10 of them (league high). He was also atop the leaderboard with 19 wins and he only lost twice. He allowed only 147 hits in 209 innings. He walked just 1 batter per 9 inning while striking out 7.9. Yes, His K/BB was 7.9. He had a league best .81 WHIP, 1.63 ERA and 262 ERA+. Despite Maddux not appearing higher on the list, his 1995 season ranks 2nd in ERA+. Desite the shortened seasons, Maddux was worth nearly 9 WAR. I remember going to a bar to watch Maddux pitch that season. I had a long day coming up so I was only going to stay until the game was over. That game lasted about an hour and a half. Despite Maddux’s dominance that night, that was not even the most dominating pitcher performance I watched at that bar. That would be this game.
7. Randy Johnson, 2002, 8.8 rWAR
If you’ve been a fan of this game for more than a decade you surely remember the insane strikeout totals the Big Unit was collecting from 1998 to 2002. 329. 364. 347. 372. 334. Do you remember Crash Davis in Bull Durham talking about the difference between .250 and .300? If not, here it is:
Know what the difference between hitting .250 and .300 is? It’s 25 hits. 25 hits in 500 at bats is 50 points, okay? There’s 6 months in a season, that’s about 25 weeks. That means if you get just one extra flare a week – just one – a gorp… you get a groundball, you get a groundball with eyes… you get a dying quail, just one more dying quail a week… and you’re in Yankee Stadium. — Crash Davis
The difference between RJ’s 372 strikeouts in 2001 and 400 freaking strikeouts is basically one per week. One more strikeout per week. One more called strike. One more foul tip catch. One more swing and miss. One more time the batter can’t pull the trigger.
The thing is, it’s not even the 2001 season that I most remember other than their World Championship. The 2002 season is the one that makes the list and it’s the one I immediately thought of when I thought about writing this. He was atop the leaderboard in wins with 25, a winning percentage of .828, ERA of 2.32 right smack in the middle of an offensive explosion around him, 8 complete games, 260 innings pitched, 334 strikeouts, 1035 batters faced, 197 ERA+ and a K/9 of 11.6, which was less than previous years. It’s mindboggling how fucking good Randy Johnson was over these 5 years, but especially this one. Remember when I said that Verlander nearly had 200 more strikeouts this past season than walks? In 2002 RJ more than 270 strikeouts more than walks. The year before he actually had 301 more strikeouts than walks. Unbelievable.
6. Zack Greinke, 2009, 9.0 rWAR
This one was so recent that I don’t think anybody could forget. I remembered this season for the same reason I remembered Verlander’s 2011. It was just too recent. And not as awesome as I thought. Unlike many of the others on the list, Greinke didn’t lead the league in nearly as many categories on Baseball Reference. He did in WAR, ERA and ERA+. While he struckout an impressive 9.5 per 9 and walked just 2, neither were league bests. His 1.07 WHIP was. Perhaps most impressive is that he was 16-8 on a very bad Royals team. Probably the most important metric that Greinke excelled at was getting people to attend Royals games. I saw a few of his starts that year and the place was packed.
5. Steve Carlton, 1980, 9.4 rWAR
I don’t remember much about this season. Carlton did lead the league in starts, wins, IP, strikeouts, ERA+ and wild pitches. The best season in Carlton’s Hall of Fame career was one of the best pitching seasons ever. He was worth 12.2 rWAR in 1972 at the age of 27. Only Walter Johnson’s 1913 season was more valuable (12.4 rWAR). Carlton was interesting player. He won 4 Cy Young Awards, had 2 tremendous seasons, but a lot of very good seasons for the most part. He went from 4.6 and 4.3 rWAR to 12.2. He then went to 2.3, 4.5, and 2.3. He rebounded a bit to 3.7 and 5.8 the following 2 years, but then dropped to 2.8 and 2.6 before his 9.4 rWAR season.
4. Roger Clemens, 1990, 9.5 rWAR
In 1986 Clemens had won the Cy Young Award and MVP. He nearly did it again in 1990 though he didn’t take home either award. He finished 2nd in Cy voting and 3rd in MVP. Rather than award the best pitcher that season by far, Bob Welch and his 27-6 record took the award. Welch was worth only 2.5 rWAR. Off the top of my head I can only think of the 1990 Cy Young Award winner being more of an joke than Andre Dawson winning the award in 1987. In 1990 Clemen’s 1.93 ERA and 4 shutouts led the league. His ERA+ was 213, he struckout 3.87 batters per walk and allowed only 7 home runs in 228 innings.
3. Pedro Martinez, 2000, 10.1 rWAR
American League teams scored 5.3 runs per game in 2000. The league hit .276/.349/.443. That’s close to an .800 OPS. Pedro allowed 2.32 runs per 9 that year. His ERA 1.74 in a league where the ERA over 4.9. Batters hit just .167/.213/.259 against Pedro in 2000. I think there are a lot of fans who do not realize how unbelievably good Pedro was in his prime. He wasn’t just great. He was very good compared to great pitchers. Brad Radke was 2nd in the AL in rWAR that year. He had 5.6. Randy Johnson was best in the NL. He had 7.6. Pedro was a full 2.5 wins better than the second best pitcher in all of baseball. He was nearly 5 full wins better than the second best pitcher in the American League. His ERA+ was 291. His WHIP was .737. He allowed only 5.3 hits per 9. FIVE POINT THREE! He struckout 11.8 per 9 and walked just 1.3. His 8.88 K/BB obviously lead the world.
There has never been a better pitcher than Pedro Martinez was from 1997-2003. His peak is the best ever. He was the most exciting pitcher to watch. He didn’t walk anybody. He struck everybody out. Nobody could hit him. He was posting ERAs that would have been very good in a low scoring environment and it teams were scoring 5 runs per game. If you didn’t get to enjoy Pedro during these years it’s unfortunate because I don’t believe you’ll ever see a pitcher more dominant than he was the rest of your life.
To think that two of the best 5 to 6 year stretches by a pitcher in baseball history both took place at the same time is amazing. Fans got to witness some of the best offense they’d ever seen and if you paid attention they could also see some of the best pitching they’ll ever see in their lives. Between RJ’s insane strikeout totals and Pedro just complete and total domination of Major League hitters it was a blast. Add in the home runs by Sosa, McGwire, Bonds and others and baseball had never been more fun than it was during those years. Next time you’re watching a ballgame just think to yourself that you’ve already witness the best offensive and pitching seasons you’ll witness in your life. It’s fucking depressing.
2. Roger Clemens, 1997, 10.3 rWAR
Who can forget Roger Clemens in a Blue Jays uniform? It just didn’t look right. It never did. I remember thinking in his first season with the Blue Jays (1997) that it almost looked as if he’d been sent to the minor leagues. I’m sure I was thinking the same thing that Red Sox fans were all throughout that 1997 season: why did the Red Sox let Clemens leave? Clemens led the league in wins, ERA, complete games, shutouts, IP, strikeouts, ERA+, and WHIP.
1. Dwight Gooden, 1985, 11.7 rWAR
Gooden’s 1985 season was 1.4 rWAR better than the second best season since 1980. I don’t know how many of you were fans at the time, but if you were, you were Dr. K fans. I knew this would be the best season when I started this. It had to be. Dwight Gooden was the best pitcher I ever saw in my life. When Doc was on, he was unhittable, which made what Tuffy Rhodes accomplished against him that much more special. 1986 was only Gooden’s second in the big leagues. He was only 20 years old and despite his age he would throw a league leading 276 innings. He also led the league in wins, complete games, ERA, strikeouts and ERA+. Between the ages of 19 and 21 Gooden threw nearly 750 innings. It’s no wonder his arm fell off and he was never the same. That’s too bad because I’m pretty sure he’d have gone on to become the best pitcher in baseball history.
Comments
I think Greinke’s season is as awesome as I’ve thought. It’s one of the few times in history (first since the Pedro season above) wherea pitcher posted IP, Ks, and an ERA+ over 200. Which is arbitrary to a point, but still…
MishQuote Reply
@
Snyds01 22Quote Reply
Ummm, you didn’t credit Paul Sullivan for your use of numbers. Thief.
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
I’m surprised that Pedro is only on here once.
BerseliusQuote Reply
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
Those were some seasons I recently enjoyed.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Justified premiers Tuesday. Wha, what.
Rodrigo RamirezQuote Reply
[quote name=@Cubsessed]Dempster: “The Cardinals just signed Koyie Hill. So we just got better.”[/quote]
(dying laughing)
Aisle424Quote Reply
[quote name=Rodrigo Ramirez]Justified premiers Tuesday. Wha, what.[/quote]looking forward to that.
mb21Quote Reply
[quote name=Berselius]I’m surprised that Pedro is only on here once.[/quote]He just missed being on it with his 1997 and 1999 seasons, but he had trouble staying healthy so he didn’t get the playing time others did.
mb21Quote Reply
Dempster really said that? That sounds… harsh.
ACTQuote Reply
[quote name=ACT]Dempster really said that? That sounds… harsh.[/quote]I have trouble believing he said that. I suppose there could have been issues between the two of them that we don’t know, but even then I have a hard time believing Dempster said that. I hope he didn’t. There’s no reason to take shots at parting players. I hate that shit.
mb21Quote Reply
Dempster and Hill and ate close friends. I guarantee he was kidding around.
Rodrigo RamirezQuote Reply
[quote name=Rodrigo Ramirez]Dempster and Hill and ate close friends. I guarantee he was kidding around.[/quote]Do they like those friends with fava beans?
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Dale Sveum said Barney or Campana will be leading off. Did Sveum just look at the projections and pick the two worst hitters on the roster?
mb21Quote Reply
[quote name=mb21]Dale Sveum said Barney or Campana will be leading off. Did Sveum just look at the projections and pick the two worst hitters on the roster?[/quote]Might be an answer to appease the meatheads. I think the front office might frown on those choices.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
[quote name=mb21]Dale Sveum said Barney or Campana will be leading off. Did Sveum just look at the projections and pick the two worst hitters on the roster?[/quote]Why did they fire Quade again?
ACTQuote Reply
[quote name=mb21]Dale Sveum said Barney or Campana will be leading off. Did Sveum just look at the projections and pick the two worst hitters on the roster?[/quote]
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
From Carrie Muskat:
DeJesus I could see (against RHP’s only).
ACTQuote Reply
But it’s not like the Cubs have some awesome OBP machine on their team.
mb21Quote Reply
[quote name=ACT]From Carrie Muskat:DeJesus I could see (against RHP’s only).[/quote]I was going off of what Aisle424 said. Lying bastard!
mb21Quote Reply
[quote name=ACT]Why did they fire Quade again?[/quote]www.whydidthecubsfiremikequade.com
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
[quote name=ACT]From Carrie Muskat:DeJesus I could see (against RHP’s only).[/quote]Reed Johnson vs lefties?
mb21Quote Reply
In this lost season I would give Campana a full year. Even if he sucks at hitting he is fun to watch. Plus I think he could be a Juan Pierre type (and Pierre used to be valuable)
dylanjQuote Reply
but now im must turn to the 49er game.
dylanjQuote Reply
DeJesus’s CAIRO wOBA vs righties is .345, Reed’s vs lefties is .348.
mb21Quote Reply
[quote name=dylanj]In this lost season I would give Campana a full year. Even if he sucks at hitting he is fun to watch. Plus I think he could be a Juan (dying laughing) type (and (dying laughing) used to be valuable)[/quote]Yeah, I don’t really care if they put Alfredo Amezaga there for 750 plate appearances.
mb21Quote Reply
[quote name=dylanj]In this lost season I would give Campana a full year. Even if he sucks at hitting he is fun to watch. Plus I think he could be a Juan (dying laughing) type (and (dying laughing) used to be valuable)[/quote]Campana makes a lot more outs than Pierre did, and Pierre made a shitton of outs.
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
[quote name=dylanj]but now im must turn to the 49er game.[/quote]You mean the contest to see who plays against God and all the heavenly host in the SB?
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
DeJesus has best projected wOBA vs righties and Reed is behind Soto (.359) and Castro (.351) vs lefties.
mb21Quote Reply
Pierre is also physically capable of hitting a flyball over an outfield fence (he’s even done it a few times).
ACTQuote Reply
well campana is fun to watch. Which is more than I can say for Byrd or Soriano. Let him play just to entertain me
dylanjQuote Reply
I also don’t buy that Campana is fun to watch. Pujols is fun to watch. A-Rod is fun to watch. Halladay is fun to watch. I derive no joy from a slap-hitting guy with poor plate discipline who is very, very fast and not much else.
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
[quote name=ACT](dying laughing) is also physically capable of hitting a flyball over an outfield fence (he’s even done it a few times).[/quote]Yeah, Juan Pierre was valuable for awhile. Campana is probably a 5th outfielder at best, but this team has to field 3 of them each day.
mb21Quote Reply
[quote name=dylanj]well campana is fun to watch. Which is more than I can say for Byrd or Soriano. Let him play just to entertain me[/quote]He’s fun to watch in part because he was used as a pinch runner so many times last year. How much fun would it be to watch a speedy guy with a .270 OBP? I love watching the guy run, but there are videos of him doing that.
mb21Quote Reply
[quote name=mb21]DeJesus has best projected wOBA vs righties and Reed is behind Soto (.359) and Castro (.351) vs lefties.[/quote]On this club, as shite as this roster is, a Reed/DeJesus lead off platoon is prob the best option.
Holy shit I can’t believe i just wrote that. This team sucks.
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
Despite that, I don’t really care if Campana plays or not. I’m far from convinced that he’s not better than Soriano.
mb21Quote Reply
[quote name=dylanj]well campana is fun to watch. Which is more than I can say for Byrd or Soriano. Let him play just to entertain me[/quote]It’s fun watching him on the basepaths. On the field, at the plate, much less so.
ACTQuote Reply
[quote name=Mercurial Outfielder]On this club, as shite as this roster is, a Reed/DeJesus lead off platoon is prob the best option.
Holy shit I can’t believe i just wrote that. This team sucks.[/quote]It’s the year of the platoon!
mb21Quote Reply
[quote name=mb21]He’s fun to watch in part because he was used as a pinch runner so many times last year. How much fun would it be to watch a speedy guy with a .270 OBP? I love watching the guy run, but there are videos of him doing that.[/quote]Exactly. Watching a guy sprint to 1B after he’s tapped out to 2B for the 4th time in the game isn’t fun.
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
I had forgotten, but CAIRO has no Cubs hitter with a projected wOBA higher than .337 (Soto and LaHair). Next is DeJesus (.334) and Castro (.332).
mb21Quote Reply
I like the part where you are all (dying laughing) about Juan Pierre.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
[quote name=mb21]Despite that, I don’t really care if Campana plays or not. I’m far from convinced that he’s not better than Soriano.[/quote]Yeah it doesn’t matter who plays until Jackson comes up. This team is terrible and playing Campana every day isn’t going to change that.
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
[quote name=Mercurial Outfielder]Exactly. Watching a guy sprint to 1B after he’s tapped out to 2B for the 4th time in the game isn’t fun.[/quote]
but its fun to see if he can beat the throw.
dylanjQuote Reply
Plus Campana has something you cant teach which is elite speed. If they can coach how to bunt, how to have better pitch selection then you can have a productive player especially before he hits arbitration. I want to see what the coaches can do with the kid
dylanjQuote Reply
[quote name=Rice Cube]I like the part where you are all (dying laughing) about Juan (dying laughing).[/quote]I don’t remember when we did it, but it’s done automatically when you type Pierre. (Pi-erre)
mb21Quote Reply
[quote name=mb21]I don’t remember when we did it, but it’s done automatically when you type (dying laughing). (Pi-erre)[/quote]
Oh I know. Amuses me that it’s lasted so long.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
[quote name=dylanj]Plus Campana has something you cant teach which is elite speed. If they can coach how to bunt, how to have better pitch selection then you can have a productive player especially before he hits arbitration. I want to see what the coaches can do with the kid[/quote]He’s got 1300 MiLB PA. I’m pretty sure he’s as coached up as he can be. He’s really, really fast, but he plays mediocre defense and he can’t hit at all. He’s just a guy.
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
[quote name=dylanj]Plus Campana has something you cant teach which is elite speed. If they can coach how to bunt, how to have better pitch selection then you can have a productive player especially before he hits arbitration. I want to see what the coaches can do with the kid[/quote]If they can turn Campana into a productive player the coaching staff should immediately join the Hall of Fame. Campana is what he is. He sucks at getting on base, but when he does he’s going to end up at 3rd. He has no power whatsoever. If they brought the fence in 50 feet I bet he still would hit 0 home runs. Bringing in the fence might actually make it less likely he’d hit a home run since getting an inside the parker would be next to impossible. Scouts have loved his defense, but it was awful last year.
I don’t want the Cubs playing players because they excite me. Carlos Zambrano was an exciting batter, but if they tried to play him every day it would have been atrocious.
mb21Quote Reply
[quote name=Rice Cube]Oh I know. Amuses me that it’s lasted so long.[/quote]I had completely forgotten When did it start? You remember?
mb21Quote Reply
his minor league #’s dont suck. He hits for high average and decent OBP
dylanjQuote Reply
[quote name=Mercurial Outfielder]On this club, as shite as this roster is, a Reed/DeJesus lead off platoon is prob the best option.
Holy shit I can’t believe i just wrote that. This team sucks.[/quote]I honestly don’t think that would be bad production for the leadoff spot. It may even be above average. And Castro is a good no. 2 hitter. After that, though…
ACTQuote Reply
And I’m sure he is nothing more than a 5th OF and a PR but fuck it, I like watching the kid.
dylanjQuote Reply
[quote name=dylanj]his minor league #’s dont suck. He hits for high average and decent OBP[/quote]Agreed, but his walk rate dropped a bit as expected and his strikeout rate increased a bit. Also expected. His BABIP also declined as expected. UZR has him worth 11 runs fielding so if that’s accurate then yeah, play him every day in CF. But he’s not going to get playing time because he can hit.
mb21Quote Reply
[quote name=dylanj]his minor league #’s dont suck. He hits for high average and decent OBP[/quote]203 K, 98 BB. In 1300 PA. He’d never post an OBP north of .310-.320 at the MLB level. Campana needs to make a lot of contact to succeed and he doesn’t.
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
[quote name=ACT]I honestly don’t think that would be bad production for the leadoff spot. It may even be above average. And Castro is a good no. 2 hitter. After that, though…[/quote]Yeah, I think a .347ish wOBA out of that spot would be above average, no doubt. Where the Cubs run into problems is below average production in the middle of the order.
mb21Quote Reply
[quote name=mb21]Agreed, but his walk rate dropped a bit as expected and his strikeout rate increased a bit. Also expected. His BABIP also declined as expected. UZR has him worth 11 runs fielding so if that’s accurate then yeah, play him every day in CF. But he’s not going to get playing time because he can hit.[/quote]11 runs? How? I thought he looked pretty ordinary out there, especially for a guy with his speed.
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2012/01/tigers-say-reported-interest-in-garza-is-overstated.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
It would have been nonsense if the Tigers traded Turner to the Cubs for Garza. That never made sense to me.
mb21Quote Reply
Campana’s FSR is funny. Speed: 87. Arm strength: 5.
ACTQuote Reply
[quote name=Mercurial Outfielder]11 runs? How? I thought he looked pretty ordinary out there, especially for a guy with his speed.[/quote]I’m sure he ran down balls all over the place. Speed is speed. He can undoubtedly cover more ground than the average player and that’s going to increase his numbers. His arm sucks. Total Zone had him worth 1 run and DRS had him worth 9. So yeah, he’s a quality fielder at a premium position. In all honesty, I wouldn’t mind the Cubs move Byrd to LF and put Campana in CF. It’s a lost season and I am pretty sure that at the very least Campana is as good as Soriano. He’s not as good as Byrd so I don’t want him playing over Byrd.
mb21Quote Reply
FRAA doesn’t see him as anything special.
ACTQuote Reply
10.1 runs of the 10.8 UZR are from range. It actually has him above average in arm, but I wonder if range is somehow factored into that in some way. For example, Campana can get to a ball in the gap a lot faster than Byrd was so he’d give up fewer bases. To me, that’s range. I don’t know how arm is calculated.
mb21Quote Reply
[quote name=ACT]FRAA doesn’t see him as anything special.[/quote]2 think he’s ridiculously good and 2 about average. The average of the 4 is about 5 runs and that’s in just 300 innings. Obviously he’s not 25 runs good on defense, but based on what the scouts have said I think it’s reasonable to think he’s +10 fielding over a full season.
mb21Quote Reply
It might not be a bad idea to have Campana lead off when you’re playing teams with a bad infield defense.
mb21Quote Reply
new shit: http://obstructedview.net/chicago-cubs/articles/cubs-to-add-70-foot-led-board-to-wrigley.html
mb21Quote Reply