At the beginning of the season we ranked what we thought would be the 10 best pitchers in each league. Now that the season is three-fourths done, let’s see how we did in the National League after ranking the best of the American League last week.
Below are the current 10 best starting pitchers in the senior circuit based on a number of different categories, including wins, ERA, strikeouts, and walks, with statistics through Monday. Beneath each ranked pitcher is who we projected to be there way back in April. On to the list:
10. Madison Bumgarner: San Francisco Giants; 2012 Pitching stats: 14-8 record, 2.93 ERA, 178.0 innings, 8.3 strikeouts/nine innings, 1.8 walks/nine innings, 1.02 walks/hits per inning—Bumgarner, who just turned 23 at the beginning of August and finished 11th in last year’s Cy Young voting is having his best season yet. The 10th overall pick of the 2007 draft is currently in the top 10 in the three triple crown categories of wins, ERA, and strikeouts. He has helped ease the downfall of Tim Lincecum.
We had: Matt Cain. See below at No. 6.
9. Gio Gonzalez: Washington Nationals; 2012 Pitching stats: 16-7 record, 3.28 ERA, 159.3 innings, 9.5 strikeouts/nine innings, 3.4 walks/nine innings, 1.16 walks/hits per inning—Gonzalez, who made his second straight All-Star team this past summer has made a smooth transition to the National League. The former Athletic is second in wins, strikeouts per nine innings, and fewest hits per nine innings (7.06).
We had: Ian Kennedy who is currently 11-11 with a 4.44 ERA and a league-worst 26 home runs allowed.
8. Jordan Zimmerman: Washington Nationals; 2012 Pitching stats: 9-8 record, 2.63 ERA, 161.0 innings, 6.7 strikeouts/nine innings, 1.8 walks/nine innings, 1.13 walks/hits per inning—Zimmerman, who was passed over for the All-Star Game this past season despite a 2.61 ERA at the break, has continued his dominant ways over the second half and is right behind league-leading Johnny Cueto in ERA. Only his unimpressive win-loss record, due in part to a weak offense, and a relatively low strikeout total (119 thus far) has held him back.
We had: Mat Latos who had an ERA above 5.00 in mid-June but is now down to 3.84 with a 10-4 record.
