48 Responses to “Jered Weaver’s win streak to start the season”

1. Ed Says:
   April 26th, 2011 at 8:59 am

   The contrast in the quality of pitchers between the first and second group is pretty striking.

2. Jon Says:
   April 26th, 2011 at 10:51 am

   Oh, the days of 2005 Dontrelle Willis. Now I'm going to be all melancholy for the rest of the day.

3. Andy Says:
   April 26th, 2011 at 11:02 am

   I'm posting this on behalf of John Autin:

   6 or more wins by a starting pitcher in a team's first 23 games:

   Rk	Player	Year	#Matching		W	L	W-L%	ERA	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	WHIP
   1	Wilbur Wood	1973	8	Ind. Games	8	0	1.000	1.16	8	5	3	0	69.2	61	9	1	10	32	1.02
   2	Lefty Williams	1920	7	Ind. Games	7	0	1.000	1.50	7	7	0	0	66.0	42	11	1	12	26	0.82
   3	Jeff Pfeffer	1919	7	Ind. Games	7	0	1.000	1.38	7	7	1	0	65.0	55	10	3	18	22	1.12
   4	Rick Mahler	1985	7	Ind. Games	7	0	1.000	2.09	7	0	0	0	51.2	46	12	3	12	16	1.12
   5	Sad Sam Jones	1921	7	Ind. Games	7	0	1.000	2.51	7	6	2	0	61.0	53	17	1	13	21	1.08
   6	Stan Coveleski	1920	7	Ind. Games	7	0	1.000	1.92	7	6	1	0	61.0	58	13	0	9	25	1.10
   7	Wilbur Wood	1972	6	Ind. Games	6	0	1.000	0.51	6	4	3	0	53.0	34	3	1	8	39	0.79
   8	Jered Weaver	2011	6	Ind. Games	6	0	1.000	0.99	6	2	1	0	45.2	26	5	2	10	49	0.79
   9	Fernando Valenzuela	1981	6	Ind. Games	6	0	1.000	0.33	6	5	4	0	54.0	33	2	0	11	50	0.81
   10	Bob Tewksbury	1994	6	Ind. Games	6	0	1.000	3.77	6	2	0	0	45.1	45	19	8	5	28	1.10
   11	Dave Stewart	1990	6	Ind. Games	6	0	1.000	1.54	6	0	0	0	41.0	32	7	2	12	16	1.07
   12	Dave Stewart	1988	6	Ind. Games	6	0	1.000	2.98	6	1	0	0	48.1	39	16	1	18	27	1.18
   13	Gaylord Perry	1972	6	Ind. Games	6	0	1.000	1.36	6	4	1	0	53.0	32	8	0	17	37	0.92
   14	Jim O'Toole	1963	6	Ind. Games	6	0	1.000	2.11	6	3	2	0	47.0	42	11	2	14	24	1.19
   15	Juan Marichal	1964	6	Ind. Games	6	0	1.000	1.53	6	5	2	0	53.0	44	9	2	15	34	1.11
   16	Sal Maglie	1952	6	Ind. Games	6	0	1.000	1.18	6	5	1	0	53.1	28	7	3	20	36	0.90
   17	Mickey Lolich	1972	6	Ind. Games	6	0	1.000	1.50	6	6	0	0	54.0	42	9	1	14	43	1.04
   18	Randy Johnson	2002	6	Ind. Games	6	0	1.000	1.37	6	2	1	0	46.0	28	7	2	11	61	0.85
   19	Fergie Jenkins	1974	6	Ind. Games	6	0	1.000	1.50	6	6	2	0	54.0	34	9	2	5	38	0.72
   20	Sam Gray	1925	6	Ind. Games	6	0	1.000	1.33	6	6	2	0	54.0	47	8	1	12	22	1.09
   21	Dwight Gooden	1988	6	Ind. Games	6	0	1.000	2.25	6	4	2	0	44.0	36	11	1	10	33	1.05
   22	Eddie Cicotte	1919	6	Ind. Games	6	0	1.000	0.72	6	6	2	0	50.0	29	4	0	2	18	0.62
   23	Jim Bagby	1920	6	Ind. Games	6	0	1.000	2.29	6	6	0	0	55.0	56	14	1	10	9	1.20

   Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
   Generated 4/26/2011.

   You've gotta love Wilbur Wood! Starting 8 of his team's first 23 games in '73 would be impressive enough, but no -- he actually started TEN times, losing twice. In fact, due to rainouts (I presume), he started Chicago's first two games of the year, a feat matched since 1919 only by Sam McDowell (1966) and Kirby Higbe (1940).

   By the end of May, Wood had started 15 of his team's 40 games, and closed out another. He was 13-3 with a 1.71 ERA in 131.2 IP -- 33.7% of his team's innings. And that was with the DH.

4. Andy Says:
   April 26th, 2011 at 11:09 am

   Just a quick poll here...who thinks John Autin would be a great blog author for this blog? Wouldn't you be excited to come here and read more if he made his own posts instead of burying all this cool stuff in the comment?

5. Voomo Zanzibar Says:
   April 26th, 2011 at 11:17 am

   Aaron Sele sure knew how to not-lose while pitching some average ball.

   And he knew how to get Cy Young votes.
   5th in 1999 with a 1.532 whip!

6. Voomo Zanzibar Says:
   April 26th, 2011 at 11:21 am

   -Not that 5th means anything.

   Because it was Pedro.
   And then everybody else.

7. Doug Says:
   April 26th, 2011 at 12:27 pm

   @3.

   More on Woods' '73 season.

   He had 4 CG wins (incl. 3 consecutive shutouts) from Apr 25 to May 6, and followed that by going 11 innings in a win over the Angels on May 10, his 10th appearance and the Sox 23rd game. During those first ten starts he had 6 CGs plus the 11-inning stint (not a CG), and failed to go at least 8 innings only once.

   For the season, Wood made 48 starts (gulp) and got a decision in 44 of them (his first ND didn't come until Aug 7, in his 35th start). After his hot start and all the work, he started to wear down, going 1-8 in June, and 2-4 in August. For the season, he racked up 359 IP, leading the AL for the second year running, and going 24-20. I'm guessing, but I suspect he is the last picther to win and lose 20 in the same year.

   Oh, and he also did this - on July 20th, he started both ends of a double-header. But, he got shelled both times, failing to record an out in the first game.

   A different time to be sure.

8. Doug Says:
   April 26th, 2011 at 12:41 pm

   @7.

   Nope. I was wrong. Woods is NOT the last pitcher to win and lose 20 in the same year. Phil Niekro went 21-20 in 1979.

   Prior to Wilbur and Phil, the last pitcher to turn the trick ws Walter Johnson, way back in 1916.

9. jason Says:
   April 26th, 2011 at 1:12 pm

   i think weaver's chance to go 7-0 by the end of april is a better discussion point. when was the last time a pitcher had 7 wins before may 1?

10. Jeff Says:
    April 26th, 2011 at 1:54 pm

    @5:

    Sele was unbelievably lucky in his career. If you look at just his win-loss record, you'd think he was a strong, low-WHIP, reliable pitcher.

    Sele was actually much more like Jamey Wright, Willie Blair, or Glendon Rusch.

    Is there a way to determine what Sele's career win-loss percentage should have been, based on the numbers he put up? I don't see how he could have been a winning pitcher, if he had average luck throughout his career.

11. Lawrence Azrin Says:
    April 26th, 2011 at 1:56 pm

    I realize this list only goes back to 2001, but I do recall that Roger Clemens in 1986 started off with 14 consecutive wins before he recorded a loss. Checking his Game Logs, he did not lose his first game until July 2nd, and in his only no-decision before that, the Red Sox won.

    I believe that Rube Marquad in 1912 holds the all-time record with 19 wins before recording a loss. This feat was much celebrated in its time, and probably helped him get into the HOF in 1971. Walter Johnson and Smokey Joe Wood also had 16-game winning streaks that year, though not from the start of the year. So Jared Weaver has got a looooong way to go to match those feats...

12. Larry Says:
    April 26th, 2011 at 1:58 pm

    It would have been nice to include columns showing each pitcher's final W-L record and ERA for the season ...

13. John Autin Says:
    April 26th, 2011 at 2:13 pm

    @9, Jason -- I don't think that "most wins by the end of April" is a good discussion point. For most of MLB history, the season didn't start until at least April 10; Weaver made his first start on March 31 this year. And then, for the super-workhorse pitchers of the dead-ball era (who theoretically might have started 7 games in 3 weeks), we don't have searchable game logs.

    Anyway, it's possible that no pitcher has won 7 games in April in the game-searchable era. I've checked the divisional era manually and it hasn't been done.

    It's not an easy thing to check, because the Play Index can look at "first N games" but not at specific date ranges (except for years).

14. rico petrocelli Says:
    April 26th, 2011 at 2:56 pm

    Rogerio Moret went 14-0 in 73 for the Sox

15. John Autin Says:
    April 26th, 2011 at 4:41 pm

    @14 -- No, and no.

    -- In 1973, Moret started out 11-0 and finished 13-2.
    -- In 1975, Moret started out 5-0 and finished 14-3.

16. Neil L. Says:
    April 26th, 2011 at 4:48 pm

    @4
    Andy, yes, John Autin for president, I mean, blog editor!

    JA, your thoroughness in research is meticulous, detailed, and generally error-free.

17. Neil L. Says:
    April 26th, 2011 at 4:52 pm

    @1
    Seconding your post. The second list had to have a lot more run support than the first.

    How about Greinke coming out of the chute throwing smoke to start 2009. And for the Royals of all teams!

18. Doug Says:
    April 26th, 2011 at 5:23 pm

    @9.

    Weaver's 7-0 start in 2006 (#4 on list 1) is the second longest such streak to start a career since 1948.

    After getting NDs in his next 3 starts in 2006, Weaver picked up two more Ws to go 9-0 through his first 12 starts, with a 1.95 ERA and 0.93 WHIP to that point. Nice way to start a career.

19. Nash Bruce Says:
    April 26th, 2011 at 5:50 pm

    @Neil (17) I also like Rick Mahler's 1985, for "those" Braves......similar to Grienke's 2009, except Mahler's final numbers, didn't turn out nearly as stellar.

20. Neil L. Says:
    April 26th, 2011 at 5:53 pm

    @9 @18
    Doug, the problem is that, in 2006, with Weaver's fabulous rookie start he only ended up with 123.0 IP and although his workload has gone up every year, he has only 6 career CG and two of them are this year.

    I think there is a very real risk of over-use this year and the possibility of an arm injury.

21. Basmati Says:
    April 26th, 2011 at 7:01 pm

    I disagree. Weaver's steadily increased his number of IP each year and reached 224.1 in 2010. He actually pitched 224.2 in 2009 if you include the postseason. He's started 6 of the first 23 games because Pineiro is on the DL and the Angels used a 4 man rotation early on as they had enough rest days to warrant it. I wouldn't expect to see Weaver pitch over 230-240 innings which is a number people like Halladay and Sabathia have reached consistently in recent years.

    It will be interesting to see if Weaver can win 20 games and especially interesting to see if Weaver and Haren can both win 20 games or more.

22. BSK Says:
    April 26th, 2011 at 7:09 pm

    "Just a quick poll here...who thinks John Autin would be a great blog author for this blog? Wouldn't you be excited to come here and read more if he made his own posts instead of burying all this cool stuff in the comment?"

    Absolutely!

23. Doug Says:
    April 26th, 2011 at 7:18 pm

    @20 @21.

    I tend to agree with Basmati. Jared's had two years now over 200 IP, which is kind of like being over 300 IP back in the 60s or 70s. In other words, a horse, at least by today's standards.

    You never know when an injury might occur but, so far, doesn't seem to be any ill effects. You tend to watch for stuff like that the year after a pitcher first cracks 200 IP (see Gustavo Chacin for case in point), but 2010 was a pretty good year for Weaver. Only twice was he knocked out before pitching 5 innings, and his run support in July and August was horrendous - the Angels run totals in his starts from July 1 to Sep 4 were 2, 1, 2, 3, 2, 2, 4, 4, 2, 0, 0, 0, and 1. So, his 2010 could have been a lot better than it appears (kind of like another pitcher last year with a 13-12 record).

24. Neil L. Says:
    April 26th, 2011 at 7:30 pm

    @23
    OK, Doug, I'll bite. Who do you mean?

    If Jared Weaver goes the whole year without being on the DL or being shut down early I will truly eat my words. He would become an exception among young pitchers starting their career.

25. dukeofflatbush Says:
    April 26th, 2011 at 7:51 pm

    @22
    2nded

26. Doug Says:
    April 26th, 2011 at 8:20 pm

    @ Neil L.

    When I saw Weaver's 13-12 record last year, Felix Hernandez came to mind. Not saying that Weaver is the same class as Felix, but both had run support issues and were clearly better than their W-L might suggest.

27. Doug Says:
    April 26th, 2011 at 8:39 pm

    @ Neil L.

    Neil, last thought on Weaver to comment on your remark:

    "If Jared Weaver goes the whole year without being on the DL or being shut down early I will truly eat my words. He would become an exception among young pitchers starting their career."

    My contention would be that Weaver is neither a young pitcher, nor just starting his career. He's 28 this year, presumably into his peak performance years. And, this is his 6th season taking a regular turn in the Angels rotation. He should be as ready now as he'll ever be to shoulder the workload of a #1 starter.

28. John Autin Says:
    April 26th, 2011 at 10:40 pm

    One thing for innings-counters to keep in mind: Not all innings are equally stressful. Because he's been so effective, Weaver has had very few high-pitch, high-stress innings, which many observers think is a better predictor of injury than raw counts pitches or innings.

    Last year, Weaver averaged 16.5 pitches per inning. This year, even while pitching a little deeper into games, he's averaging just 14.9 pitches per inning.

    He still might get hurt; but if he does so while pitching at his current usage level, there won't be any reason to say the injury was due to overwork. Most pitchers have a serious injury at some point in their careers; pitching overhand at 90 m.p.h. is an inherently unnatural task. The only truly safe usage level is one that won't do a big-league club any good.

29. John Autin Says:
    April 26th, 2011 at 11:00 pm

    Speaking of win streaks ... how about Cleveland's Justin Masterson? He's now 5-0 in 5 starts, all of the QS variety. Only 2 other Cleveland pitchers in the divisional era won their first 5 starts of a season: Cliff Lee in 2008, and Greg Swindell 1988.

    Masterson was 7-20 for Cleveland before this year, although his underlying stats were better than that W-L record. He hasn't been dominant this year, but he's keeping the ball in the park -- just 1 HR in 33 IP.

    Cleveland is now 14-8, and 8-2 at home. The fans aren't biting yet, though; home attendance is averaging under 14,000, and they had less than 10K tonight with 74-degree weather.

30. John Autin Says:
    April 26th, 2011 at 11:11 pm

    Another streak:

    The Phillies have scored 4 runs or less in their last 14 games, matching their longest such streak since Steve Carlton was a Cardinal and Mike Schmidt was in college (1971).

    And tonight? 2 runs through 5 innings....

31. John Autin Says:
    April 26th, 2011 at 11:59 pm

    Random notes:

    -- Have you ever heard of a wild pitch that scored a runner from third, while a runner on first stayed put? According to ESPN.com play-by-play, it happened in the bottom of the 9th tonight in Houston; speedy Michael Bourn was the runner at first, and the run that scored tied the game. I'll have to see the replay to understand how that can happen.

    -- Has Jose Bautista entered the Barry Zone? Er, let me rephrase that ... Bautista drew 2 more walks tonight, giving him a MLB-high 23 walks in 20 games played. His OBP is now .522, his OPS 1.305. He has just 11 RBI despite 8 HRs and a .362 BA, but he has scored 22 runs.

    -- Go figure: David Wright went 0 for 5 tonight, but the Mets won. They are 13-6 when Wright has gone hitless in 5 or more AB.

    -- Are there really still some folks who don't think Chipper Jones is a lock for the Hall of Fame? All-time leaders among third basemen (through Monday):
    -> WAR: Schmidt 108.3; Mathews 98.3; Boggs 89.0; Brett 85.0; C.Jones 80.6.
    -> OPS+: Schmidt 147; Mathews 143; C.Jones 142.
    -> Runs: Brett 1,583; C.Jones 1,514.
    -> RBI: Brett and Schmidt 1,595; C.Jones 1,507.

32. John Q Says:
    April 27th, 2011 at 12:36 am

    @4, I'd like to read John Autin's Articles/Blog posts.

    For some reason I really remember Rick Mahler in 1985. I can remember being in a McDonalds talking to a kid about Mahler being 7-0. I think it was more of a shock because Mahler was a pretty mediocre pitcher before '85.

    I don't know if it was brought up but Weaver had a really great season last year and could have won the Cy Young.

    K-1st
    GS-1st
    K/BB-2nd
    Whip-3rd
    K/9-3rd
    IP-3rd
    ERA+5th
    H/9-7th
    BB/9-9th

    Really his only weakness was giving up the long ball, he finished 22/43 among pitchers in HR/9.

33. John Q Says:
    April 27th, 2011 at 12:48 am

    @31, John A.

    That Met game 4/26 was a strange game.

    It's not often that a team only gets one Walk and wins the game. Another strange thing is that the Washington hit 3 HR the Mets hit 0 HR, 1BB and the Nats still lost the game. And the Mets starting pitcher only last 4 2/3.

34. Zachary Says:
    April 27th, 2011 at 3:18 am

    Zack Greinke was simply unbelievable in 2009. His April has to be one of the greatest months of pitching ever.

35. Tmckelv Says:
    April 27th, 2011 at 9:56 am

    @4 - JA for blogger - yes!

    For this post, when I first read "win streak to start the season" I immediately thought of Dave Stewart of the late 80's A's teams...and it turns out he was on your old list (from a previousl post) going 8-0 in 8 games in 1988. I remember those years he was like 5-0 before the season started (it seemed like).

36. Tmckelv Says:
    April 27th, 2011 at 10:04 am

    @ 31 JA,
    "-- Have you ever heard of a wild pitch that scored a runner from third, while a runner on first stayed put? "

    I am sure if we scoured the Jorge Posada base running database, I am sure we could find that happened to him. 🙂

    Actually it doesn't surprise me THAT much. I can think of 2 scenarios (niether of thiese fit what happened in the Astros game though).
    1) particulary daring and speedy runner on third who goes and a generally timid (baserunning-wise) and lumbering runner on first who stays put.
    2) a wild pitch that kicks off the catcher and goes up the first base line far enough to score the runner from third but freezes the runner 1st with the play so close to him (something like that).

37. John Autin Says:
    April 27th, 2011 at 10:30 am

    Has anyone seen a replay of that wild pitch that scored a run but kept Michael Bourn at 1st base? I have yet to find a video clip or a written description.

38. John Autin Says:
    April 27th, 2011 at 10:39 am

    OK, I saw the clip -- it was just as Tmckelv theorized @36 (2) -- the wild pitch caromed off the catcher and went way up the 1B line.

    I still think Bourn would have made it easily to 2B if he had broken before the catcher got to the ball; the catcher's attention is going to be focused on whether the runner from 3B is going home.

    Bourn's not advancing almost cost the Astros his game-winning run. It took 3 base hits to get him all the way around. I wonder if that's ever happened to Bourn before? (But I'm not going to check.)

39. Andy Says:
    April 27th, 2011 at 10:41 am

    JA, you seem to be ignoring the most important thread on this post.

40. Basmati Says:
    April 27th, 2011 at 12:20 pm

    I agree it would be great to have more input from John Autin.

    Regarding Jose Bautista who JA mentioned in post 31, would it not be a huge shock to everyone if he had an MVP year? Most people thought his 2010 was at best part breakout part fluke. I certainly didn't expect him to even repeat his 2010 performance let alone exceed it.

41. Michael E Sullivan Says:
    April 27th, 2011 at 5:31 pm

    @4: I think John Autin would be an excellent choice for a front page author for this blog.

42. dukeofflatbush Says:
    April 27th, 2011 at 8:58 pm

    I am starting a Bronx/Yankee inspired: Jo-hn Aut-in!! (clap clap clap) chant... but it has only drawn, 'are you loosing it?' stares from my wife and son.
    But say if John did acquiesce to our demands, I believe a fitting name for his blog would be; THE MAN, THE MYTH, THE LEGEND; AUTIN.

43. Neil L. Says:
    April 27th, 2011 at 9:26 pm

    JA, why have you not responded to Andy's post @39. Step up to the plate and accept the accolades of your peers.

44. kds Says:
    April 27th, 2011 at 10:21 pm

    @4, Hear! Hear! Here!

    @31, another possibility for the situation. The runner on first was thinking of stealing, but had just decided not to and was moving back to the base as the pitcher delivers.

45. John Autin Says:
    April 27th, 2011 at 10:57 pm

    @43 / @39 -- Not ignoring the thread; basking in it. 🙂

    Thanks to everyone for the encouragement. I'm going to try it. You may be disappointed; some guys are better off the bench! But I'll take some cuts, and hope the bat doesn't wind up in the stands.

46. Nash Bruce Says:
    April 28th, 2011 at 5:40 am

    @45: "Rock N' Roll!!!!!!!!!!!" :))))

47. dukeofflatbush Says:
    April 28th, 2011 at 8:25 am

    @ John
    HOOOOORAY.
    Just to sycophant a bit. (not sure if that is a verb).
    But John, you seem to write with the preparedness and research of some one in journalism, mixed with a touch of wit and good prose... are/were you a writer/researcher by trade?
    Either way, I think if you approach blogging with 50% of the quality and detail you add to other's blogs, you'll have a fan here.
    Good luck.

48. 1 Inch Weaver Says:
    April 28th, 2011 at 10:59 am

    [...] Jered Weaver's win streak to start the season » Baseball-Reference ... Last night Jered Weaver won his 6th game in his 6th start of the season. I can't link to it because as I'm writing this our database hasn't gotten its daily update yet. Here are the players with the longest win streaks to start a season . 6:50 am [...]