First ballot Hall of Famer Matt Harvey is 12-10 in 36 career starts. Complete bust Zack Wheeler is 9-10 in 28 career starts.
— metspolice.com (@metspolice) May 30, 2014
One Reply to “Fun with numbers: Harvey and Wheeler”
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What Mets fans talk about when not talking about the actual games.
Give it a rest. Yes, W-L record is the most important team stat, but it’s absolutely meaningless as an individual stat for a pitcher.
Look at Harvey’s game log from last year: http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/gl.cgi?id=harvema01&t=p&year=
He had 6 starts in which he pitched 7 or more innings, giving up either zero or one run, in which he either did not get a win (5 times) or got the loss (1 time). In one of those games (May 7), he pitched 9 shutout innings and ended up with a no-decision as the Mets won it in the bottom of the 10th. Are you suggesting that if Harvey were a better pitcher, he would’ve gotten W’s for some of those games?
Ideally, a starting pitcher’s job is to get 7 or more innings, and give up no runs. In reality, no team can expect that on every outing from even the best pitcher in a league in a given year. When your starter goes 7 or more, and gives up 1 run or less, that should be able to give your team a fighting chance to win. In those cases, the starter has done his job, and it’s up to the rest of the team to carry their end of the deal.