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« Do the Yankees miss David Robertson more than Mo? | Main | Teenage (Four-) Base Land »
Thursday
Sep062012

R.A. Dickey and Gio Gonzalez move up their franchise single season win lists

Pitching for the less than mediocre Mets, R.A. Dickey last night became the first pitcher in the majors to reach 18 wins this season defeating the Cardinals, 6-2. Dickey (18-4) is the first Mets pitcher to reach the mark since Frank Viola (20-12) and Dwight Gooden (19-7) both did it in 1990.

Here are the top winners for the Mets:

Rk Player W Year GS CG SHO L W-L% ERA
1 Tom Seaver 25 1969 35 18 5 7 .781 2.21
2 Dwight Gooden 24 1985 35 16 8 4 .857 1.53
3 Tom Seaver 22 1975 36 15 5 9 .710 2.38
4 Jerry Koosman 21 1976 32 17 3 10 .677 2.69
5 Tom Seaver 21 1972 35 13 3 12 .636 2.92
6 Frank Viola 20 1990 35 7 3 12 .625 2.67
7 David Cone 20 1988 28 8 4 3 .870 2.22
8 Tom Seaver 20 1971 35 21 4 10 .667 1.76
9 Dwight Gooden 19 1990 34 2 1 7 .731 3.83
10 Tom Seaver 19 1973 36 18 3 10 .655 2.08
11 Jerry Koosman 19 1968 34 17 7 12 .613 2.08
12 R.A. Dickey 18 2012 28 5 3 4 .818 2.64
13 Dwight Gooden 18 1988 34 10 3 9 .667 3.19
14 Bob Ojeda 18 1986 30 7 2 5 .783 2.57
15 Tom Seaver 18 1970 36 19 2 12 .600 2.82
Provided by Baseball-Reference.comView Play Index Tool Used Generated 9/6/2012.

 

The Washington/Montreal franchise had not had an 18-game winner since Bryn Smith in 1985 (treat yourself to a beer if you knew that!), until Gio Gonzalez (18-7) won later last night for the Nationals.

Here are the top winners for Les Nats:

Rk Player W Year Tm GS CG SHO L W-L% ERA
1 Ross Grimsley 20 1978 MON 36 19 3 11 .645 3.05
2 Steve Rogers 19 1982 MON 35 14 4 8 .704 2.40
3 Gio Gonzalez 18 2012 WSN 28 2 1 7 .720 2.98
4 Bryn Smith 18 1985 MON 32 4 2 5 .783 2.91
5 Carl Morton 18 1970 MON 37 10 4 11 .621 3.60
6 Pedro Martinez 17 1997 MON 31 13 4 8 .680 1.90
7 Steve Rogers 17 1983 MON 36 13 5 12 .586 3.23
8 Bill Gullickson 17 1983 MON 34 10 1 12 .586 3.75
9 Steve Rogers 17 1977 MON 40 17 4 16 .515 3.10
10 Bill Stoneman 17 1971 MON 39 20 3 16 .515 3.15
Provided by Baseball-Reference.comView Play Index Tool Used
Generated 9/6/2012.

 

While both pitchers have 18 wins, they have reached that number in very different ways. The best way to show that is by going to the heat maps to compare their release velocity. Trust me, this is not wonky, just fun.

The Gio Gonzalez release velocity heat map

This is more than pretty colors suitable for a tie dye t-shirt.

Here's Gio's release veocity skeleton behind the heat map

Now, take a look at R.A. Dickey's release velocity heat map (aka "Blue Velvet")

Like Picasso, this is Dickey's blue period.

Here's R.A.'s release veocity skeleton behind his cool map

Dickey and Gonzalez each should have five more starts.

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