Friday, November 29, 2019

Top MLB Pitchers?

Sometimes I get sucked into checking out clickbait lists just to see how messed up they are, or to see how a favorite player is ranked. I’m rarely disappointed. 
 
Sportschew.com ranked the top 21 MLB pitchers of all time. What a train wreck. The top ranked pitcher took steroids. Number two only had 219 wins, and was not named Koufax. Warren Spahn wins 366 games and only merits 16th place. At least two 300 game winners were left off the list while five with lower WARs and half the wins did made the list.  
 
Cy Young’s records for most wins, complete games, innings, and earned runs will never be broken, yet this list only places him fifth. Maddux broke Cy’s record for most consecutive seasons with 15 or more wins, and placed third behind a guy with 136 less wins. 136 is eight fewer wins than #13 Clayton Kershaw has in his career. And sorry, Kershaw is in the twilight of his career, due to injuries.  
 
This list is so bad that they left off number 15. Perhaps that was supposed to be Niekro or Glavine. Also left off Gibson’s stats. I’ve added Wins Above Replacement below, which only makes the list all the more hilarious. Chop on.
 
#...W…..L……K.…ERA.WHIP.WAR
1. 354 184 4672 3.12 1.17 139.2 Roger Clemens
2. 219 100 3154 2.93 1.05 083.9 Pedro Martinez
3. 355 227 3371 3.16 1.14 106.6 Greg Maddux
4. 303 166 4875 3.29 1.17 101.1 Randy Johnson
5. 511 316 2803 2.63 1.13 163.6 Cy Young
6. 417 279 3509 2.17 1.06 164.3 Walter Johnson
7. 324 292 5714 3.19 1.25 081.2 Nolan Ryan
8. 316 205 3640 2.86 1.12 109.9 Tom Seaver
9. 329 244 4136 3.22 1.25 090.2 Steve Carlton
10. 165 087 2396 2.76 1.11 048.9 Sandy Koufax
11. 373 188 2507 2.13 1.06 103.9 Christy Mathewson
12. 251 174 3117 2.91 1.19 089.1 Bob Gibson
13. 144 064 2120 2.36 1.00 068.0 Clayton Kershaw
14. 300 141 2266 3.06 1.28 107.0 Lefty Grove
16. 363 245 2583 3.09 1.20 099.7 Warren Spahn
17. 314 265 3534 3.11 1.18 090.0 Gaylord Perry
18. 287 250 3701 3.31 1.20 094.4 Bert Blyleven
19. 216 146 3116 3.46 1.14 079.5 Curt Schilling
20. 213 155 3084 3.33 1.18 069.0 John Smoltz (plus 154 saves)
21. 203 105 2117 3.38 1.18 064.3 Roy Halladay
 
00. 318 274 3342 3.35 1.26 095.9 Phil Niekro
00. 305 203 2607 3.54 1.31 080.7 Tom Glavine
 
 

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