Corey Kluber Rises to the Top

Corey Kluber Rises to the Top

September 20, 2017

On September 7, in the middle of what would become a 22-game win streak, the Indians' Corey Kluber dominated the White Sox, giving up two earned runs over seven innings while striking out thirteen batters and walking just one. With this dominant performance Kluber surpassed Max Scherzer (who himself had recently surpassed Clayton Kershaw) as the No. 1 starting pitcher in Major League Baseball according to Bill James’ World’s #1 Starting Pitcher Rankings.

This is the first time Kluber has taken the top spot in the rankings. Interestingly, the top three pitchers according to James’ rankings (Kershaw, Scherzer, and Kluber) at the start of the 2017 season are still ranked in the top three as the season draws to a close, just in the inverse order. Here are the current top 10, while the full list can be viewed on Bill James Online.

The rankings system is based on a pitcher’s Game Score, and although it weighs recent performances more heavily than past ones, it also considers the consistency and longevity of a pitcher over extended periods of time. A full explanation of the process can be found here at Bill James Online, although the basics of it are that for each game pitched, 3 percent of a pitcher’s total is taken away and 30 percent of his Game Score from that game is added to it. This results in approximately 63 percent of a pitcher’s total score being based on the past year, with the other 37 based on what he did before then.

There is a clear delineation point in Kluber’s performance this season. Prior to going onto the disabled list on May 3 with lower back problems, Kluber had gotten off to an uncharacteristically slow start, punctuated by a three-inning, five-run performance against the Tigers on May 2. When Kluber returned from his stint on the disabled list on June 1, he took his performance to another level and is now on pace to set career best marks in ERA, WHIP, batting average against (BAA), strikeout rate (K%), and walk rate (BB%).

To get a further idea of just how dominant Kluber has been since being activated from the disabled list take a look at the starting pitcher metrics since June 1.

Kluber has lapped the field in almost every pitching metric since June 1. When Max Scherzer surpassed Clayton Kershaw in mid-June, Kluber was 54 points behind the National's ace. Now just three months later with no major injury and little drop off in Scherzer’s performance, Kluber has wrested the crown from Mad Max.