A couple of weeks ago, I saw a tweet and a pitcher indicated that he used to toss a lot of complete games in his career. Well, complete games have become rare in today’s baseball games. However, some pitchers still show their abilities to throw an entire game.
Sandy Alcantara has an outstanding season and he’s surely a heavy favorite for the NL Cy Young award. In 2022, he led the majors with 228.2 innings. Moreover, Alcantara has a great 2.28 ERA and a 0.98 WHIP. Opponents only batted .212 against him during the regular season. Furthermore, Alcantara tossed 6 complete games this season, in particular, he threw a shutout against the Reds on August 3. In that game, Alcantara only gave up a walk and 6 hits. Additionally, on June 8, he tossed 9 innings against the National and didn’t allow a run, however, the Marlins went scoreless after the ninth inning ended. The Marlins walked it off in the 10th inning, but Alcantara didn’t record a complete game.
In addition, Framber Valdez has been pretty solid on the mound this season. He made 31 starts and tossed a career-high 201.1 innings. Valdez has a great 2.82 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP. Moreover, he tossed 3 complete games, including a shutout against the Tigers on September 12. In that game, Valdez used 107 pitches and he punched out 8 batters.
Moreover, Nathan Eovaldi and Aaron Nola each tossed 2 complete games in 2022. Due to injuries, Nathan Eovaldi missed some playing time during the regular season and he only pitched 109.1 innings. He threw a complete game against the Orioles on May 28 and tossed a 5-inning shutout against the Rays on October 4. By far in his career, he has 2 complete games. By comparison, Aaron Nola has a healthy and good 2022 season. Nola tossed 205 innings, 2nd most among MLB pitchers. He has a 3.25 ERA and 0.96 WHIP. Two of his complete games came in August, one was against the Mets and the other was a shutout against the Reds on August 25.
Well, we don’t see a pitcher toss a complete game as often as before. However, at least we can still see some pitchers throw a complete game during the regular season. In the postseason, it has been extremely rare to see a team let a pitcher toss an entire game.
The last time that a pitcher tossed a complete game in the postseason was in 2017. Justin Verlander went 9 innings and gave up only 1 run against the Yankees in the 2017 ALCS game 2. Verlander was outstanding in that game. He used 124 pitches and faced 32 batters. He punched out 13 batters and allowed just 5 hits.
October baseball has already begun, each team must be very cautious in pitcher usage and pitching change. Starting pitchers don’t pitch as many innings they once did. Moreover, most teams avoid letting a starting pitcher go a third time through the order. Hence, we might still have to wait for a while to see the next pitcher toss a 9-inning complete game in the postseason. But, you never know what will happen in October baseball.
No comments:
Post a Comment