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The MLB Pitching Leaders in Wins: What to Make of Them?

Monday July 9th, 2012

Bernie Olshansky: With more than half of the season over, we’ve seen a lot of surprises when it comes to pitching. Some have pitched unbelievably well and are rewarded for it, some haven’t pitched as well and have been lucky, and some aren’t so lucky. Although it might be wrong to spotlight pitchers on the night of a hitting showcase, here’s a list of pitchers (some lucky and some not) who are atop the majors in wins.

Eight Wins: To name a few: Ubaldo Jimenez, Clay Buchholz, Ricky Romero, Jason Vargas. I would think it’s safe to say these guys are getting really, really lucky. Taking a look at these ERAs, Jimenez has a 4.50, Buchholz has a 5.53, Romero has a 5.22, and Vargas has a 4.07. Not to mention, Buchholz has only two losses. Looking purely at wins and losses, he’s a legitimate Cy Young candidate. Obviously wins don’t tell the whole story. Luck plays a huge part in each of these win-loss records. The Indians average 4.52 runs per game, so that explains why Ubaldo wins. The Red Sox and Blue Jays never have a problem producing runs either. But the Mariners? Although he’s been lucky, Vargas has also had seven losses, so for almost every time the Mariners have scored for him, they’ve also failed to score for him.

Nine Wins: C.J. Wilson, Stephen Strasburg, Matt Cain—among others. With a 2.43 ERA, Wilson deserves all the wins he has. The Angels provide a strong offense that produces enough runs to give CJ his wins. Strasburg, too, has a 2.82 ERA to explain his high number of wins. The Nationals weren’t a early season team to put up big numbers in the offensive department in the early part of the season, but Adam LaRoche and Bryce Harper have helped to carry the team. In his career with the Giants, Matt Cain has never gotten the run support he deserves. This year he has finally gotten it and it has shown. Cain earned the starting spot in the All Star Game and will definitely be a Cy Young candidate. Read the rest of this entry →

Posted in MLB Player Profiles, Players: Fantasy Baseball Articles

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Tags: 20 wins, all-star game, baseball, cliff lee, cy young, giants, gio gonzalez, matt cain, mets, mlb, nationals, pitching, ra dickey, ricky romero, tim lincecum, ubaldo jimenez, wins

Ask the Reports: ATR Answers Your Baseball Questions – April 15th, 2012

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Sunday April 15th, 2012

Jonathan Hacohen: Posted every Weekend: Your top baseball questions from the past week are answered. E-mail all questions to mlbreports@me.com, message us on Twitter and post on our Facebook Wall!

Let’s get to your top questions of the week: (there are MANY great ones this week…better jump right in!)

Q: How many triple plays were turned last year? Wayne

MLB reports: Nice way to start off ATR Wayne. Four. Can you believe it? Four triple plays turned last year. Three in 2010, five in 2009, two in 2008 and four in 2007. Surprised? Me too. I thought they were more rare! Last year’s triple plays took place as follows:

(1) Indians turned a 3P against the White Sox on April 3rd

(2) Brewers turned a 3p against the Dodgers on August 15th

(3) Red Sox turned a 3p against the Rays in the 2nd game of a DH on August 16th (a day later!)

(4) The miracle Rays came back on September 27th to turn their own 3p against the Yankees.

Q: Is it worth picking up Aroldis Chapman as a third reliever?!? William

MLB reports: Without a doubt. Yes. Are you kidding me? Grab him. Right now. Don’t wait. Now. Right now! As you can tell, I am high on Chapman. Long term, I see him as a starter. But for now, he is a reliever. I see him having some great save opportunities this year. Madson is done for the year. A ton of money is invested in Chapman and he has been nothing short of brilliant this season. In 4 games he has a 0.00 ERA. 11 strikeouts. 0 walks in 6 innings. Yes. As a third relieve, you cannot go wrong with Chapman. He has already vultured 2 wins. He can help you in so many ways. There will be ups-and-downs this year with Chapman, no doubts. But with pitchers around baseball dropping like flies, when you have a talented pitcher with huge upside, make sure he can find his way onto your team. (more…)