The other day, we looked at Adam Wainwright’s 2009 season and through his results, his Cy Young Award candidacy, through the prism of the Triple Milestone categories. Had he not been let down by his teammates in his final start, Wainwright would have been just the ninth major league pitcher this decade to win at least 20 games, fan 200 or more and post an ERA of 3.00 or less. He achieved two of three, but finished with 19 wins.
Today, it is Chris Carpenter’s turn in the spotlight.
Carpenter backers note his league-leading 2.24 ERA, his efficiency, his won-loss percentage and like in Wainwright case, rue each no-decision he took due to lack of support from his St. Louis Cardinals teammates.
We are not going to look at standard wins and ERA in depth here, as I simply conclude that in the past, any number of pitchers have won the Cy Young Award with higher ERAs and fewer victories than Carpenter’s 17. Yet I should also note the leader in wins often has the advantage.
The most recent Cy-winning example was Arizona’s Brandon Webb, who logged just 16 wins and a relatively-hefty 3.10 ERA in 2006. That season, six NL pitchers tied with the most victories at 16, so no one topped Webb in that category. In terms of ERA, every single one of the 16 starting pitchers to have won the Cy Young Award in both leagues since Pedro Martinez in 2000 (1.74 ERA) had a higher ERA than Carp this season.
As former Cardinals pitcher Joe Magrane knows all too well, taking the ERA title does not necessarily translate to Cy Young Award votes without the “W’s” to accompany it. The current MLB Network broadcaster earned the NL ERA title in 1988 at 2.18, but his teammates gave him just five wins in 24 starts. He did not receive a single Cy Young Award mention, but did place fourth the next year with 18 victories in the books despite a higher ERA, 2.91. Magrane was the club’s last ERA champ prior to Carp, a gap of 21 years.
Due to an unfortunate oblique injury, Carp missed about five weeks of action earlier this season. As a result, he made just 28 starts compared to Wainwright’s 34.
To try to put Carp’s excellence into further perspective, Tom Orf pulled several lists.
The first is a measure of consistent stinginess in baserunners allowed. It denotes those MLB pitchers with enough innings to have qualified for the NL ERA title while allowing eight or fewer hits and two or fewer walks per nine innings over at least three different seasons since 1901.
Carpenter has become the 12th member of this elite group.
Pitchers with at least three seasons of eight or fewer hits and two or fewer walks per nine innings, career, MLB, 1901-2009
| Pitcher | From | To | Years | HOF |
| Greg Maddux | 1993 | 1998 | 5 | yes* |
| Juan Marichal | 1963 | 1971 | 5 | yes |
| Addie Joss | 1903 | 1907 | 5 | yes |
| Pedro Martinez | 1999 | 2005 | 4 | yes* |
| Don Sutton | 1971 | 1981 | 4 | yes |
| Fergie Jenkins | 1968 | 1974 | 4 | yes |
| Chris Carpenter | 2005 | 2009 | 3 | TBD |
| Kevin Brown | 1996 | 2000 | 3 | no |
| Tom Seaver | 1968 | 1973 | 3 | yes |
| Jim Bunning | 1964 | 1966 | 3 | yes |
| Pete Alexander | 1916 | 1919 | 3 | yes |
| Cy Young | 1901 | 1908 | 3 | yes |
* projected
Though it has nothing to do with Carpenter’s 2009 Cy Young Award candidacy, I added the Hall of Fame status of these 12. Assuming that Pedro and Greg Maddux are locks as I believe they are, 10 of the earlier 11 are either in the Hall or on their way.
The second table uses the same criteria for a single season, listing those Cardinals pitchers with enough innings to have qualified for the NL ERA title while allowing eight or fewer hits and two or fewer walks per nine innings during that season.
Pitchers with eight or fewer hits and two or fewer walks per nine innings, season, Cardinals, 1901-2009 (starting with most recent)
| Player | Year | H/9 | BB/9 | Age | Tm | G | GS | CG | SH | W | L | W-L% | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | ERA | HR |
| Chris Carpenter | 2009 | 7.29 | 1.78 | 34 | STL | 28 | 28 | 3 | 1 | 17 | 4 | .810 | 192.2 | 156 | 49 | 48 | 38 | 144 | 2.24 | 7 |
| Chris Carpenter | 2006 | 7.88 | 1.75 | 31 | STL | 32 | 32 | 5 | 3 | 15 | 8 | .652 | 221.2 | 194 | 81 | 76 | 43 | 184 | 3.09 | 21 |
| Chris Carpenter | 2005 | 7.60 | 1.90 | 30 | STL | 33 | 33 | 7 | 4 | 21 | 5 | .808 | 241.2 | 204 | 82 | 76 | 51 | 213 | 2.83 | 18 |
| John Tudor | 1985 | 6.84 | 1.60 | 31 | STL | 36 | 36 | 14 | 10 | 21 | 8 | .724 | 275 | 209 | 68 | 59 | 49 | 169 | 1.93 | 14 |
| Bob Gibson | 1968 | 5.85 | 1.83 | 32 | STL | 34 | 34 | 28 | 13 | 22 | 9 | .710 | 304.2 | 198 | 49 | 38 | 62 | 268 | 1.12 | 11 |
| Ray Washburn | 1968 | 8.00 | 1.97 | 30 | STL | 31 | 30 | 8 | 4 | 14 | 8 | .636 | 215 | 191 | 67 | 54 | 47 | 124 | 2.26 | 9 |
| Harry Brecheen | 1948 | 7.44 | 1.89 | 33 | STL | 33 | 30 | 21 | 7 | 20 | 7 | .741 | 233.1 | 193 | 62 | 58 | 49 | 149 | 2.24 | 6 |
| Kid Nichols | 1904 | 7.61 | 1.42 | 34 | STL | 36 | 35 | 35 | 3 | 21 | 13 | .618 | 317 | 268 | 97 | 71 | 50 | 134 | 2.02 | 3 |
Some important points to note in Carpenter’s own Cy Young context. Carpenter has allowed fewer hits and walks per nine this season than he did when he took home the Cy Young Award in 2005 and his winning percentage is almost identical.
In a slight negative, Carpenter is the only one among this group to have logged fewer than 200 innings during the season in question.
The final table is an attempt to really drill down on Carpenter’s efficiency this season.
Going back 54 years to the time the Cy Young Award was introduced, 1956, it shows the nine major league pitchers that equaled or bettered Carpenter’s 17 wins in 28 or fewer starts. At least 90 percent of these pitchers’ outings had to be starts to qualify.
It almost goes without saying that all pitchers with 29 or more starts are excluded by definition, leaving a subset consisting of less than full season starters.
Pitchers with 17 or more wins in 28 or fewer starts, season, MLB, 1956-2009
| Rk | Player | Year | W/GS % | W | GS | Age | Tm | Lg | G | CG | SHO | GF | L | W-L% | W-L Rk | Cy |
| 1 | Jimmy Key | 1994 | 0.680 | 17 | 25 | 33 | NYY | AL | 25 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0.810 | T3 | No |
| T2 | Greg Maddux | 1995 | 0.679 | 19 | 28 | 29 | ATL | NL | 28 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0.905 | 1 | Yes* |
| T2 | Sandy Koufax | 1964 | 0.679 | 19 | 28 | 28 | LAD | NL | 29 | 15 | 7 | 1 | 5 | 0.792 | 6 | No |
| 4 | John Smoltz | 1998 | 0.654 | 17 | 26 | 31 | ATL | NL | 26 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0.850 | 2 | No |
| T5 | Paul Abbott | 2001 | 0.630 | 17 | 27 | 33 | SEA | AL | 28 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0.810 | T3 | No |
| T5 | Jack Morris | 1979 | 0.630 | 17 | 27 | 24 | DET | AL | 27 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0.708 | T8 | No |
| T7 | Chris Carpenter | 2009 | 0.607 | 17 | 28 | 34 | STL | NL | 28 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0.810 | T3 | TBD |
| T7 | Al Leiter | 1998 | 0.607 | 17 | 28 | 32 | NYM | NL | 28 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0.739 | 7 | No |
| T7 | Milt Pappas | 1972 | 0.607 | 17 | 28 | 33 | CHC | NL | 29 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 0.708 | T8 | No |
| T7 | Vern Law | 1965 | 0.607 | 17 | 28 | 35 | PIT | NL | 29 | 13 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 0.654 | 10 | No |
* 144-game season
The above table is listed in order of efficiency percentage. In other words, the pitchers are ranked by the percentage of their starts in which they received a winning decision. Carpenter’s wins/games started mark of .607 is tied for seventh-best among this group.
The most efficient was the Yankees’ Jimmy Key, who won 17 of his 25 starts back in 1995. In terms of most wins in 28 or fewer starts, the co-leaders at 19 are a pair of Hall of Famers (soon) in Maddux (1995) and Sandy Koufax (1964). No one won more games with 28 or fewer starts that did those two.
In an oddity, 18 must be a haunted number as the other eight of 10 qualifiers each collected 17 wins in their big year, but not a one finished with 18.
Best won-loss percentage is owned by a pair of former Atlanta Braves. Maddux’ 1995 mark of .905 (19-2) is tops among this group. At .810 this season (17-4), Carpenter is tied for third, with now-teammate John Smoltz’ .850 in 1998 also ahead of him.
Unfortunately for Carpenter, the far right column ultimately passes judgment on how important, or should I suggest unimportant, win efficiency in 28 or fewer starts may be to voters. Only one of the previous nine pitchers was awarded the Cy Young following these seasons.
That winner was Maddux. However, even then there is an asterisk attached as the 1995 season was shortened to 144 games due to a strike. Maddux’ 19 victories actually paced the National League that year.
In other words, while these were some efficient pitchers, someone else’s bigger numbers almost always brought home the hardware.
It is impossible to close without acknowledging Carpenter’s place as the leader of the Cardinals pitching staff. Whether or not he takes home the 2009 Cy Young Award, his status was reinforced as he was given the team’s biggest start of the year, the NLDS game one assignment at Dodger Stadium Wednesday night.
1. It all boils down to how much Carp is penalized for missing 6 weeks.
2. Who was that Gibson guy.
2. The guy who just sold all his bling…
1. I resemble that remark.
2. I guess that’s what he considered it. Unless his family was starving. It must be tough on the old timers seeing the mega bucks that average and even below average players get today.
He obviously needed money. I fail so see why, since they will market his image for another 100 years, why they just didn’t give him some dough with the understanding that they got it all the goodies when he is gone.
You’d make a crappy beancounter Westy.
Unless its my burrito……………………. I’m happy K. Greene has been laid to rest. I hope he is able to put something back together……….I feel like Troy Glaus is here solely because DeRosa is so ineffective. He can’t seem to hit at all now………..the inclusion of Freese also means they are looking beyond the Tony era and aren’t going to gamble needless to say on DeRosa’s surgery. The Cubs would make him expensive. They will offer he something unacceptable so they can say they tried to keep him.
If next year’s payroll doesn’t get spent on Holliday, I’d rather see Glaus than DeRosa.
Troy was a horse last year, better offensively and defensively than Derosa. Market value should be down. Not too much wrong with a healthy Glaus hitting behind Albert if we don’t have Holliday. Especially given the paucity of alternatives.
There is never a 0 chance, but Glaus returning is as close as science and atomic clocks might measure. Holiday wants to play here. The way I see it, its unlikely the Cardinals will go 100 mill, and Boras will surely get him that. Albert’s future is unknown for a number of reasons. There can be damage done by the foe he is fighting. With all the changes coming, I think he will seek a new start as a possible solution. That is the continuing landscape of the pathway he is now on.
Come on Westy, BD has to spend his money on something. Albert staying is critical to BD because Albert keeps the team on the east coast radar screens, where the really big bucks are, and no way BD wants them yawning when the FSBO sign goes up. Keeping him requires a hitter behind him. Failing to sign Holliday would be a debacle in its own right, but even that could not be allowed to interfere with retaining Albert. So if Holiday doesn’t go for the ‘we love you, give us less money’ thing, then another #4 absolutely must be signed, and the sooner the better, since re-upping Albert this winter is the plan.
When the big rocks start rolling BB, its best to take some shelter. I’ve played dodge ball for keeps a view time. Its best to count the rocks and the memories a bit later on , when the air around you head has a little less tonnage……………………. How does the saying go? Don’t count BD’s money while its still in your pocket.
Congratulations to Carp for winning the Comeback Player of the Year. At least he wins something if Waino takes the Cy Young. In the St.Louis year of the starting pitcher you could almost make an argument that one of them is also our team MVP.