Do you feel that? Do you feel that euphoric sensation? That’s baseball baby. The long nightmare is over. It’s back. The Cubs and the Cardinals open the season Sunday night but everyone else gets going on Monday. My contribution to this two day celebration is a comparison of every every team’s 2015 Opening Day starter.
The following tables represent the last 3 years of MLB data where applicable. Some pitchers taking the mound on Opening Day haven’t been in the majors for 3 years. In those cases the table represents the total amount of innings that pitcher has logged at the major league level.
We’ll begin in the American League.
[table id=7 /]
Right away it’s plain to see that Felix Hernandez as well as David Price have separated themselves from the rest of the pack. King Felix has certainly earned his moniker as he’s been worth 3 wins more than Price and 8 wins than the next closest pitcher over the same time period.
Indians fan should rejoice because their ace Corey Kluber isn’t that fair behind either of them. Price was worth 5.1 more wins than Kluber but with 200 more innings pitched. Notice that their FIP is identical. Another year and their spots among the top 3 starting pitchers in the American League might be switched.
There are plenty of other intriguing names toeing the rubber on Day 1. I’m curious to see how Yovani Gallardo responds to the change in teams and leagues after having spent his entire career in Milwaukee. I’m also interested to learn if last year was a break-out or a fluke for Dallas Keuchel. And finally, I’m a little scared to see if Masahiro Tanaka will be yet another victim of a blown elbow or not.
Now let’s take a look at the National League starters.
[table id=8 /]
Humina humina humina. Hey, do think when Clayton Kershaw first traveled to Earth he was in some kind of suspended animation or does the planet he comes from possess faster than light travel? Maybe they used a wormhole? I mean seriously. Look at those numbers. They’re otherworldly.
His ERA is a full point lower than anyone else in the NL. Okay, a full 0.99 points lower thank you very much MadBum. Whatever, it’s still amazing. Even King Felix pales in comparison to Kershaw’s whopping 20.4 fWAR. Oh, and that 0.49 HR/9 over the last three seasons is only the lowest of ANY major league starter. And so is his ERA and his FIP and his xFIP.
It’s amazing. Truly amazing. He just so gre…oh. Uh, hi there Rockies fans. I didn’t see you there. Hey listen I’m sure your guy will…pitch in games. I got nothing. Sorry.
Moving on.
I’m very interested to see what Max Scherzer can do in the National League in his new and spacious home ballpark. He’s the only pitcher with a K% higher than Kershaw’s and that’s from 3 seasons in the American League.
I’m also interested to see the transitions of Jon Lester and James Shields. By the way, did you know even though Shields is 33 years old and has thrown 29,464 pitches in the majors alone, his average fastball velocity has been steadily rising every year of his career to a peak of 92.5 mph last year? It’s true. I don’t know what if anything that means but it is pretty freakish and therefore noteworthy.
One last thing I want to point out. Take a look at Kyle Lohse’s ERA. He isn’t a guy that pitches with big velocity or strikes a lot of guys out. I think that’s why it’s so easy to forget how effective he’s been in recent years. He’s not an upper echelon starter but he is a solid 2/3 type.
Okay, that’s enough out of me. Baseball starts soon folks. Like, in a matter of hours! Are you ready?
Statistics courtesy of FanGraphs
