Why C.M. Wang has lower K (SO) number ?

[Zagi-CRO]

Chien-Ming Wang 186.1 94 18 7
Josh Beckett 188.2 180 19 6
C.C. Sabathia 227 198 17 7
Johan Santana 209 220 15 12
Kelvim Escobar 185.2 153 17 7
Fausto Carmona 202 126 17 8


Who can explain me why C.M.Wang has only 94 strikeouts and 186.1 IP while other starters have also 180 IP or higher and 180-200 SO, like Santana...
How Wang can has 18 wins with only 94 SO ?

[Honus Wagner Rules]

Wang get's over 7 runs of support per start. That's far more than Sabathia and Beckett get.

[skyking162]

Wang doesn't walk many hitters and rarely gives up HRs (only .4 per 9 IP!) Most pitchers with such low K-rates can't afford to throw so many strikes without getting bombed, but Wang's sinker is pretty awesome. Groundball pitchers get more GIDPs, too.

I can't tell you why his sinker is easy to contact but hard to hit well, but it is, making Wang a good pitcher. Add in a great offense and you've got the high win total.

[RubeBaker]

Wang has never been a big-time strikeout pitcher. He is a pretty extreme groundball pitcher though. He gets a ton of guys out by making em hit it on the ground.

[SamtheBravesFan]

Well, whatever works for him. :)

But it is pretty obvious that his sinker needs to keep working for him to have this success, though.

[PVNICK]

The thing that's odd, is he throws in the low to mid 90s, so it's not like he's some "junkballer."

[Old Sweater]

Wang get's over 7 runs of support per start. That's far more than Sabathia and Beckett get.

Just Sabathia

Wang 6.49

Beckett 6.45

Sabathia 5.12

[Westlake]

But how much did that run support actually help these pitchers?

Wang has 2 wins where he did not throw at least a "quality start".

Beckett has 3 wins where he did not throw at least a "quality start". (One of those being a 5 IP, 0 ER game, so that's actually not a bad start either)

Sabathia has 2 wins during non-quality starts.

My point being is that great pitchers don't really need great run support for the most part. Throwing run support out there as a knock against someone is irresponsible without looking at it in more detail.

[Honus Wagner Rules]

Just Sabathia

Wang 6.49

Beckett 6.45

Sabathia 5.12

According to ESPN, rus support defined as

Run support: Team's runs scored (average, per 9 innings pitched) while the pitcher of record

Wang 6.96
Becket 6.73
Sabathia 5.63

I really do not understand this argument that Wang is the best pitcher in the American League? Other than his win total every other pitching metric shows Wang inferior to Beckett and Sabathia and a bunch other pitchers.


IP
227.0 Sabathia
188.6 Beckett
186.3 Wang

ERA
3.20 Beckett
3.21 Sabathia
3.82 Wang

ERA+
143 Beckett
138 Sabathia
114 Wang

Ks
198 Sabathia
180 Beckett
94 Wang

BB
35 Sabathia
38 Beckett
55 Wang

K/BB
5.66 Sabathia
4.74 Beckett
1.71 Wang

K/9
8.59 Beckett
7.85 Sabathia
4.54 Wang

WHIP
1.13 Beckett
1.15 Sabathia
1.29 Wang


Wang trails Beckett and Sabathia in all of these categories. So how is Wang better than Beckett or Sabathia? I'd give the Cy Young to Sabathia. Beckett and Sabathia are very close but Sabathia has been clutch all season. He's beaten Johan Santana three times this season. That's enough for me.

[Westlake]

Wang isn't anywhere NEAR the best pitcher in the AL. In the little formula I created, I picked the Top 15 pitchers in the AL (at least, who I thought fit in the top 15), and Wang finished dead last.