Verlander's season is all the more impressive because he's 35 years of ages. Perhaps he's not quite at his 2011-12 peak, however he's close, on track to publish the third-best AGE of his profession (and third-best-adjusted ERA) while leading the league in strikeouts for the fifth time and innings pitched for the fourth time. He has been dominant at times in his career, but he also has been long lasting, a trait just as important as a pitcher's velocity or capability to spin a curveball.
Verlander leads the American League in innings pitched and strikeouts and ranks 4th in AGE. His deficit in that classification-- he's at 2.67 compared to Chris Sale at 1.92 and Blake Snell at 2.03-- might make it tough for citizens to recognize his advantage in volume of work. Verlander has pitched 52 more innings than Sale and 38 more than Snell.
Jacob deGrom versus Chris Sale: This was the first matchup between beginning pitchers with a minimum of 100 innings and a sub-2.00 ERA since Dwight Gooden faced John Tudor in September 1985, but we understood it wasn't actually going to be a battle in between the two aces considering that Sale was on a minimal pitch count. He ended up throwing 42 pitches over three innings, permitting one hit with no strolls and one strikeout, and most likely has 2 more starts to get up to full strength.
" Definitely, in the last few months this is his best start," Houston supervisor AJ Hinch said. "He's had some respectable ones as an Astro. When he comes out and sets that sort of tone and gets those swings-and-misses and the strikeouts, it's a pretty special day for us."
More notably, Verlander has created big video games down the stretch when the Astros most needed them, with the A's making a late push for a department title. In his past three starts, Verlander has pitched 7 innings each time and enabled four runs while starting out 29 batters.
Justin Verlander most likely will not win the American League Cy Young Award, although he helped his case with a vital effort on Sunday, permitting one run with 11 strikeouts over seven innings in the Houston Astros' 5-4 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Combined with Oakland's 5-4 loss to Tampa Bay on Sunday, the Astros now lead the AL West by 4 1/2 games, their biggest lead since Aug. 7. With 13 video games staying (and 12 for Oakland), it would take a huge collapse for the Astros to blow the division lead. Indeed, FanGraphs provides a 99.6 percent possibility of winning the division (which appears a little high, but that's what the computer system states).
Younger beginners such as Noah Syndergaard and Stephen Strasburg have showed Verlander-like ability, but haven't been able to stay healthy adequate to begin constructing a Verlander-like Hall of Fame résumé. Value the results, but likewise appreciate that Verlander is out there every fifth video game producing innings.
Meanwhile, deGrom was exceptional yet again, permitting three runs in 7 innings with 12 strikeouts, the most for a going to pitcher at Fenway because David Cost had 13 in 2012. DeGrom did give up three runs in the 3rd inning as Brock Holt hit a two-run homer off him:
We can run an entire list of superlatives for deGrom, but here's a good one: He now has reeled off 22 straight starts of a minimum of six innings and 3 runs or less, the longest streak considering that 1900:
Jacob deGrom, 2017: 22
Johan Santana, 2004: 21
Mike Scott, 1986: 20
Jake Arrieta, 2015: 20
Josh Johnson, 2010: 19
Bob Gibson, 1968: 18
Thanks to ESPN scientist Sarah Langs for assembling that a person-- and an unfortunate suggestion of how good Josh Johnson was before injuries ruined his career. I believe deGrom practically locked up the NL Cy Young Award with this, specifically when combined with Scherzer's bad trip on Friday, when he quit 6 runs in 4 innings.
Mookie leaves with injury, says he's OKAY: A small scare for the Red Sox when Mookie Betts left in the 6th inning with left side discomfort after making a toss home, the same injury that required him to miss two weeks in late Might and early June. After the video game, Alex Cora said Betts was fine and need to be in the lineup Tuesday versus the Yankees, probably as the DH.
One thing to think about in the MVP race. Betts and Mike Trout have played 129 video games. J.D. Martinez has played 140. Alex Bregman and Francisco Lindor have played 146 and Jose Ramirez 145. Should those missed out on games work versus Betts? You can make that argument, although Betts still leads in the war, even while playing 17 less games than Bregman and Lindor. In reality, those missed out on games are most likely the only reason the MVP is still up for argument. Add on 17 video games of production to Betts' season overalls and he might be thought about the unanimous winner.
Obviously, in typical deGrom style he likewise ended up with a no-decision as the Red Sox ultimately won 4-3, so he remains 8-9. The only pitcher to win a Cy Young Award with a sub -.500 record was Dodgers closer Eric Gagne, who was 2-3 in 2003.
Bear In Mind That Bryce Harper man? The Nationals beat the Braves 6-4 as Harper went 2-for-3 with two walks and this first-inning home run off Sean Newcomb:
Hey, either theory may be right. For the season, Harper is still 2nd in the NL with 34 home runs, initially with 118 strolls, fifth in OBP (.391) and seventh in OPS (.896). Are the numbers as good as his 2015 MVP season? No. Are they as good as 2017? No. There's no doubt, however, that the strong second half needs to ease some of the issue after he hit.221 in May and.188 in June and kept hitting balls into the shift.
Harper has silently been excellent in the 2nd half, hitting.311/.440/.572-- after striking.214 in the very first half. There are 2 ways to look at that: (A) He's great and showed he's still among the best players in the majors; (B) The haters will state, sure, he started to hit much better just since the Nationals were sort of out of the race and the pressure had actually decreased.
It likewise could be pointed out that Harper's.507 OBP in September is simply the result of striking against those expanded September lineups-- except every game the Nationals have played this month has actually come versus a competitor (Makers, Cardinals, Cubs, Phillies and Braves). Certainly, the unusual feature of Harper's season is the lack of consistency in his approach. Take a look at his regular monthly unintentional walk and strikeout totals:
April: 30 BB, 21 SO
May: 10 BB, 28 SO
June: 16 BB, 33 SO
July: 17 BB, 35 SO
August: 10 BB, 26 SO
September: 21 BB, 14 SO
Harper's finest quality as a player isn't really his raw power, it's his ability to work the count. He's at his best when he's more patient and less aggressive and taking walks if pitchers are going to give them to him. I'm simply not exactly sure he in fact understands that.
In April, Harper hit.247/.458/ 528 with 8 home runs, and had a 42 percent swing rate and 24 percent chase rate. In May-- maybe feeling he needed to be more aggressive after hitting.247-- those numbers increased to 52 percent and 33 percent. In September, he has actually been more client than ever, with a 36 percent swing rate and 18 percent chase rate.
No comments:
Post a Comment