Sick of reading about how great Jaime Garcia‘s start yesterday was? Good, me neither, so here’s some more…
Derrick Goold and Brian Walton have already covered how Garcia’s start ranked in efficiency – Bird Land comparing fewest number of pitches for a 2010 MLB shutout, and The Cardinal Nation Blog comparing to other past Cardinal starts.
Not only did Garcia’s start include the second fewest pitches thrown in nine inning game in 2010, it was the 21st fewest since 2000 (Baseball Reference doesn’t have pitch counts prior to 2000). Pretty impressive.
| Rk | Player | Date | Tm | Opp | Rslt | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | Pit | BF | AB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aaron Cook | 2007-07-25 | COL | SDP | W 10-2 | 9.0 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 74 | 31 | 31 |
| 2 | Carlos Silva | 2005-05-20 | MIN | MIL | W 7-1 | 9.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 74 | 30 | 30 |
| 3 | Jon Lieber | 2001-05-24 | CHC | CIN | W 3-0 | 9.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 78 | 27 | 26 |
| 4 | Aaron Cook | 2008-07-01 | COL | SDP | W 4-0 | 9.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 79 | 30 | 30 |
| 5 | Luke Hochevar | 2009-06-12 | KCR | CIN | W 4-1 | 9.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 80 | 30 | 29 |
| 6 | Rich Harden | 2005-07-14 | OAK | TEX | W 6-0 | 9.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 81 | 29 | 29 |
| 7 | Roy Halladay | 2001-10-05 (1) | TOR | CLE | W 5-0 | 9.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 83 | 29 | 29 |
| 8 | Steve Sparks | 2001-06-19 | DET | NYY | W 7-1 | 9.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 84 | 28 | 26 |
| 9 | Carlos Silva | 2005-07-18 | MIN | BAL | L 2-3 | 9.0 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 85 | 33 | 32 |
| 10 | Jason Marquis | 2009-06-30 | COL | LAD | W 3-0 | 9.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 86 | 29 | 29 |
| 11 | Tim Hudson | 2004-04-10 | OAK | SEA | W 2-1 | 9.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 86 | 30 | 30 |
| 12 | Mark Mulder | 2001-09-02 | OAK | TBD | W 3-1 | 9.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 86 | 30 | 30 |
| 13 | Bartolo Colon | 2003-06-07 | CHW | LAD | W 4-1 | 9.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 87 | 31 | 30 |
| 14 | Odalis Perez | 2002-06-25 | LAD | COL | W 4-0 | 9.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 87 | 28 | 27 |
| 15 | Todd Ritchie | 2001-07-13 | PIT | KCR | W 1-0 | 9.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 87 | 29 | 27 |
| 16 | John Halama | 2000-05-17 | SEA | MIN | W 4-0 | 9.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 87 | 29 | 29 |
| 17 | Armando Galarraga | 2010-06-02 | DET | CLE | W 3-0 | 9.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 88 | 28 | 28 |
| 18 | Roy Oswalt | 2005-06-12 | HOU | TOR | W 3-0 | 9.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 88 | 29 | 29 |
| 19 | Sidney Ponson | 2004-04-20 | BAL | TBD | W 9-1 | 9.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 88 | 32 | 31 |
| 20 | Chris Carpenter | 2000-04-21 | TOR | NYY | W 8-3 | 9.0 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 88 | 32 | 30 |
| 21 | Jaime Garcia | 2010-08-22 | STL | SFG | W 9-0 | 9.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 89 | 28 | 28 |
| 22 | Pedro Astacio | 2006-08-15 | WSN | ATL | W 5-0 | 9.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 89 | 29 | 29 |
| 23 | Roy Halladay | 2006-05-13 | TOR | TBD | W 8-1 | 9.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 89 | 28 | 27 |
| 24 | Sidney Ponson | 2003-07-10 | BAL | SEA | W 4-1 | 9.0 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 89 | 33 | 32 |
| 25 | Chris Reitsma | 2002-07-15 | CIN | MIL | W 2-0 | 9.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 89 | 32 | 29 |
Additionally, Garcia’s start ranked highly on Game Score. We’ve discussed Game Score here before, but for a quick refresher:
GmSc – Game Score – This is a value created by Bill James that evaluates how good a pitcher’s start was.
Start with 50 points. Add 1 point for each out recorded, (or 3 points per inning). Add 2 points for each inning completed after the 4th. Add 1 point for each strikeout. Subtract 2 points for each hit allowed. Subtract 4 points for each earned run allowed. Subtract 2 points for each unearned run allowed. Subtract 1 point for each walk.
| Rk | Player | Date | Tm | Opp | Rslt | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | GSc | BF | AB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brandon Morrow | 2010-08-08 | TOR | TBR | W 1-0 | 9.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 17 | 100 | 31 | 29 |
| 2 | Roy Halladay | 2010-05-29 | PHI | FLA | W 1-0 | 9.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 98 | 27 | 27 |
| 3 | Matt Cain | 2010-05-28 | SFG | ARI | W 5-0 | 9.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 94 | 29 | 28 |
| 4 | Travis Wood | 2010-07-10 | CIN | PHI | L 0-1 | 9.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 93 | 28 | 28 |
| 5 | Johnny Cueto | 2010-05-11 | CIN | PIT | W 9-0 | 9.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 93 | 28 | 27 |
| 6 | Dallas Braden | 2010-05-09 | OAK | TBR | W 4-0 | 9.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 93 | 27 | 27 |
| 7 | Ted Lilly | 2010-08-19 | LAD | COL | W 2-0 | 9.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 92 | 30 | 28 |
| 8 | Anibal Sanchez | 2010-07-29 | FLA | SFG | W 5-0 | 9.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 92 | 29 | 28 |
| 9 | Matt Garza | 2010-07-26 | TBR | DET | W 5-0 | 9.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 92 | 27 | 26 |
| 10 | R.A. Dickey | 2010-08-13 | NYM | PHI | W 1-0 | 9.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 91 | 29 | 28 |
| 11 | Roy Oswalt | 2010-07-08 | HOU | PIT | W 2-0 | 9.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 91 | 31 | 28 |
| 12 | Felix Hernandez | 2010-06-30 | SEA | NYY | W 7-0 | 9.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 91 | 32 | 29 |
| 13 | Jonathon Niese | 2010-06-10 (2) | NYM | SDP | W 3-0 | 9.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 91 | 28 | 28 |
| 14 | Mat Latos | 2010-05-13 | SDP | SFG | W 1-0 | 9.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 91 | 28 | 28 |
| 15 | Vicente Padilla | 2010-08-04 | LAD | SDP | W 9-0 | 9.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 90 | 30 | 28 |
| 16 | John Danks | 2010-07-08 | CHW | LAA | W 1-0 | 9.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 90 | 30 | 30 |
| 17 | Adam Wainwright | 2010-06-04 | STL | MIL | W 8-0 | 9.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 90 | 30 | 29 |
| 18 | Colby Lewis | 2010-04-30 | TEX | SEA | W 2-0 | 9.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 90 | 31 | 30 |
| 19 | C.J. Wilson | 2010-08-20 | TEX | BAL | W 2-0 | 8.2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 89 | 30 | 29 |
| 20 | Yovani Gallardo | 2010-06-24 | MIL | MIN | W 5-0 | 9.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 89 | 32 | 32 |
| 21 | Cliff Lee | 2010-07-27 | TEX | OAK | W 3-1 | 9.0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 88 | 32 | 32 |
| 22 | Colby Lewis | 2010-06-19 | TEX | HOU | W 5-1 | 9.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 88 | 28 | 28 |
| 23 | Jeff Niemann | 2010-06-08 | TBR | TOR | W 9-0 | 9.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 88 | 30 | 28 |
| 24 | Armando Galarraga | 2010-06-02 | DET | CLE | W 3-0 | 9.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 88 | 28 | 28 |
| 25 | Ricky Romero | 2010-05-15 | TOR | TEX | W 6-0 | 9.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 88 | 32 | 31 |
| Rk | Player | Date | Tm | Opp | Rslt | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | GSc | BF | AB |
| 26 | Jamie Moyer | 2010-05-07 | PHI | ATL | W 7-0 | 9.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 88 | 28 | 28 |
| 27 | Josh Johnson | 2010-04-26 | FLA | SDP | W 10-1 | 9.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 88 | 31 | 28 |
| 28 | Ubaldo Jimenez | 2010-04-17 | COL | ATL | W 4-0 | 9.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 7 | 88 | 31 | 25 |
| 29 | Jaime Garcia | 2010-08-22 | STL | SFG | W 9-0 | 9.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 87 | 28 | 28 |
| 30 | Johan Santana | 2010-08-12 | NYM | COL | W 4-0 | 9.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 87 | 32 | 30 |
| 31 | Adam Wainwright | 2010-08-06 | STL | FLA | W 7-0 | 9.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 87 | 31 | 28 |
| 32 | Justin Masterson | 2010-06-09 | CLE | BOS | W 11-0 | 9.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 87 | 29 | 27 |
| 33 | Mat Latos | 2010-05-07 | SDP | HOU | W 7-0 | 8.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 87 | 26 | 26 |
| 34 | David Price | 2010-04-25 | TBR | TOR | W 6-0 | 9.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 87 | 31 | 30 |
So Garcia put up the 29th-best start of the entire 2010 season, according to James’ metric. It could’ve been ranked even higher, except for some pretty gaudy strikeout numbers ahead of him. Adding strikeouts would’ve only increased Garcia’s pitch count and perhaps made him less effective. It really was a fantastic outing for the youngster, and encouraging seeing his arm and stuff bounce back after struggling in prior starts.
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