Pitcher Wins ERA SO C.Lee 22 2.54 170 Halladay 20 2.78 206 Lester 16 3.21 152 Matsuzaka 18 2.90 154 Danks 12 3.32 159 E. Santana 16 3.49 214 Saunders 17 3.41 103 Duchscherer 10 2.54 95 Baker 11 3.45 141 Greinke 13 3.47 183 Meche 14 3.98 183 Shields 14 3.56 160 Mussina 20 3.37 150
Although the top is very strong, it drops off veryquickly. You are probably wondering why Duchscherer made the list with only 10 wins and a half a season. See below. Really, however, this is between Lee and Halladay.
Pitcher VORP WS WARP1 C.Lee 75.0 25 10.3 Halladay 71.5 23 9.7 Lester 58.2 19 7.8 Matsuzaka 50.6 17 7.7 Danks 52.8 17 8.4 E. Santana 50.3 19 7.3 Saunders 44.0 19 6.8 Duchscherer 46.1 14 6.4 Baker 44.4 13 5.4 Greinke 43.8 17 7.3 Meche 38.2 15 6.9 Shields 43.7 16 5.6 Mussina 43.1 18 8.5 Rivera 34.0 17 10.2 K-Rod 22.3 12 7.5 Soria 30.1 15 7.6
These are ordered by VORP. Lee is the clear winner, with Halladay second.
Duchscherer is on the list because he is #8 in VORP. With half a season!
Danks' counting stats were not very impressive, but he fares well in all three of these uber-stats. Mussina gets a nostalgia point and gets #3, with Danks at #4. I don't entirely trust the uber-stats measurement of relievers, at least not on the same basis as the starters. Rivera comes in fifth.
Let this also be a lesson in counting stats for relievers -- particularly saves. K-Rod's "real" season was no big deal. In his own league Rivera, Soria and Nathan were better across the board.
