Ranking 2012’s Most Dominant Pitchers

Friday night, Justin Verlander threw no-hit baseball for 8.1 innings and simply overmatched the Pittsburgh Pirates in his 1-hit shutout. Yesterday, Brandon Morrow needed 107 pitches to dominate the Mets, allowing only 3 hits and one walk while striking out 8 in his shutout performance. These particular outings were great and some pitchers have been simply dominant all season. For a few guys, it seems that hitters have absolutely no chance. We’ve seen them not only go out and win, but utterly shut down an opponent every trip to the mound. I’ve decided to rank this season’s most dominant pitchers but before I do, I think we should go over how I’m going to do it. Certainly, some statistical measures are important. ERA is noteworthy but WHIP is much more important. You can win games if there are runners on base every inning but you can’t really be “dominant.” For that reason, wins is almost a useless stat in this context. In addition to the stats, I’m going to use some subjective measures to evaluate the pitchers. I’ve watched a lot of games this season I can tell when I guy has overwhelming stuff. Preferably, the guys on my list have at least one pitch that makes everyone watching take note. One other thing I should clarify before beginning, my list only takes into account this season, past success or failure is irrelevant. This makes for a list that really up to date, if a little bit surprising at points. I’ve decided to break this list up into 2 parts, 1-5 today and 6-10 in the next installment. Well, lets begin.

1. Justin Verlander, Starter, Detroit Tigers- You might be thinking “Wait, I thought this list was only about 2012, what is Verlander doing at the top.” If so, take a look at JV this year. Verlander was almost unhittable in his last outing against Pittsburgh, just one poorly placed curveball away from becoming the just the 6th pitcher in history with 3 career no-no’s. More than that, Verlander started the game averaging less than 92mph on his fastball but scaled it up and never threw a heater under 96 mph after the 6th inning. That’s the difference between a good pitcher and great pitcher: the great ones throw at 90% effort and can scale it up when they have to. Verlander is a great one, his WHIP is a major league leading .80, his ERA is 2.14, 7th lowest in baseball, his WAR is an amazing 3.0, second among all major leaguers, not just pitchers. Also, he gives up the fewest hits per 9 of any starter and both his curve and fastball can be that awe inspiring pitch I’m looking for. He’s number 1 on the dominance list without a doubt.
2. Brandon Beachy, Starter, Atlanta Braves- Beachy is our first surprise on this list. The 25 year old is only in his second full season but he is dominating so far. Beachy leads the MLB in ERA with 1.33. His WHIP is .89 and he’s given up only 1 home run in 54 innings. He’s not a huge strike out guy with less than 40 so far but he is getting outs and not allowing runners on or in. He’s off to a great start and, though he lacks that one great “pitch,” he’s number 2. By the way, Sean and I kind of called this one. We watched Beachy in Spring training and theorized that he was primed for a great year based on his incredible physical condition. He came into camp in great shape and has muscles on top of his muscles this year.
3. Steven Strasburg, Starter, Washington Nationals- Strasburg is averaging 10.5 strikeouts per 9 innings, notching 56 in just 48 innings. His ERA is 2.25 and his WHIP is 1.02. More important than his great numbers though are his unquantifiables. Steven is one of the most exciting pitchers to watch in the entire league. He throws almost 100 mph, has a devastating breaking ball and a freakish 91 mph changeup. When he’s on, he’s untouchable, and he’s been on a lot this year helping to lead the Nationals to some great success in the early part of the season. By the way, after his homer and single today, Strasburg is hitting .375 on the season.
4. Aroldis Chapman, Reliever, Cincinnati Reds- Chapman has thrown only 22.1 inngings this season but he has not allowed a run. Not one. His ERA is 0.00. On top of that, the Cuban lefty’s WHIP is a stunning .63. He’s k’d 39 hitters in his 22.1 innings. This season, Chapman sacrificed some velocity for increased control but he’s still throwing 98 to 99 mph. I recently saw him face Jason Heyward of the Atlanta Braves. He blew the first 2 pitches by Jason at 99, then narrowly missed hitting the batter on a 100 mph pitch before striking him out on a 90 mph slider. Heyward had no chance.
5. Clayton Kershaw, Starter, Las Angeles Dodgers- Kershaw is the reigning NL Cy Young award winner and he has been excellent this year too. He’s surrendered only 42 hits in almost 62 innings, helping him to a .87 WHIP which is 3rd in the majors. He’s the NL leader in games started and has an ERA of only 1.90 which is 4th best in baseball. His slider is that wow pitch and his fastball is top-notch. He’s also a Gold Glover, as if his pitching wasn’t enough. Kershaw has thus far followed up his amazing 2011 with a stellar 2012. Did I mention he’s only 24?

That’s part one, stay tuned for part 2.

-Max Frankel