Sabathia almost got 20 victories -- but not quite.
Well, there’s not going to be a 20-game winner this season.
As we approach the end of the Major League regular season, two pitchers have 19 victories – C.C. Sabathia of the Yanks and Adam Wainwright of the Cardinals — and neither of them are set to pitch Sunday. So for only the fourth time in a non-strike season since 1872 will the league not have at least one 20-game winner.
Interestingly, those four occurences have occured within the past 15 years. And, in fact, the number of victories for the league’s top pitchers has gone down considerably.
Not since Bob Welch — a decent but not great pitcher — had a sensational year for Oakland in 1990 (27-6), has a pitcher won 25 games or more in a season.
This obviously reflects a changing approach to pitching. Now days teams have more pitchers in the rotation, so each man in the rotation gets fewer chances. But that’s not the real reason. After all, Wainwright pitched in 34 games this year. Ron Guindry only pitched in 34 games when he won 22 games in 1985. And Roger Clemens only pitched in 33 when he won 24 in 1986.
The real difference is that starters simply don’t stay in games long enough, making it more likely for relievers to blow their leads.
This year, Wainwright has just one complete game. Sabathia has two. In 1975, Catfish Hunter had 30 complete games — and that wasn’t an outrageous stat back then. Since 1999, no pitcher has compiled double-digit complete game stats.
As a result, today’s top-notch pitchers often only get 16 or 17 wins in a season. And Cy Young’s 511 victories will remain the most unbreakable record in baseball.
