Some OOTP Pitchers from 1990

[PilotMan]

In my slow play of an alternate history of the Dodgers, that has been going on for a few years now, I just finished the regular season in 1990. The race for the NL Cy Young was hot as there were some dominant pitching performances. So here's the breakdown:


#1 16-2 (1st in W%), 1.64 ERA (1), 27 GS, 0.95 WHIP (4), .182 AVG (3), 4 SHO (4), 6th rWAR. Missed last 6 weeks with an injury.


#2 17-11 (6th W), 2.17 ERA (5), 301 K (1), 0.98 WHIP (6), 4th rWAR, .163 AVG (1)


#3 18-11 (4th W), 1.75 ERA (2), 11 CG (5), 235 K (4), 0.94 WHIP (3), 3rd rWAR, 30 QS (1)


#4 19-5 (3rd W), 1.93 ERA (3), 5 SHO (2), 0.93 WHIP (2), 2nd rWAR, .196 AVG (4), 30 QS (1st)


#5 23-6 (1st W), 2.10 ERA (4), 296.1 IP (1), 16 CG (1), 6 SHO (1), 235 K (4), 0.89 WHIP (1), 1st rWAR, .181 AVG (2), 30 QS (1)


#6 20-9 (2nd W), 2.32 ERA (6), 279.1 IP (5), 4 SHO (4), 5th rWAR




I will also add that the last 4 pitchers all came from the same team, the defending WS champs and the best record in baseball. Does that make it harder? It seems to me that there's one clear leader out of all of these, but how would you quantify the next couple. It seems to me that this group is really hard to separate.



I'm curious if anyone has any thoughts, or I can drop some additional stats if there's any questions. Feel free to guess who might have put up those numbers too. I can tell you that there's a few names who might not jump out of your memory.

[Vince, Pt. II]

The last four were all on the same team? That's insane.

I go 5, 3, 4, in that order. 1 was only out of the running because he missed so much time.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Alternate history, not a replay? Was going to say that the 4-pitcher team would almost have to be the A's or the Mets otherwise.

Off the top of my head some pitchers who might be on this list:
Dwight Gooden
David Cone
Roger Clemens
Dave Stewart
Chuck Finley?
Too early in their careers for Maddux or Randy Johnson to be big.
Who else was on that Boston staff with Clemens?
I feel like I'm missing a ton of people that I should know.

[jbergey22]

Id take #5

Mets staff by chance of Gooden, Viola, Cone and Sid Fernandez?

Id guess #3 Gooden
#5 Cone
#4 Fernandez
#6 Viola
#1 John Smoltz
#2 Ramon Hernandez

You must have some favoring pitching settings going on. Looks more like 70s baseball pitching wise especially with all of them complete games and innings.

[SunDevil]

I will just try guess pitchers and not order

Bob Welch
Roger Clemens
Nolan Ryan
David Cone
Dave Stewart
Danny Darwin

[PilotMan]

To me, it seemed obvious that #5 had the best year, but 3,4, and 1 all seem so close. You might even argue 2, 6 had a great year, but the numbers just aren't quite there. How else might you objectively separate those perfomances?

I'll give you the rest of the story in a bit.

[korme]

PilotMan still a Wins Guy

[Butter]

This made me laugh, nice one

[cartman]

2 and 3 got some crappy run support

[Izulde]

#5 wins the Cy Young easily for me.

[PilotMan]

PilotMan still a Wins Guy


That's so true. It's hard to break that old habit. I poured over stats as a kid, and wins was just one of those that counted back then. It's hard to let it go as being insignificant. Besides, this is still 1990.

[PilotMan]

Who is who?



#1 - 2nd year Phillies pitcher, and former first round draft pick, Kevin Appier. Appier jumped from A ball straight to the majors at the end of '88 and hasn't looked back. Posted 26 QS in 27 GS and had 4.07 RS per game. The Phillies were in contention all year, won 96 games, but lost out to the Mets in the NL East.



#2 3rd year Braves starter, and former first round pick, Randy Johnson. Johnson walked 113 batters and still had a sub 1.00 WHIP, only allowing 5H/9. He threw a NO-NO in May against the Pirates and struck out 17 Padres. His 3.43 RS/G was higher than the 2.79 he got in '89. The Braves finished 2nd with 86 wins and 23 games behind the....



The next 4 all come from the best team in baseball, the Houston Astros. The Astros won 109 games and are the best team in the league (they won 113 last year and lost to the Phillies in the NLCS. The offense was good, but it was the pitching that was dominant.



#3 was top 3 in Cy Young voting the past 2 years, and was the Rookie of the Year in '87. He was also the first round pick of the Astros in '85. That is, Greg Swindell. Swindell has been every bit an ace since he made the team. His ERA+ was a career high 213. He also hit highs in IP and K's. Received 4.00 RS/G.



#4 signed a 3-yr contract after the Astros won the WS to fill one of the roster spots when the Astros lost starters, Dave Stewart and Nolan Ryan who combined for a 12.1 WAR between them. Mike Boddicker had never posted a sub 3.00 ERA before, and lost 18 games with the Mariners last year. His ERA+ of 194 was a career high by 80 points. He got 3.65 RS/G and pitched a career high 5 shutouts.



#5 Until last year he was only ever a journeyman filler in the rotation. Tom Candiotti just finished his 8th year with the Astros and at 33 just had the best year of his career. Every time he faced up against LA he made us look silly. He was selected to his 3rd career AS game. Candiotti was the energizer bunny. He never stopped. Candiotti got 4.46 RS/G. Interestingly enough he only got 2.83 last year.



#6 The other free agent signing to cover losses had pitched his entire career for the Boston Red Sox. Bruce Hurst got a 6-yr/14.9M deal for the 'Stros. Even though he only got voted to his 2nd AS game, and aside from missing nearly all of '87 with a shoulder injury, he was a work horse of a pitcher. His 161 ERA+ was the best of his career. Hurst got 4.20 RS/G.


The fucking Astros lose 2 of the best pitchers , trade another in Dennis Martinez, and fill them in with a couple of strong, but not incredible arms, get the best seasons out of all of them and roll right along. They still have to get past the Mets though.

[Toddzilla]

out of curiosity, what league settings do you use? I can't seem to get the hang of an OOTP historical sim .

[PilotMan]

So I prefer an alternate reality set up for my games. Since guys aren't staying on the same teams I kind of want some variety in each season. What that means that I have the games development system still running, and players ratings are adjusted based on their real stats with a 3 year window for ratings recalc, fielding and stamina.



So most of the time guys are pretty close historically, but you'll get guys whose careers were shortened stay longer, guys with long careers retire early or get hurt. You'll have guys who never cracked the bigs get enough playing time and development and become somebody. It has enough randomness and familiarity that it's new, but still hits all those high points of who's who so it feels like playing with baseball cards.



It's exactly how I always dreamed I could make SOM as a kid.

[PilotMan]

Here's how the Cy Young Voting went down:

Candiotti (HOU) 22 First Place Votes - 170 Total Points
Swindell (HOU) 4-116
Boddicker (HOU) 0-55
Johnson (ATL) 0-46
Gooden (NYM) 0-31
Appier (PHI) 0-16
Cone (CHI) 0-4
Hurst (HOU) 0-4

Also, the Astros laid a massive egg in the playoffs for the 2nd year in a row, despite having the best record by far (they won in '88). The Mets knocked them off in 7, then went on to take out the Yankees in a subway series 4-1.

Mets SS Omar Vizquel was MVP

Vizquel edged out Gooden (2-0, 2.57 ERA, 14 IP, 10K) with a 10-19 hitting show (.526/.550/.684).

The Mets out homered the Yankees 8-1 in the 5 game series.