Friday, June 05, 2020

Top 5 Braves Left-Handed Starting Pitchers

Beatwriter Mark Bowman’s top five Braves lefthanded pitchers.
 
1 Tom Glavine 1987-2002 & 2008 accounted for 12 of the 22 postseason wins earned by a Braves left-hander while pitching as a starter.  Won two Cy Youngs, 3.15 ERA, and a 134 ERA+ from 1991-2002.
 
WAR INN wins
91.9 5046 363 WS
58.6 3408 305 TG
 
Had Glavine matched Spahn’s innings his WAR would’ve been a comparable 86.8. But adjusted ERA (ERA+) normalizes a player’s ERA while using external factors like ballpark and opponent, where 100 is the league average and anything higher is above average. Glaine had 8 seasons with a 130 ERA+ or better, while Spahn only had three. Glavine had 5 seasons greater than 140 and Spahn just two.
2. Warren Spahn 1942-1964 won more games than any lefthander in history (363) and might’ve won 400 games had he not missed four seasons serving in WWII. From 47-63 Spahn’s 91.8 WAR bested second place Robin Roberts’ 77.0.
3. Steve Avery 1990-1996 was just 21 when he threw 16-1/3 scoreless innings over two starts in the 1991 NLCS over the Pirates.
4. Charlie Leibrandt 1990-1992 teamed with Glavine and Avery in 1991 to become the first trio of lefties with a least 15 wins in a season.
5. Denny Neagle 1996-1998 finished third in the 1997 Cy Young voting behind Pedro Martinez and Greg Maddux.
 
HM: Max Fried (below)
 
Too chilly to go barefoot today so I donned my old silver Nike Kryptos (I just made up that name). Please excuse my ugly ankles, I had to snap the photo quick with you know who in the background.

No comments: