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Ubaldo Jimenez and his incredible first half

Posted by Andy on July 9, 2010

Ubaldo Jimenez registered his 15th win of the season last night. Amazing. Click through for some tidbits about his accomplishments so far this season.

Here are all the pitchers within our box score years (1920-1939, 1952-present) to win at least 15 games in their team's first 85 games.

Rk Player Year #Matching W L W-L% ERA GS CG SHO IP H ER HR BB SO WHIP
1 Red Faber 1921 19 Ind. Games 19 0 1.000 1.66 18 18 4 167.2 127 31 5 50 61 1.06
2 Lefty Grove 1931 18 Ind. Games 18 0 1.000 1.87 15 14 3 149.0 130 31 5 46 85 1.18
3 Jim Bagby 1920 18 Ind. Games 18 0 1.000 2.23 15 15 0 145.1 131 36 3 34 33 1.14
4 Bucky Walters 1939 17 Ind. Games 17 0 1.000 1.75 17 0 0 154.1 113 30 5 43 67 1.01
5 Bobby Shantz 1952 17 Ind. Games 17 0 1.000 1.37 17 17 3 158.0 110 24 7 35 86 0.92
6 Dizzy Dean 1934 17 Ind. Games 17 0 1.000 1.88 14 0 0 143.1 118 30 3 23 87 0.98
7 Vida Blue 1971 17 Ind. Games 17 0 1.000 1.02 17 17 6 150.0 84 17 2 45 153 0.86
8 Wilbur Wood 1973 16 Ind. Games 16 0 1.000 1.39 15 10 4 136.0 106 21 4 24 77 0.96
9 Lefty Williams 1920 16 Ind. Games 16 0 1.000 2.61 15 14 0 138.0 122 40 2 33 58 1.12
10 Charlie Root 1927 16 Ind. Games 16 0 1.000 2.40 14 14 1 131.0 104 35 7 53 67 1.20
11 Eddie Rommel 1925 16 Ind. Games 16 0 1.000 2.97 10 9 0 112.0 110 37 5 38 36 1.32
12 George Pipgras 1928 16 Ind. Games 16 0 1.000 2.48 16 13 2 138.0 132 38 3 52 61 1.33
13 Gaylord Perry 1972 16 Ind. Games 16 0 1.000 1.17 16 12 3 146.1 98 19 0 35 91 0.91
14 Denny McLain 1968 16 Ind. Games 16 0 1.000 1.67 16 14 2 140.0 92 26 9 16 119 0.77
15 Dolf Luque 1923 16 Ind. Games 16 0 1.000 1.48 16 14 5 140.0 104 23 1 31 77 0.96
16 Mickey Lolich 1972 16 Ind. Games 16 0 1.000 1.58 16 15 3 142.2 118 25 9 23 119 0.99
17 Sandy Koufax 1966 16 Ind. Games 16 0 1.000 1.02 16 15 3 141.0 106 16 5 26 146 0.94
18 Randy Jones 1976 16 Ind. Games 16 0 1.000 1.32 16 15 3 143.0 106 21 1 19 50 0.87
19 Burleigh Grimes 1929 16 Ind. Games 16 0 1.000 1.91 16 15 2 141.1 134 30 8 34 31 1.19
20 Whitey Ford 1961 16 Ind. Games 16 0 1.000 2.80 16 7 1 125.1 88 39 11 37 96 1.00
21 Wes Ferrell 1932 16 Ind. Games 16 0 1.000 2.58 15 14 0 136.0 132 39 8 36 50 1.24
22 Pete Alexander 1920 16 Ind. Games 16 0 1.000 1.11 15 15 3 146.0 112 18 3 27 69 0.95
23 Sloppy Thurston 1924 15 Ind. Games 15 0 1.000 3.00 15 15 0 135.0 132 45 9 30 18 1.20
24 Urban Shocker 1923 15 Ind. Games 15 0 1.000 2.39 15 14 2 132.0 125 35 6 24 50 1.13
25 Dutch Ruether 1920 15 Ind. Games 15 0 1.000 1.45 15 15 5 137.0 90 22 0 52 58 1.04
Rk Player Year #Matching W L W-L% ERA GS CG SHO IP H ER HR BB SO WHIP
26 Robin Roberts 1953 15 Ind. Games 15 0 1.000 1.59 15 15 3 136.0 108 24 10 23 70 0.96
27 Gaylord Perry 1974 15 Ind. Games 15 0 1.000 0.93 15 15 3 135.0 71 14 5 39 94 0.81
28 Carl Mays 1921 15 Ind. Games 15 0 1.000 1.91 14 14 1 131.2 109 28 3 27 31 1.03
29 Pedro Martinez 1999 15 Ind. Games 15 0 1.000 1.77 15 2 0 111.2 85 22 5 19 150 0.93
30 Juan Marichal 1965 15 Ind. Games 15 0 1.000 0.64 14 14 8 127.1 80 9 6 14 96 0.74
31 Juan Marichal 1968 15 Ind. Games 15 0 1.000 1.53 15 15 2 135.0 111 23 7 16 98 0.94
32 Greg Maddux 1988 15 Ind. Games 15 0 1.000 1.71 15 8 3 126.0 93 24 5 37 70 1.03
33 Ubaldo Jimenez 2010 15 Ind. Games 15 0 1.000 1.41 15 3 2 108.1 70 17 4 38 96 1.00
34 Lefty Grove 1929 15 Ind. Games 15 0 1.000 1.36 15 12 2 126.0 93 19 3 30 90 0.98
35 Burleigh Grimes 1928 15 Ind. Games 15 0 1.000 1.53 14 14 4 135.0 102 23 2 24 54 0.93
36 Lefty Gomez 1934 15 Ind. Games 15 0 1.000 1.49 14 14 3 127.0 90 21 6 35 58 0.98
37 Lefty Gomez 1932 15 Ind. Games 15 0 1.000 2.94 14 13 1 128.2 103 42 8 58 104 1.25
38 Bob Feller 1939 15 Ind. Games 15 0 1.000 1.91 14 0 0 127.1 86 27 4 58 106 1.13
39 George Earnshaw 1931 15 Ind. Games 15 0 1.000 2.46 14 13 2 135.1 100 37 5 39 89 1.03
40 Dizzy Dean 1935 15 Ind. Games 15 0 1.000 2.66 13 0 0 128.2 118 38 6 31 73 1.16
41 Dizzy Dean 1936 15 Ind. Games 15 0 1.000 2.43 13 0 0 126.0 113 34 6 20 67 1.06
42 Stan Coveleski 1920 15 Ind. Games 15 0 1.000 1.64 14 13 2 126.1 108 23 0 22 41 1.03
43 Stan Coveleski 1921 15 Ind. Games 15 0 1.000 2.39 15 14 2 135.1 143 36 3 33 39 1.30
44 Wilbur Cooper 1920 15 Ind. Games 15 0 1.000 1.57 13 13 1 132.0 104 23 1 26 44 0.98
45 Wilbur Cooper 1921 15 Ind. Games 15 0 1.000 2.40 15 15 1 139.0 135 37 30 59 1.19
46 Steve Carlton 1980 15 Ind. Games 15 0 1.000 1.70 15 7 2 122.0 90 23 5 33 115 1.01
47 Larry Benton 1928 15 Ind. Games 15 0 1.000 1.89 15 15 2 133.0 118 28 4 24 39 1.07
48 Joaquin Andujar 1985 15 Ind. Games 15 0 1.000 1.97 15 8 2 118.2 108 26 4 26 47 1.13
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 7/9/2010.

You'll notice that the vast majority of these guys came when 4-man pitching rotations were the norm. Although it still takes a very strong performance and a good deal of luck, it's easier to win 15 games in the first 85 played when pitching every 4 days instead of every 5 days.

So, let's limit the list to just the last 30 years to compare Jimenez to (mostly) teams using 5-man rotations:

Rk Player Year #Matching W L W-L% ERA GS CG SHO IP H ER HR BB SO WHIP
1 Pedro Martinez 1999 15 Ind. Games 15 0 1.000 1.77 15 2 0 111.2 85 22 5 19 150 0.93
2 Greg Maddux 1988 15 Ind. Games 15 0 1.000 1.71 15 8 3 126.0 93 24 5 37 70 1.03
3 Ubaldo Jimenez 2010 15 Ind. Games 15 0 1.000 1.41 15 3 2 108.1 70 17 4 38 96 1.00
4 Steve Carlton 1980 15 Ind. Games 15 0 1.000 1.70 15 7 2 122.0 90 23 5 33 115 1.01
5 Joaquin Andujar 1985 15 Ind. Games 15 0 1.000 1.97 15 8 2 118.2 108 26 4 26 47 1.13
6 David Wells 2000 14 Ind. Games 14 0 1.000 2.51 14 4 1 104.0 108 29 6 11 76 1.14
7 Frank Viola 1988 14 Ind. Games 14 0 1.000 1.40 14 5 2 109.0 81 17 7 20 79 0.93
8 Steve Stone 1980 14 Ind. Games 14 0 1.000 1.89 14 4 1 109.1 83 23 5 40 69 1.13
9 John Smoltz 1996 14 Ind. Games 14 0 1.000 1.68 14 3 1 107.1 61 20 6 20 117 0.75
10 Mike Scott 1989 14 Ind. Games 14 0 1.000 1.75 13 6 2 103.0 69 20 7 23 75 0.89
11 Curt Schilling 2002 14 Ind. Games 14 0 1.000 2.10 14 3 1 107.1 68 25 12 9 137 0.72
12 Bret Saberhagen 1987 14 Ind. Games 14 0 1.000 2.04 14 10 3 119.0 85 27 7 20 74 0.88
13 Roger Clemens 1986 14 Ind. Games 14 0 1.000 2.03 14 5 1 115.1 74 26 12 30 114 0.90
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 7/9/2010.

So there you can see the 5 guys tied with Jimenez at 15 plus a slew of folks at 14. By the way, of the 12 other pitchers on here aside from Jimenez, half of them went on to win the Cy Young award in that season, and only Wells and Andujar never won a Cy Young at any point in their careers. (And it's not as if they were shabby pitchers...)

Final win totals for these guys:

Pedro 23, Maddux 18, Carlton 24, Andujar 21, Wells 20, Viola 24, Stone 25, Smoltz 24, 20, Schilling 23, Saberhagen 18, Clemens 24.

So, it's not unprecedented for a guy to drop off and finish with 20 wins or fewer, but it's far more common for him to reach 23+ wins.

Finally, Jimenez has a WAR of 4.6 through 18 starts. Projecting out to 35 starts, he's on a pace for a seasonal WAR of 8.9.

In the last 30 years, a WAR of 8.9 for a pitcher has been achieved only a handful of times:

Rk Player Year WAR Age Tm Lg G GS CG SHO GF W L W-L% SV IP H R ER BB SO ERA ERA+ HR BF AB 2B 3B IBB HBP SH SF GDP SB CS PO BK WP BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+ Pit Str
1 Zack Greinke 2009 9.0 25 KCR AL 33 33 6 3 0 16 8 .667 0 229.1 195 64 55 51 242 2.16 205 11 915 849 47 5 0 4 8 3 17 5 9 1 0 5 .230 .276 .336 .611 61 3477 2206
2 Pedro Martinez 2000 10.1 28 BOS AL 29 29 7 4 0 18 6 .750 0 217.0 128 44 42 32 284 1.74 291 17 817 768 18 1 0 14 2 1 11 10 3 2 0 1 .167 .213 .259 .473 18 3164 2136
3 Roger Clemens 1997 10.3 34 TOR AL 34 34 9 3 0 21 7 .750 0 264.0 204 65 60 68 292 2.05 222 9 1044 957 41 3 1 12 5 2 27 10 9 3 0 4 .213 .273 .290 .564 48
4 Roger Clemens 1990 9.5 27 BOS AL 31 31 7 4 0 21 6 .778 0 228.1 193 59 49 54 209 1.93 213 7 920 847 35 5 3 7 7 5 11 14 14 2 0 8 .228 .278 .306 .584 60
5 Dwight Gooden 1985 11.7 20 NYM NL 35 35 16 8 0 24 4 .857 0 276.2 198 51 47 69 268 1.53 229 13 1065 986 23 3 4 2 6 2 21 22 10 5 2 6 .201 .254 .270 .524 52
6 Steve Carlton 1980 9.4 35 PHI NL 38 38 13 3 0 24 9 .727 0 304.0 243 87 79 90 286 2.34 162 15 1228 1114 50 13 12 2 14 8 14 14 16 9 7 17 .218 .276 .327 .603 69
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 7/9/2010.

The odds are long that Jimenez will finish in this group since he'd need to maintain his incredible performance for 3 more months. The likelihood is he'll finish in the range of 7-8 WAR, still truly outstanding.

Related posts:

    Jumping Jimenez – More On Über Ubaldo
    Ubaldo Jimenez, Jaime Garcia, and fewer earned runs than starts
    11 wins in team’s first 56 games (Or, why Ubaldo Jimenez might be a lock for the NL Cy Young award)
    Simba & The Incredible Hulk
    Jamie Moyer’s incredible record-setting performance

This entry was posted on Friday, July 9th, 2010 at 8:28 am and is filed under Game Finders, Season Finders. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

10 Responses to “Ubaldo Jimenez and his incredible first half”

  1. tmckelv Says:
    July 9th, 2010 at 8:40 am

    Nice post. I think the "Losses" column is incorrect.

  2. Andy Says:
    July 9th, 2010 at 8:43 am

    No, the stats only show the cumulative numbers for the games in which they got a win. That's how the pitching game finder works. We have no automatic tool that can give us partial-season cumulative stats, other than splits pages.

  3. tmckelv Says:
    July 9th, 2010 at 8:47 am

    Yes, Sorry about that. I noticed it on the next post also (David Price 10+ K's). I came back to retract my statement, but had already been corrected.

  4. Statistican Says:
    July 9th, 2010 at 9:21 am

    Though I wish Mr. Jiminez no ill will, I do sometimes cringe when someone has a phenomenal first half of a season, especially someone relative young. Growing up in Cincinnati, I still remember Wayne Simpson and how he had that 13-1 start in 1970 and went *pfft* for the rest of his career. I hope that's not the case here.

  5. Johnny Twisto Says:
    July 9th, 2010 at 10:35 am

    In 1946 Hal Newhouser won 20 before the Tigers' 100th game.

  6. DavidJ Says:
    July 9th, 2010 at 12:50 pm

    With Jimenez's recent hiccups, I think Josh Johnson has taken offer as baseball's best pitcher in the first half. Johnson has 5.0 WAR and an ERA+ of 246 through 18 starts. The only thing Jimenez has on him is the W/L record.

  7. kingcrab Says:
    July 9th, 2010 at 3:54 pm

    only Wells and Andujar never won a Cy Young at any point in their careers.

    schilling never won one either.

  8. Andy Says:
    July 9th, 2010 at 4:29 pm

    Oh yeah...details details. 🙂

  9. Sam I Am Says:
    July 11th, 2010 at 12:57 am

    Jimenez has some real nasty stuff. Hope he wins at least 25 games.

  10. David Burton Says:
    July 21st, 2010 at 12:19 am

    Schilling never did win any Cy Young awards, but as a "journalist/author/writer" he believes that he'll win several Pulitzers. And become President.

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