Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Who is the World's Best Pitcher?



It would be hard to argue against any of the Top Five as tops in the game, perhaps going down as far as Top Ten, After that it gets a little dicey and spicy. I imagine Matt Cain would have fallen onto this list had he pitched enough recently and maybe Lincecum had he not fallen off a cliff recently.

But "Oh well?  Right?  What are you going to do?  ~;::::::;( )">  ¯\_( )_/¯

Hey, I hear the Reds might be having a garage sale. See how much they're asking for Mike Leake. Hey, and maybe they throw in that Cuban Missile guy Chapman, right? It's not like they're using him much anyway, right? What have you got to lose?  ~;::::::;( )">  ¯\_( )_/¯

from billjamesonline.com

http://www.billjamesonline.com/polls_ratings/starting_pitcher_rankings/



Is Max Scherzer the World’s Best Pitcher?
June 29, 2015

In the 2015 Bill James Handbook, Bill James introduced his new formula to determine the World’s Best Pitcher at any given time. The system is based on Game Scores and weighs positive and negative recent performances more heavily than older performances.

As of the publication of the Handbook, Clayton Kershaw was the No. 1 pitcher in baseball by a substantial margin, and even in the Stat of the Week update from November that reflected Madison Bumgarner’s dominant playoff performance, Kershaw was still well clear of the field.
So far in 2015, Kershaw has been a little less dominant than his usual self. That combined with some excellent pitching performances from some of his peers, one in particular, has radically closed the gap:


World's #1 Starting Pitcher as of 6/29/2015
RankStarted SeasonPitcherCurrent Score
11Clayton Kershaw585.9
24Max Scherzer584.6
36Chris Sale557.7
42Madison Bumgarner553.8
510Zack Greinke553.1


Specifically, Max Scherzer has flown up the rankings this year thanks to his 1.79 ERA and his league-leading 9.3 strikeouts per walk. Following his no-hitter, Scherzer has pulled close to even with Kershaw.

Kershaw is still No. 1, but that title is at jeopardy for the first time since June 1, 2014, when Scherzer briefly held the title. Kershaw has been so dominant for so long, that the last starter other than Scherzer to have the title over him is Justin Verlander back in early 2013!

A change could happen as soon as Thursday when Scherzer and the Nationals take on the Braves.
The rankings are updated daily over at Bill James Online."

'via Blog this'


Here's the Top 50 (all aces), Mike Leake makes the list (hint,hint):

World's #1 Starting Pitcher Rankings: CURRENT RANKINGS
RankStarted
Season
NameCurrent
Score
11Clayton Kershaw585.9
24Max Scherzer584.6
36Chris Sale557.7
42Madison Bumgarner553.8
510Zack Greinke553.1
63Felix Hernandez547.4
75David Price544.1
89Johnny Cueto531.1
98Cole Hamels529.5
1013Corey Kluber520.3
117Jon Lester504.8
1245Chris Archer501.0
1355Dallas Keuchel500.9
1429Francisco Liriano499.8
1542Sonny Gray499.2
1612Jordan Zimmermann498.4
1711Adam Wainwright493.3
1820Lance Lynn489.2
1917James Shields488.9
2038Yovani Gallardo482.7
2118Jeff Samardzija481.7
2258Shelby Miller480.4
2362Jason Hammel477.0
2416R.A. Dickey476.9
2563Jake Arrieta476.3
2626Phil Hughes474.9
2753A.J. Burnett474.9
2894Jacob Degrom473.4
2927Jose Quintana470.7
3015Jered Weaver470.6
3147Dan Haren468.6
3252Wei-Yin Chen468.0
3334John Lackey467.5
3414Stephen Strasburg466.9
3543Anibal Sanchez465.8
3622Gio Gonzalez465.3
3748Tyson Ross465.0
3882Gerrit Cole464.7
3949Edinson Volquez464.2
4040Mark Buehrle463.6
4170Ubaldo Jimenez459.4
4241Miguel Gonzalez459.2
4357C.J. Wilson458.0
4419Doug Fister455.8
4571Clay Buchholz453.7
4646Mike Leake453.1
4724Chris Tillman451.3
4888Scott Kazmir450.7
4931Julio Teheran447.8
5050Wade Miley447.5


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Giants Top Minor League Prospects

  • 1. Joey Bart 6-2, 215 C Power arm and a power bat, playing a premium defensive position. Good catch and throw skills.
  • 2. Heliot Ramos 6-2, 185 OF Potential high-ceiling player the Giants have been looking for. Great bat speed, early returns were impressive.
  • 3. Chris Shaw 6-3. 230 1B Lefty power bat, limited defensively to 1B, Matt Adams comp?
  • 4. Tyler Beede 6-4, 215 RHP from Vanderbilt projects as top of the rotation starter when he works out his command/control issues. When he misses, he misses by a bunch.
  • 5. Stephen Duggar 6-1, 170 CF Another toolsy, under-achieving OF in the Gary Brown mold, hoping for better results.
  • 6. Sandro Fabian 6-0, 180 OF Dominican signee from 2014, shows some pop in his bat. Below average arm and lack of speed should push him towards LF.
  • 7. Aramis Garcia 6-2, 220 C from Florida INTL projects as a good bat behind the dish with enough defensive skill to play there long-term
  • 8. Heath Quinn 6-2, 190 OF Strong hitter, makes contact with improving approach at the plate. Returns from hamate bone injury.
  • 9. Garrett Williams 6-1, 205 LHP Former Oklahoma standout, Giants prototype, low-ceiling, high-floor prospect.
  • 10. Shaun Anderson 6-4, 225 RHP Large frame, 3.36 K/BB rate. Can start or relieve
  • 11. Jacob Gonzalez 6-3, 190 3B Good pedigree, impressive bat for HS prospect.
  • 12. Seth Corry 6-2 195 LHP Highly regard HS pick. Was mentioned as possible chip in high profile trades.
  • 13. C.J. Hinojosa 5-10, 175 SS Scrappy IF prospect in the mold of Kelby Tomlinson, just gets it done.
  • 14. Garett Cave 6-4, 200 RHP He misses a lot of bats and at times, the plate. 13 K/9 an 5 B/9. Wild thing.

2019 MLB Draft - Top HS Draft Prospects

  • 1. Bobby Witt, Jr. 6-1,185 SS Colleyville Heritage HS (TX) Oklahoma commit. Outstanding defensive SS who can hit. 6.4 speed in 60 yd. Touched 97 on mound. Son of former major leaguer. Five tool potential.
  • 2. Riley Greene 6-2, 190 OF Haggerty HS (FL) Florida commit.Best HS hitting prospect. LH bat with good eye, plate discipline and developing power.
  • 3. C.J. Abrams 6-2, 180 SS Blessed Trinity HS (GA) High-ceiling athlete. 70 speed with plus arm. Hitting needs to develop as he matures. Alabama commit.
  • 4. Reece Hinds 6-4, 210 SS Niceville HS (FL) Power bat, committed to LSU. Plus arm, solid enough bat to move to 3B down the road. 98MPH arm.
  • 5. Daniel Espino 6-3, 200 RHP Georgia Premier Academy (GA) LSU commit. Touches 98 on FB with wipe out SL.

2019 MLB Draft - Top College Draft Prospects

  • 1. Adley Rutschman C Oregon State Plus defender with great arm. Excellent receiver plus a switch hitter with some pop in the bat.
  • 2. Shea Langliers C Baylor Excelent throw and catch skills with good pop time. Quick bat, uses all fields approach with some pop.
  • 3. Zack Thompson 6-2 LHP Kentucky Missed time with an elbow issue. FB up to 95 with plenty of secondary stuff.
  • 4. Matt Wallner 6-5 OF Southern Miss Run producing bat plus mid to upper 90's FB closer. Power bat from the left side, athletic for size.
  • 5. Nick Lodolo LHP TCU Tall LHP, 95MPH FB and solid breaking stuff.