May 2015 Pitcher of the Month voting

Chris Hatfield
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May 2015 Pitcher of the Month voting Jun 1, 2015 17:58:23 GMT -5

Post by Chris Hatfield on Jun 1, 2015 17:58:23 GMT -5

Please vote above for the player you felt had the best month.

You may use almost any criteria you wish in judging each player's month. The one exception is that we ask that voters ignore a player's prospect status - in other words, please don't vote for a player based on the fact that you think he will be a better major league player down the road. However, to be clear, you may use other criteria in judging the candidates relative to one another that go beyond stats, such as age relative to level and the like. Just don't pick, say, a top 10 prospect over an org guy based solely on that.

Voting for this poll will close Wednesday at 2:00 pm.

SP Jalen Beeks (GRE): 5 GS, 4-1, 32.0 IP, 2.81 ERA, 30 H, 14 R/10 ER, 1 HR, 3 BB, 15 K, 1.39 G/F, 1.03 WHIP, .238 BAA, .593 OPSa, 5.00 K/BB, 4.22 K/9
SP Ty Buttrey (SAL): 5 GS, 4-0, 30.0 IP, 2.40 ERA, 26 H, 10 R/8 ER, 0 HR, 12 BB, 24 K, 1.96 G/F, 1.27 WHIP, .243 BAA, .600 OPSa, 2.00 K/BB, 7.20 K/9
SP William Cuevas (POR): 6 GS, 4-1, 34.1 IP, 2.36 ERA, 23 H, 10 R/9 ER, 0 HR, 12 BB, 33 K, 1.48 G/F, 1.02 WHIP, .192 BAA, .505 OPSa, 2.75 K/BB, 8.65 K/9
RP Williams Jerez (GRE): 7 G, 1-0, 3 SV, 21.0 IP, 0.86 ERA, 19 H, 4 R/2 ER, 1 HR, 3 BB, 21 K, 1.59 G/F, 1.05 WHIP, .241 BAA, .632 OPSa, 7.00 K/BB, 9.00 K/9
SP/RP Aaron Wilkerson (SAL): 5 G/4 GS, 2-0, 25.1 IP, 0.71 ERA, 11 H, 3 R/2 ER, 0 HR, 6 BB, 34 K, 2.64 G/F, 0.67 WHIP, .133 BAA, .372 OPSa, 5.67 K/BB, 12.08 K/9

Full May Stats

Last Edit: Jun 1, 2015 18:20:27 GMT -5 by Chris Hatfield

"We really don't need the whole commercial break/warm-up routine every time a new reliever comes into the game. It certainly made sense in 1884 when they only switched pitchers when the starter was attacked by pickaxe or caught consumption, and no reliever was warming up because he was busy gambling and drinking." - JD

I still think I'm going to wake up and say "I shouldn't listen to the podcast before bed, I dreamed the Sox signed a guy from Curaçao named Charlie Zink." - KOC

soxfan06 Veteran Posts: 3,203	May 2015 Pitcher of the Month voting Jun 1, 2015 18:26:09 GMT -5 Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by soxfan06 on Jun 1, 2015 18:26:09 GMT -5 I wanted to give it to Buttrey, but impressive month by Wilkerson earns him the vote.

rafael Rookie Posts: 234	May 2015 Pitcher of the Month voting Jun 1, 2015 18:31:24 GMT -5 supersquid likes this Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by rafael on Jun 1, 2015 18:31:24 GMT -5 Nice to see Jerez, Buttrey and Wilkerson pitching well enough to be candidates.

ericmvan
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May 2015 Pitcher of the Month voting Jun 1, 2015 19:34:10 GMT -5 Chris Hatfield likes this

Post by ericmvan on Jun 1, 2015 19:34:10 GMT -5

	BFP	ERA	FIP	BABIP	LOB%	K%	BB%
Beeks	132	3.27	3.27	.259	.614	.114	.023
Buttrey	120	2.40	2.91	.310	.737	.200	.100
Cuevas	137	2.36	2.64	.256	.730	.241	.088
Jerez	83	0.86	2.39	.316		.253	.036
Wilker.	89	0.71	1.33	.225	.824	.382	.067

Jerez is from b-Ref and my own calculations, as his FG Game Log is broken.

Cuevas is a year older relative to his league than Buttrey (and Beeks), but he clearly pitched better. There's no correct answer to how much weight you should give to his less impressive ARL versus his more impressive performance.

Wilkerson is even tougher. But the first question we can answer objectively. To match Cuevas by facing 48 more batters, he would have had to have had just a 5.42 ERA, 5.07 FIP, .313 BABIP, struck out less than nobody, and walked 6. (To match Buttery by facing 31 more batters, a 7.25 ERA, 7.45 FIP, a .554 BABIP, strick out way less than nobody, and walked 6.) So he was clearly the best pitcher in the system, even with the smaller sample size.

He was also four years older than Buttrey, pitching for the same team. Again, no correct answer between him, Cuevas, and Buttrey, who are very clearly the three best pitchers here, in that order, and are in reverse order by age relative to league. That's up to you.

Last Edit: Jun 1, 2015 19:35:42 GMT -5 by ericmvan

"You either need some medication or you're an a******." -- David Ortiz correctly diagnosing Bobby Valentine

Chris Hatfield
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May 2015 Pitcher of the Month voting Jun 2, 2015 12:32:44 GMT -5

Post by Chris Hatfield on Jun 2, 2015 12:32:44 GMT -5

For me, while things like ERA and hits allowed may not be predictive, when giving an award, I'm looking at results and not what the player's performance tells us about his future. Games aren't won by the team that should've scored the most runs.

Wilkerson is certainly old for the league, but I think he's at a point now where we can't ignore him for things like this. (For what it's worth, I think we're going to ignore Bautista until he's in Pawtucket. When you've got >200 MLB innings over 7 years, frankly, I'd expect him to be even better than he has been in A ball.) He's still not on my radar as a prospect by any stretch - we'll talk if he does this in Portland - but hey, good for him for parlaying what could have been a couple-month replacement gig out of the indy leagues into some success in affiliated ball, at the very least.

"We really don't need the whole commercial break/warm-up routine every time a new reliever comes into the game. It certainly made sense in 1884 when they only switched pitchers when the starter was attacked by pickaxe or caught consumption, and no reliever was warming up because he was busy gambling and drinking." - JD

I still think I'm going to wake up and say "I shouldn't listen to the podcast before bed, I dreamed the Sox signed a guy from Curaçao named Charlie Zink." - KOC

jmei
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May 2015 Pitcher of the Month voting Jun 2, 2015 12:47:23 GMT -5 via mobile Chris Hatfield likes this

Post by jmei on Jun 2, 2015 12:47:23 GMT -5

Jun 2, 2015 12:32:44 GMT -5 Chris Hatfield said:

For me, while things like ERA and hits allowed may not be predictive, when giving an award, I'm looking at results and not what the player's performance tells us about his future. Games aren't won by the team that should've scored the most runs.

It's not just about predictiveness. It's the fact that a pitcher who gave up fewer-than-usual hits could well have been picked up by his defense, while I know that all (or virtually all-- think framing) of the credit for his strikeouts and walks go to him and only him.

Chris Hatfield
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May 2015 Pitcher of the Month voting Jun 2, 2015 12:57:18 GMT -5

Post by Chris Hatfield on Jun 2, 2015 12:57:18 GMT -5

Yeah, it's tough to parse. I understand that. To be clear, I wasn't saying that all of that's a waste. Here, I think Cuevas merits consideration a bit higher than just looking at the respective ERAs might have you believe. Still an easy choice, imo, though.

"We really don't need the whole commercial break/warm-up routine every time a new reliever comes into the game. It certainly made sense in 1884 when they only switched pitchers when the starter was attacked by pickaxe or caught consumption, and no reliever was warming up because he was busy gambling and drinking." - JD

I still think I'm going to wake up and say "I shouldn't listen to the podcast before bed, I dreamed the Sox signed a guy from Curaçao named Charlie Zink." - KOC

Post by Chris Hatfield on Jun 1, 2015 17:58:23 GMT -5

Post by soxfan06 on Jun 1, 2015 18:26:09 GMT -5

Post by rafael on Jun 1, 2015 18:31:24 GMT -5

Post by ericmvan on Jun 1, 2015 19:34:10 GMT -5

Post by Chris Hatfield on Jun 2, 2015 12:32:44 GMT -5

Post by jmei on Jun 2, 2015 12:47:23 GMT -5

Post by Chris Hatfield on Jun 2, 2015 12:57:18 GMT -5