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Young & Hot

Posted by Steve Lombardi on June 17, 2010

Phil Hughes, who is 24 this season, has 6 starts this year so far (within the Yankees first 65 games) where he's gone 6+ IP and allowed 2 runs or less. That got me wondering about how impressive that stat is...so, I used Baseball-Reference.com's Play Index Pitching Game Finder and asked it to show me, since 1973, how many pitchers, 24 or younger, had 8+ games within his team's first 65 games of a season where he made a start and went at least 6 innings and allowed 2 runs or less. Here's the result:

Rk Player Year #Matching   W L W-L% ERA GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO WHIP
1 Frank Tanana 1977 13 Ind. Games 11 2 .846 0.78 13 12 6 0 116.0 74 10 7 24 98 0.84
2 Dwight Gooden 1985 11 Ind. Games 9 2 .818 0.98 11 6 3 0 92.0 60 10 4 22 98 0.89
3 Ron Darling 1985 11 Ind. Games 6 0 1.000 1.26 11 3 2 0 86.0 61 12 2 30 66 1.06
4 Carlos Zambrano 2004 10 Ind. Games 7 0 1.000 1.11 10 1 1 0 73.0 45 9 3 24 71 0.95
5 Fernando Valenzuela 1981 10 Ind. Games 9 1 .900 0.82 10 8 5 0 88.0 53 8 3 22 88 0.85
6 Jay Tibbs 1986 10 Ind. Games 4 0 1.000 1.43 10 2 2 0 69.0 43 11 0 29 43 1.04
7 Pete Harnisch 1991 10 Ind. Games 3 2 .600 1.10 10 2 1 0 73.2 40 9 3 28 52 0.92
8 Don Gullett 1975 10 Ind. Games 8 0 1.000 1.31 10 5 2 0 82.2 57 12 2 22 48 0.96
9 Scott Erickson 1991 10 Ind. Games 9 1 .900 0.71 10 2 2 0 76.1 55 6 1 23 47 1.02
10 Barry Zito 2002 9 Ind. Games 7 0 1.000 1.44 9 0 0 0 62.2 41 10 6 17 62 0.93
11 Matt Young 1983 9 Ind. Games 5 2 .714 0.88 9 3 2 0 71.1 48 7 2 22 41 0.98
12 Dontrelle Willis 2005 9 Ind. Games 7 1 .875 1.07 9 2 2 0 67.0 57 8 1 14 52 1.06
13 Edinson Volquez 2008 9 Ind. Games 6 1 .857 1.40 9 0 0 0 58.0 36 9 2 28 73 1.10
14 Bill Travers 1976 9 Ind. Games 6 2 .750 0.84 9 6 3 0 75.1 52 7 3 25 42 1.02
15 Bret Saberhagen 1987 9 Ind. Games 9 0 1.000 0.91 9 7 2 0 79.0 46 8 1 13 46 0.75
16 Odalis Perez 2002 9 Ind. Games 6 0 1.000 1.52 9 2 1 0 71.0 46 12 3 11 50 0.80
17 Ramon Martinez 1991 9 Ind. Games 8 0 1.000 1.01 9 4 3 0 71.1 41 8 2 20 50 0.86
18 Kyle Lohse 2003 9 Ind. Games 5 1 .833 1.62 9 2 1 0 66.2 48 12 5 12 44 0.90
19 Mat Latos 2010 9 Ind. Games 7 1 .875 1.63 9 1 1 0 60.2 33 11 3 12 54 0.74
20 Dwight Gooden 1989 9 Ind. Games 5 1 .833 1.34 9 0 0 0 67.1 46 10 3 26 56 1.07
21 Dwight Gooden 1984 9 Ind. Games 5 1 .833 0.88 9 2 1 0 71.1 36 7 2 22 79 0.81
22 Storm Davis 1984 9 Ind. Games 6 0 1.000 1.30 9 4 2 0 69.0 37 10 1 13 22 0.72
23 Roger Clemens 1986 9 Ind. Games 9 0 1.000 1.04 9 5 1 0 77.2 38 9 6 19 74 0.73
24 Matt Cain 2009 9 Ind. Games 7 0 1.000 1.30 9 2 0 0 62.1 48 9 3 22 48 1.12
25 Mark Buehrle 2002 9 Ind. Games 8 0 1.000 1.27 9 1 0 0 63.2 45 9 4 17 37 0.97
26 Kevin Appier 1992 9 Ind. Games 3 3 .500 1.63 9 1 0 0 66.1 47 12 2 23 44 1.06
27 Bob Welch 1980 8 Ind. Games 5 1 .833 0.96 8 3 2 0 65.1 32 7 2 18 37 0.77
28 Frank Viola 1984 8 Ind. Games 5 1 .833 1.33 8 2 2 0 61.0 43 9 2 16 31 0.97
29 Justin Verlander 2007 8 Ind. Games 5 0 1.000 1.25 8 1 1 0 57.2 31 8 3 20 45 0.88
30 Fernando Valenzuela 1982 8 Ind. Games 7 1 .875 1.22 8 6 1 0 66.2 54 9 2 10 49 0.96
31 Fernando Valenzuela 1985 8 Ind. Games 5 3 .625 0.53 8 6 3 0 67.1 37 4 1 17 53 0.80
32 Justin Thompson 1997 8 Ind. Games 3 3 .500 1.49 8 1 0 0 60.1 42 10 3 17 50 0.98
33 Greg Swindell 1989 8 Ind. Games 5 0 1.000 1.09 8 3 2 0 66.1 41 8 2 13 51 0.81
34 John Smoltz 1989 8 Ind. Games 6 1 .857 1.11 8 2 0 0 65.0 39 8 2 18 50 0.88
35 Jose Silva 1998 8 Ind. Games 6 0 1.000 1.29 8 1 0 0 56.0 40 8 2 9 41 0.88
36 Jose Rosado 1997 8 Ind. Games 5 0 1.000 1.41 8 2 0 0 63.2 38 10 6 16 44 0.85
37 Jerry Reuss 1973 8 Ind. Games 6 1 .857 1.05 8 5 1 0 68.2 42 8 2 22 47 0.93
38 Rick Reuschel 1973 8 Ind. Games 5 1 .833 0.86 8 3 1 0 63.0 48 6 1 13 40 0.97
39 Andy Pettitte 1997 8 Ind. Games 6 2 .750 1.60 8 3 0 0 62.0 48 11 3 15 35 1.02
40 Frank Pastore 1980 8 Ind. Games 6 0 1.000 1.34 8 5 2 0 67.1 39 10 4 12 49 0.76
41 Vicente Padilla 2002 8 Ind. Games 7 1 .875 0.92 8 1 1 0 59.0 35 6 2 14 41 0.83
42 Brett Myers 2005 8 Ind. Games 2 1 .667 1.23 8 1 0 0 58.2 38 8 5 12 56 0.85
43 Mike Mussina 1993 8 Ind. Games 6 0 1.000 1.25 8 3 2 0 65.0 44 9 5 12 53 0.86
44 Lynn McGlothen 1974 8 Ind. Games 7 1 .875 1.09 8 4 2 0 66.1 47 8 2 22 40 1.04
45 Jon Matlack 1974 8 Ind. Games 4 2 .667 1.39 8 3 2 0 64.2 42 10 1 18 54 0.93
46 Pedro Martinez 1995 8 Ind. Games 4 2 .667 1.50 8 1 1 0 60.0 37 10 4 16 56 0.88
47 Greg Maddux 1988 8 Ind. Games 8 0 1.000 0.94 8 5 3 0 67.1 43 7 1 14 39 0.85
48 John Lannan 2008 8 Ind. Games 4 2 .667 1.56 8 0 0 0 52.0 39 9 2 19 35 1.12
49 Bob Knepper 1978 8 Ind. Games 5 0 1.000 0.95 8 4 2 0 66.1 44 7 1 14 37 0.87
50 Clayton Kershaw 2010 8 Ind. Games 4 2 .667 1.31 8 0 0 0 55.0 38 8 1 21 56 1.07
51 Matt Keough 1980 8 Ind. Games 7 1 .875 0.83 8 8 1 0 76.0 40 7 1 22 41 0.82
52 Jair Jurrjens 2009 8 Ind. Games 2 3 .400 2.00 8 0 0 0 54.0 41 12 2 17 39 1.07
53 Bobby Jones 1994 8 Ind. Games 6 0 1.000 1.34 8 1 1 0 60.1 41 9 2 20 27 1.01
54 Felix Hernandez 2009 8 Ind. Games 5 0 1.000 0.45 8 1 1 0 59.2 38 3 0 19 52 0.96
55 Don Gullett 1973 8 Ind. Games 5 1 .833 1.61 8 1 1 0 61.1 46 11 2 16 38 1.01
56 Rich Gossage 1976 8 Ind. Games 5 2 .714 1.40 8 6 0 0 70.2 53 11 2 25 48 1.10
57 Dwight Gooden 1986 8 Ind. Games 7 0 1.000 1.29 8 6 2 0 70.0 39 10 5 13 53 0.74
58 Yovani Gallardo 2010 8 Ind. Games 4 0 1.000 1.17 8 1 1 0 54.0 42 7 1 25 49 1.24
59 Dave Fleming 1992 8 Ind. Games 7 0 1.000 1.10 8 1 1 0 57.1 48 7 1 20 24 1.19
60 Alex Fernandez 1993 8 Ind. Games 5 1 .833 1.40 8 2 1 0 64.1 42 10 4 15 50 0.89
61 Nate Cornejo 2003 8 Ind. Games 3 1 .750 1.68 8 0 0 0 53.2 48 10 3 14 9 1.16
62 John Candelaria 1978 8 Ind. Games 6 1 .857 1.02 8 2 1 0 61.2 51 7 2 13 31 1.04
63 John Candelaria 1977 8 Ind. Games 6 0 1.000 0.75 8 2 1 0 59.2 37 5 3 7 32 0.74
64 Steve Busby 1974 8 Ind. Games 6 1 .857 1.51 8 6 1 0 71.2 48 12 0 19 45 0.93
65 Steve Avery 1993 8 Ind. Games 6 0 1.000 1.48 8 1 1 0 61.0 44 10 0 7 31 0.84
66 Steve Avery 1994 8 Ind. Games 5 0 1.000 1.55 8 0 0 0 58.0 35 10 3 13 44 0.83
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 6/17/2010.

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Jay Tibbs, Bill Travers, Jose Silva, Jose Rosado, Frank Pastore, Dave Fleming and Nate Cornejo? Really? Apparently so...

Related posts:

    Young All-Stars
    Most QS By Young SP Last 3 Seasons
    Wearing out young pitchers (?)
    Young Starters In The Post-Season
    Young Starting Pitchers Off To A Hot Start Since 1996

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 17th, 2010 at 10:32 pm and is filed under Game Finders. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

19 Responses to “Young & Hot”

  1. Johnny Twisto Says:
    June 17th, 2010 at 11:08 pm

    It's interesting to see who makes this list multiple times. Doc Gooden is on it 4 times! By '89 his best days were way behind him, yet by these standards he'd seem like a promising young pitcher. And Fernando Valenzuela is here 3 times (though his birthdate may not be right). He and Doc had some great matchups in the mid-80s.

  2. DavidRF Says:
    June 17th, 2010 at 11:16 pm

    So, 2-3 pitchers reach a certain criteria 8 or more times almost every season, but its big news when a Yankee gets to 6?

    I actually enjoy hearing about great Yankee accomplishments, but Hughes isn't even on this list. How about a mention of the three players from this season who are actually on the list above?

  3. Tom Says:
    June 17th, 2010 at 11:26 pm

    The Cards' Jaime Garcia reached No. 8 last night, in team game 66.

  4. Thomas Says:
    June 17th, 2010 at 11:28 pm

    Wow, I didn't get that feeling at all. It felt like he said, I saw a Yankees player did this, let's see who else has done this.

    Do you know why I feel this way? Because that's what he said he did. Something has to set off why someone looks a stat up... it just so happened that it was a Yankee this time.

    Please give up bashing the guys writing this blog for supposed biases and the like. I'd hate for any of them to feel like they can't just write anything they want.

  5. Evan Says:
    June 17th, 2010 at 11:44 pm

    Well regardless of what spurred the idea, the gist of the post is that what Hughes has done this season is good but by no means remarkable. To tie it back to an earlier entry this week, he is 9-1 because he plays for a team that has scored 98 runs in the 12 games he has started this season.

    As Tom noted, Garcia achieved his 8th such start in his team's 66th game (it would have been his eleventh such start if we were looking at ER only). Garcia is 6-3 (not a terrible record as it is) because his team has scored 48 runs in the 13 games he has started.

  6. Johnny Twisto Says:
    June 17th, 2010 at 11:54 pm

    Look, Hughes knows how to win and Garcia does just enough to lose.

  7. Frank Clingenpeel Says:
    June 17th, 2010 at 11:56 pm

    Kudos to Thomas! Blogger-bashing has no place in a forum like this, in which we try to interpret stats into practical meanings. People have the right to misintrepret data, or formulate differing opinions. We, being humans, even have the right to our biases. But as the old saying goes, stats don't lie, and through them, we have at least the opportunity to get an accurate picture of the situation.

  8. Bryan Mueller Says:
    June 18th, 2010 at 1:37 am

    The best thing about these blogs is that I bet for everyone who reads them...they see a player who brings back some odd memory (baseball tends to do that). I saw Jose Rosado and instantly I thought about a kid in my 7th grade math class who was a big Royals fan. All he talked about was how Rosado was going to be a Cy Young winner and how he would lead the Royals to the pennant. I gave him a pretty hard time but in hindsight, I was pretty high on a fellow named Mark Prior...

  9. Steve Lombardi Says:
    June 18th, 2010 at 6:53 am

    FWIW, Hughes caught my eye and led to this query. Mostly because he's 24. But, agreed, he's not the best here...as many had 8+ and made the list. BTW, check out Tanana. 13 for 65? Even if he started every four games, that's 16 (maybe 17 starts). 13 out of 16...? Wow.

  10. Steve Lombardi Says:
    June 18th, 2010 at 6:56 am

    ~~~I bet for everyone who reads them...they see a player who brings back some odd memory (baseball tends to do that).~~~

    That's the cool part of it for me. I've been a baseball fan since 1973. So, there are some players I haven't thought about in a long time. And, there are others, before my time, that I never heard of before. And, these queries lead me to their names...and bring back memories or force some learning. And, that's always good - esp when it's baseball. 😉

  11. Andy Says:
    June 18th, 2010 at 8:57 am

    Laugh @ JT!

  12. nightfly Says:
    June 18th, 2010 at 9:18 am

    I hear you on childhood memories. When Doc and Straw debuted, and the Mets traded for I'm Keith Hernandez, it looked like blue skies from now on. Little 'fly was convinced they'd win the Series a bunch of times.

    Looking back now, I see that '83-'90 was actually a darn good run for Davey Johnson and the boys. (And how he didn't get work after that stretch astounds me - did Johnson turn down offers and just enjoy retirement? I don't blame him if he did, and good for him, but it's odd that he never resurfaced and nobody heard much from him or about him over the years.)

    But DAMN, Doc! Through age 26 you'd have pencilled in Gooden for 300 wins, easy. He had won about 56% of his STARTS at that point. He could still strike out 8 per 9 IP, he was stingy with home runs (unless you were named Tuffy Rhodes); even through age 28, he was still effective though the Mets were now sucking out loud.

    One of the great might-have-beens in baseball. Somewhere in the universe, Spock has a beard, we're still a British Commonwealth, and the Outstanding Base-Ballers Museum of Cooperstown, New York has plaques of Gooden, Straw, Saberhagen, Herb Score, Sudden Sam McDowell, and Shoeless Joe Jackson.

  13. Brett Says:
    June 18th, 2010 at 9:30 am

    Longtime reader, first time poster.

    Being a current Brewers fan, it's great to see Yo-yo Gallardo on this list. Also, despite what people probably want, if you put "Yankees" in the first synopsis, it does tend to draw more responses on that particular blog.

  14. Johnny Twisto Says:
    June 18th, 2010 at 9:50 am

    Nightfly, Johnson did manage LA and BAL after that.

  15. Johnny Twisto Says:
    June 18th, 2010 at 9:51 am

    Hmm, and the Reds. I have no memory of that.

  16. nightfly Says:
    June 18th, 2010 at 1:13 pm

    Wow, you're better than I am JT. I can sort of remember the O's because he had played there. Had no idea he managed again in the NL. I can only claim ennui - the Dallas Green Mets were so tough to take I kind of checked out for a few years.

    (Heh, I almost typed "NHL." I wonder what Jarome Iginla's WAR is?)

  17. Evan Says:
    June 18th, 2010 at 5:34 pm

    @JT-

    I'm a little upset with you. I hadn't looked at that thread since it had a manageable number of comments, but your humorous quip caused me to look again and was truly appalled to see that it had gone well over 100 posts. I'm a little scarred now and I pretty much blame you.

    In all seriousness though, R/S is a stat that I have a quibble with. I think this is one of those stats where it would be more informative to use the median for the stat, but even that is flawed. e.g. (and apologies for turning this into a Jaime Garcia comment string, but that is who I was looking at last night) it doesn't really tell you the story about Garcia's run support to say the Cardinals have scored 3.69 R/S, or even that the median is 3 R/S. Looking behind the numbers, the Cardinals have scored: 0 , 1 (5 times), 3, 4, 5, 6 (2 times), 7, 12 in his starts. Seems to me that the stat is just too prone to being distorted by one or two exceptional performances.

    Hughes, I think I recall, on the other hand has had 8 or more runs in all but 4 or so of his starts. Consistent support can certainly make most pitchers look like winners - heck, if he got that kind of run support Ollie Perez might not be on the disabled list right now.

  18. Frank Clingenpeel Says:
    June 18th, 2010 at 6:41 pm

    I didn't forget that Johnson managed the Reds...I just blocked it out. Intentially.

  19. Frank Clingenpeel Says:
    June 18th, 2010 at 7:15 pm

    OUCH !! Calling Gooden, et al, "Childhood memories"??? To me, the phrase conjures up pictures of Whip Blackwell, Ted Kluszewski and Bobby Adams.

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