Says the Ringer.com’s Michael Baumann:
Stephen Strasburg is certainly a household name, but he doesn’t usually produce such Scherzerian numbers.
Even in 2019, his traditional stats aren’t exceptional:
He’s just 24th among qualified starters in ERA (3.52), 11th in K% (29.0), ninth in K-BB% (22.9), and tied for ninth in innings pitched (127 2/3).
Strasburg’s K/9 ratio (10.6) and BB/9 ratio (2.3) are exactly in line with his career averages.
But the former no. 1 pick, who turned 31 over the weekend, is suffocating hitters who make contact in a way he never has before.
As hitters look more and more to put the ball in the air, Strasburg is running the second-highest ground ball rate of his career, 51.4 percent, and according to Baseball Savant, he’s held opponents to an xwOBA of .259, second-lowest in baseball among pitchers with at least 250 batters faced, behind only Scherzer.
Combine that with strikeout, walk, and home run levels that were already among the best in baseball, and Strasburg is putting together the best season of his career by advanced metrics.
https://www.theringer.com/mlb/2019/7/22/20703207/washington-nationals-stephen-strasburg
Be the first to comment