Jake Westbrook sure twirled a gem last night didn’t he?
Look at the smile on his face at the end of the game, shaking hands with his teammates – looks like a man who just had a blast tossing a baseball, and being really successful doing it:
Smiling Jake is smiling.
As my mind tends to wander following a performance like Westbrook’s, I thought of Game Score and which Cardinal pitchers have registered the top starts of the 2012 season using Game Score.
Fancy chart after the jump…
| Rk | Player | Date | Tm | Opp | Rslt | App,Dec | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | Pit | Str | GSc | WPA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Adam Wainwright | 2012-05-22 | STL | SDP | W 4-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 111 | 76 | 87 | 0.00 | 0.434 |
| 2 | Lance Lynn | 2012-06-13 | STL | CHW | W 1-0 | GS-8 ,W | 7.1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 0 | 112 | 77 | 83 | 0.00 | 0.440 |
| 3 | Jake Westbrook | 2012-06-20 | STL | DET | W 3-1 | CG 9 ,W | 9.0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 113 | 81 | 79 | 0.00 | 0.511 |
| 4 | Kyle Lohse | 2012-06-09 | STL | CLE | W 2-0 | GS-8 ,W | 7.2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 105 | 66 | 75 | 0.00 | 0.508 |
| 5 | Jake Westbrook | 2012-05-08 | STL | ARI | W 6-1 | GS-7 ,W | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 115 | 72 | 75 | 0.00 | 0.156 |
| 6 | Kyle Lohse | 2012-04-17 | STL | CIN | W 2-1 | GS-7 | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 90 | 64 | 74 | 0.00 | 0.451 |
| 7 | Lance Lynn | 2012-04-08 | STL | MIL | W 9-3 | GS-7 ,W | 6.2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 100 | 69 | 73 | 1.35 | 0.285 |
| 8 | Kyle Lohse | 2012-04-04 | STL | MIA | W 4-1 | GS-8 ,W | 7.1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 90 | 56 | 73 | 1.23 | 0.354 |
| 9 | Lance Lynn | 2012-04-25 | STL | CHC | W 5-1 | GS-8 ,W | 8.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 110 | 72 | 71 | 1.12 | 0.266 |
| 10 | Adam Wainwright | 2012-06-17 | STL | KCR | L 3-5 | GS-7 | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 0 | 109 | 70 | 68 | 1.29 | 0.267 |
| 11 | Lance Lynn | 2012-04-20 | STL | PIT | W 4-1 | GS-7 ,W | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 88 | 53 | 68 | 1.29 | 0.351 |
Seeing Lance Lynn and Adam Wainwright on this list shouldn’t surprise you, but note that Westbrook is on there twice after last night.
Not only that, but his complete game in Detroit is the third best ranked start with a Game Score of 79. If you need a refresher on Game Score (courtesy BR’s Play Index glossary):
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.
So long and short – keep the other team from scoring runs, keep them off the bases, pitch lots of innings, and get bonus for strikeouts that don’t even offer the hitter a chance to reach base.
Jake did a pretty good job of all of those, as has Lynn, and Wainwright, and let’s pray Kyle Lohse keeps pitching like this. (And Westbrook too.)
{ 2 comments }
Rarely do you see a pitcher beaming like Westbrook was after complete game win
He looked like he had just thrown a no-hitter, didn’t he?
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