Monday, July 21, 2014

Top 29 Seasons in FIP ERA Since 1920

From Baseball Reference

Rank
Player (age that year)
FIP ERA
Year
1
Pedro Martinez (27)
1.395
1999
2
Dwight Gooden (19)
1.685
1984
3
Clayton Kershaw (26)
1.739
2014
4
Bob Gibson+ (32)
1.774
1968
5
Sandy Koufax+ (27)
1.852
1963
6
Sandy Koufax+ (29)
1.927
1965
7
Tom Seaver+ (26)
1.931
1971
8
Hal Newhouser+ (25)
1.966
1946
9
Matt Harvey (24)
2.005
2013
10
Steve Carlton+ (27)
2.009
1972
11
Luis Tiant (27)
2.041
1968
12
Felix Hernandez (28)
2.052
2014
13
Bob Moose (20)
2.063
1968
14
Sandy Koufax+ (30)
2.071
1966
15
Sandy Koufax+ (28)
2.076
1964
16
Randy Johnson (31)
2.081
1995
17
Sam McDowell (22)
2.081
1965
18
Don Sutton+ (23)
2.082
1968
19
Bob Veale (29)
2.107
1965
20
Bill Gullickson (22)
2.111
1981
21
Dave Righetti (22)
2.116
1981
22
Dwight Gooden (20)
2.127
1985
23
Randy Johnson (37)
2.128
2001
24
Sandy Koufax+ (26)
2.15
1962
25
Mike Scott (31)
2.157
1986
26
Don Sutton+ (26)
2.157
1971
27
Bob Feller+ (27)
2.157
1946
28
Pedro Martinez (28)
2.171
2000
29
Roger Clemens (25)
2.174
1988

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Reminds us how brilliant Dwight Gooden was in his first two seasons. Hard to imagine we'll ever see that level of dominance from a pitcher before his 21st birthday. Amazing to think what could've been if not for the drugs. Amazing how effective he was between 86 and 90, despite the drugs. What an incredible waste.

Cyril Morong said...

Thanks for reading and commenting. Gooden's name sure jumped out at me, too and I recall those year. I even remember reading something about how the infielders on his minor league team had to hold their gloves in front of their faces so no one could see them laughing as he simply toyed with hitters.

Cyril Morong said...

Here are the top 10 pitching WARs since 1901

Walter Johnson 14.6 1913
Walter Johnson 13.5 1912
Cy Young 12.6 1901
Dwight Gooden 12.1 1985
Steve Carlton 12.1 1972
Pete Alexander 12.1 1920
Roger Clemens 11.9 1997
Walter Johnson 11.9 1914
Pedro Martinez 11.7 2000
Wilbur Wood 11.7 1971

Cyril Morong said...

Here are the 10 best FIP ERAs through age 20, 200+ IP. Gooden had 494 IP. Next highest is Bender with 473 (everyone else is below 400)

Walter Johnson 1.6
Harry Krause 1.93
Dwight Gooden 1.93
Smoky Joe Wood 2.16
Fernando Valenzuela 2.38
Doc Crandall 2.52
Willie Mitchell 2.59
Chief Bender 2.61
Ray Keating 2.67
Christy Mathewson 2.71

Anonymous said...

Funny story about Gooden's minor league days. I just looked up his minor league stats. In 1983, Gooden's last season in the minors (18 years old I presume), he struck out 300 batters in 191 innings. I imagine his teammates had a lot of laughs.