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Earlier today, we took a look at why the pitching "win" stat has become all but obsolete. This post is a little more positive about pitching "wins." It takes a look at those St. Louis Cardinals starting pitchers who most deserved the pitching "win" they were awarded in the box score for a start. To do so, we're going to use the Game Score stat developed my Bill James.
Baseball-Reference explains how Game Score is calculated as follows:
- Start with 50 points.
- Add 1 point for each out recorded; or, 3 points per inning pitched.
- Add 2 points for each inning completed after the 4th.
- Add 1 point for each strikeout.
- Subtract 2 points for each hit allowed.
- Subtract 4 points for each earned run allowed.
- Subtract 2 points for each unearned run allowed.
- Subtract 1 point for each walk issued.
|
Rank |
SP |
Date |
Opp. |
GSc |
IP |
R |
ER |
SO |
BB |
HBP |
H |
HR |
ERA |
FIP |
|
1 |
Miller |
5/10 |
COL |
98 |
9.0 |
0 |
0 |
13 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0.00 |
0.16 |
|
2 |
Wainwright |
4/13 |
MIL |
91 |
9.0 |
0 |
0 |
12 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
0.00 |
0.38 |
|
3 |
Wainwright |
5/11 |
COL |
89 |
9.0 |
0 |
0 |
7 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0.00 |
1.83 |
|
|
Wacha |
9/24 |
WAS |
89 |
8.2 |
0 |
0 |
9 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0.00 |
1.66 |
|
5 |
Miller |
4/12 |
MIL |
83 |
7.0 |
0 |
0 |
8 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0.00 |
1.19 |
|
6 |
Wainwright |
4/23 |
WAS |
81 |
8.1 |
0 |
0 |
9 |
1 |
0 |
5 |
0 |
0.00 |
1.25 |
|
7 |
Wainwright |
8/23 |
ATL |
80 |
9.0 |
1 |
1 |
9 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
0 |
1.00 |
1.05 |
|
|
Lynn |
4/20 |
PHI |
80 |
7.0 |
0 |
0 |
8 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0.00 |
2.05 |
|
9 |
Wainwright |
6/29 |
OAK |
79 |
9.0 |
1 |
1 |
8 |
2 |
0 |
5 |
0 |
1.00 |
1.94 |
|
|
Wainwright |
9/7 |
PIT |
79 |
7.0 |
0 |
0 |
8 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0.00 |
1.62 |
|
11 |
Wainwright |
6/1 |
SFG |
77 |
9.0 |
1 |
1 |
10 |
0 |
0 |
8 |
0 |
1.00 |
0.83 |
|
12 |
Lynn |
5/24 |
LAD |
76 |
6.0 |
0 |
0 |
9 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0.00 |
0.55 |
|
|
Westbrook |
4/10 |
CIN |
76 |
9.0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
4 |
0 |
5 |
0 |
0.00 |
4.05 |
|
14 |
Lynn |
8/4 |
CIN |
75 |
8.0 |
2 |
2 |
11 |
2 |
0 |
4 |
1 |
2.25 |
2.67 |
|
|
Lynn |
4/26 |
PIT |
75 |
7.0 |
1 |
1 |
9 |
3 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
1.29 |
2.62 |
|
|
Wacha |
5/30 |
KCR |
75 |
7.0 |
1 |
1 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
1.29 |
1.33 |
|
17 |
Wainwright |
6/13 |
NYM |
73 |
7.0 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
2 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
0.00 |
2.19 |
|
|
Wainwright |
8/18 |
CHC |
73 |
7.0 |
1 |
1 |
11 |
1 |
0 |
5 |
0 |
1.29 |
0.33 |
|
|
Miller |
8/24 |
ATL |
73 |
7.0 |
1 |
1 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
1.29 |
3.19 |
|
|
Lynn |
9/27 |
CHC |
73 |
6.0 |
0 |
0 |
9 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
0 |
0.00 |
0.55 |
|
|
Wacha |
9/8 |
PIT |
73 |
7.0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0.00 |
3.33 |
|
|
Lyons |
5/28 |
KCR |
73 |
7.0 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
1.29 |
2.05 |
- How good was Shelby Miller's near perfect game? Well, um, all but perfect. The rookie was lights out in that early-May contest against the Rockies. After allowing a leadoff single that was particularly well struck, Miller dominated the Colorado lineup with 13 strikeouts and no walks allowed. It was the best-pitched game I witnessed last season.
- As you can see, the staff ace makes up a large share of the most deserving "wins" by Game Score. Of the top 22 pitching "wins," nine belong to Wainwright. This is because Wainwright gobbles up innings like Hungry Hippos do marbles. All the while, Waino is stingy with the issuance of free passes and just the opposite with strikeouts. This list is yet more evidence that Wainwright's 2013 was elite.
- Michael Wacha's near no-hitter was a lot of fun. I started listening to the game on the radio and then felt compelled to continue to do so (because of silly superstition) as the no-hitter remained into the late innings. Having listened to Mike Shannon's radio call of the ninth-inning breakup of the no-no, I'm still not entirely sure what happened. But I do know that Wacha pitched very well throughout the game and lost his no-hit bit on a bang-bang play.
- There are two starts on this list in which the starter lasted less than seven innings. Both belong to Lance Lynn. In each start, Lynn allowed no runs while striking out nine over six innings.
- I was surprised to see Westbrook make this list with a game in which he had more walks than strikeouts.