SCANNING THE YEAR
July 22, 2063 -- I just ran the latest Starting Pitcher ranks, and that's always fun. As a rule, I take a moment on my own time to filter out the dross and look at the details for the one team that matters--the Krill. I did that this time, of course, but this time I asked myself, "Self, I wonder how my guys have moved through the ranks over the season?"
To which, I replied... "hum...you know I could go to the daily listings I print with each run, and compile some info."
Of course, I was off to the races at that point.
I grabbed the rankings for opening day, for the end of each month, and then tacked on the current data of July 22nd. What fell out is interesting from a storytelling standpoint. Interesting to me, anyway.
Here is a rundown of the seasons of each Krill starter, presented in order of their current ranking:
| | 1-Apr | 30-Apr | 31-May | 30-Jun | 22-Jul |
|---|
| Mezza | Rank | 62 | 71 | 50 | 25 | 30 |
| Points | 416.83 | 414.93 | 445.66 | 478.82 | 477.85 |
| | | | | | |
It's probably not far off to say that despite being a mostly steady and reliable pitcher since coming to the team in a (at the time) controversial trade, but in the end
Arturo Meza has been a very gentle disappointment over the whole of that time. A ranking of 62nd on opening day (meaning he's a low-2, maybe high-3, reflected that. 2063 did not start out in any fashion that rebutted that idea, as Meza's overall ranking in the first month fell eleven positions and two ranking points. At that point, one had to wonder if the team might try to trade him for whatever perceived value he might have.
But along came May, and Meza became a very hot pitcher. By the end of May, he was 50th in the world. By the end of June, he had put on 64 ranking points and was listed in the 25th spot. And, yeah, All-Star Game here we come.
July has seen a flattening despite the team winning all four of his starts.
At an 82 FIP-, if he were to stay on that May/June tear and the team wins enough,
Arturo Meza could wind up a darkhorse Nebraska candidate.
| | 1-Apr | 30-Apr | 31-May | 30-Jun | 22-Jul |
|---|
| Nakamura | Rank | 77 | 68 | 62 | 39 | 47 |
| Points | 398.23 | 417.92 | 432.68 | 464.59 | 459.38 |
| | | | | | |
After a down season in 2062 left
Takashi Nakamura ranked only 77th in the world, he came into this season with something to prove. And prove it he did. The man was strong from the start, carrying the team at times as he led the league in wins on the way to adding 66 ranking points and climbing over 38 other pitchers to reach the 30s from a ranking perspective.
Some are questioning if his single-minded pursuit of perfection resulted in his elbow strain that will keep him down for most of August. The numbers in July would suggest that he'd been feeling the stress before he got hurt (which is an interesting OOTP question that I need to think about a little).
| | 1-Apr | 30-Apr | 31-May | 30-Jun | 22-Jul |
|---|
| Worboys | Rank | 114 | 86 | 78 | 86 | 76 |
| Points | 370.19 | 401.2 | 414.5 | 415.88 | 430.24 |
| | | | | | |
Paul Worboys is turning into a streaky, grind-it-out kind of pitcher. Last year, he felt streaky. This year, we see it in his rankings. Game Score is not the end-all of metrics, but it seems to do a reasonable job of describing whether pitchers do what you pay them to do, and for the first two months, Worboys did just that. He dealt with a couple of bumps and strains, but came through them fine, rising from the dregs below 100 up to 78 by the end of May. Just saw him tread water, but July has been good to him.
Worboys continues to grow ratings.
If he can stay healthy, I would hope to see him up there in the 20s and 30s sometime soon.
| | 1-Apr | 30-Apr | 31-May | 30-Jun | 22-Jul |
|---|
| Williams | Rank | | 172 | 149 | 146 | 126 |
| Points | | 324.44 | 351.27 | 362.51 | 384.12 |
| | | | | | |
Nelson Williams began his rookie season by breaking camp with the Krill. It was an exciting time. Unfortunately, his 1-1, 5.58 April barely pulled him out from guys ranked under 200. He made some adjustments in May, though, and that seemed to help, until the league caught up to them in June. July has been pretty okay, though.
Baseball is like that. Adjustments on the adjustments.
| | 1-Apr | 30-Apr | 31-May | 30-Jun | 22-Jul |
|---|
| Glass | Rank | | | 210 | 211 | 164 |
| Points | | | 300.74 | 305.57 | 349.24 |
| | | | | | |
I've written about
Paul Glass a couple of times now, and the Game Score metric does nothing but back up those earlier reports. Glass jumped almost straight to the bigs, and for about a month, or maybe two, big league hitters got the better of him. Sure, there were perhaps some inconsistencies in how he was used in those early days, but the numbers are the numbers.
His last several outings have been stellar, however, and have rocketed him 47 positions upward. If he stays on this path another few weeks, look for him to break the 100 plane.
| | 1-Apr | 30-Apr | 31-May | 30-Jun | 22-Jul |
|---|
| Deckard | Rank | 163 | x | 194 | 211 | 228 |
| Points | 306.13 | x | 311 | 305.57 | 300.7 |
| | | | | | |
Herman Deckard has been one of three bullpen guys to get starts, and of the three, he's probably the closest to a true starter. He's almost fallen off the chart (300 is the lowest value that qualifies), but Nalamura's injury means he's probably going to get a chance to bump the ranking up for the next month. On and off, anyway.
| | 1-Apr | 30-Apr | 31-May | 30-Jun | 22-Jul |
|---|
| Truss | Rank | | | 194 | 204 | 226 |
| Points | | | 315.27 | 307.52 | 302.02 |
| | | | | | |
Steve Truss started two games while he was with the Krill, and it was fine. It was enough that he's still on the chart right now, despite being in AAA for some time. I expect he'll be back with the Krill's bullpen this sim after being called up to fill Nakamura's roster spot.
| | 1-Apr | 30-Apr | 31-May | 30-Jun | 22-Jul |
|---|
| Vidaca | Rank | | 207 | 209 | x | x |
| Points | | 302.55 | 300.74 | x | x |
Felix Vidaca started three games. They were all pretty ugly, totaling an 8.01 ERA. That he bumped his ranking points above 300 with that kind of performance shows how simple it is, early in the process, to score points.
