We’ve got now accomplished the place participant portion of our Brewers All-Time Crew (hyperlinks to all of which could be discovered right here). As I defined within the Molitor essay, we selected to not go along with a delegated hitter, in order that simply leaves two spots left: a beginning pitcher and a aid pitcher. We’re solely going to decide on considered one of every, so that is going to get a little bit bit Thunderdome-y. Our outdated guidelines don’t actually apply right here (fairly self-explanatory!), so let’s get to it, beginning with the squad’s beginning pitcher… a near-impossible determination!
I’m going to do that one a little bit in another way: I’m going to current the highest contenders, after which select after breaking them down.
The best way I see it, there are six seasons which can be really contenders for “greatest season ever by a Brewers beginning pitcher.” Selecting which ones you want greatest will depend on your solutions to a couple questions. Are you a FIP or an ERA particular person? How a lot does quantity matter? Do you worth group success within the determination?
The Contenders
Listed below are the six seasons that I feel must be strongly thought of when making this determination, introduced in chronological order:
Mike Caldwell, 1978: 37g, 293 1⁄3 IP, 8.2 bWAR/6.3 fWAR, 22-9, 2.36 ERA/2.94 FIP, 160 ERA+, 131 Ok, 54 BB, 1.064 WHIP
Teddy Higuera, 1986: 34g, 248 1⁄3 IP, 9.4 bWAR/5.1 fWAR, 20-11, 2.79 ERA/3.40 FIP, 156 ERA+, 207 Ok, 74 BB, 1.208 WHIP
Higuera, 1988: 31g, 227 1⁄3 IP, 7.4 bWAR/5.9 fWAR, 16-9, 2.45 ERA/2.80 FIP, 162 ERA+, 192 Ok, 59 BB, 0.999 WHIP
Ben Sheets, 2004: 34g, 237 IP, 7.3 bWAR/8.0 fWAR, 12-14, 2.70 ERA/2.65 FIP, 162 ERA+, 264 Ok, 32 BB, 0.983 WHIP
CC Sabathia, 2008 (numbers with MIL): 17g, 130 2⁄3 IP, 5.2 bWAR/4.7 fWAR, 11-2, 1.65 ERA/2.44 FIP, 255 ERA+, 128 Ok, 25 BB, 1.003 WHIP
Corbin Burnes, 2021: 28g, 167 IP, 5.3 bWAR/7.5 fWAR, 11-5, 2.43 ERA/1.63 FIP, 170 ERA+, 234 Ok, 34 BB, 0.940 WHIP
I’ll say it proper now: I feel you’ll be able to craft an argument for any considered one of these seasons, and I don’t suppose you’d be mistaken. Choose your favourite Higuera season (by the measure of fWAR, his 1987 season—not listed right here—is definitely his greatest) and pair it with these others, and also you’ve bought your All-Time five-man rotation. However I need to determine this out. Which one is greatest?
By the point Caldwell arrived in Milwaukee, he was already what individuals name a “journeyman.” He’d pitched a few seasons in San Diego, three extra in San Francisco (after being traded for Willie McCovey!), and been traded to and from St. Louis and Cincinnati earlier than he bought to Milwaukee in June 1977. Solely considered one of his six seasons had been higher than common (1974 in San Francisco), and there was no actual purpose to anticipate a lot of him.
However one thing clicked in spring coaching in 1978, and a rejuvenated Caldwell put collectively a record-setting season. He led baseball by throwing 23 full video games, six of which had been shutouts, and in 34 begins (and three extra aid appearances) he went 22-9 with a 2.36 ERA (160 ERA+) and a pair of.94 FIP in a large variety of innings (293 1/3, third within the AL). Ron Guidry had a traditionally nice 12 months in 1978 and deservedly gained the Cy Younger unanimously, however Caldwell was proper behind him in second place.
That success carried into 1979 when Caldwell went 16-6 with a 3.29 ERA (127 ERA+), however whereas he nonetheless picked up respectable win totals after that (he gained no less than 11 video games in every of the following 4 seasons, topping out at 17 in 1982) his different numbers dropped again to the marginally below-average place they’d been previous to 1978. It was kind of an odd profession. However that 1978 season was the perfect in Brewers historical past in a number of methods: his 2.36 ERA is a file for a qualifying pitcher, his 22 wins are probably the most in franchise historical past, and his 23 full video games and 6 shutouts are each group data.
The participant that almost all Brewers historians would level to as the perfect beginning pitcher in franchise historical past could be Teddy Higuera, who was a younger star within the early-80s Mexican League earlier than the Brewers bought his contract when he was 25. After spending 1984 in Milwaukee’s minor league system, Higuera broke camp with the Brewers in 1985 as a 27-year-old rookie and made an influence instantly: he was 15-8 with a 107 ERA+ and completed second in Rookie of the 12 months voting to the White Sox’s Ozzie Guillén.
Higuera ascended to stardom in 1986. He began 34 video games and accomplished 15 of them (with 4 shutouts) and went 20-11 with a 2.79 ERA (156 ERA+). By the measure of bWAR, Higuera’s 9.4 in 1986 is probably the most in group historical past by a major margin (Caldwell’s 8.2 in ’78 being second), and Higuera completed second in Cy Younger voting to Boston’s Roger Clemens and made his solely All-Star look. However it was removed from Higuera’s solely good season: in 1987, he gained 18 video games and whereas his 3.85 ERA was strong (119 ERA+) his 3.25 FIP was even higher, and he set profession highs with 240 strikeouts and 6.7 fWAR.
However his greatest season might not have been both of these. My vote would in all probability go to 1988, though his innings lagged barely behind the earlier two seasons. In 31 begins, Higuera was 16-9 and set career-best marks in ERA (2.45), ERA+ (162), and FIP (2.80); he additionally had his lowest charges in H/9 (6.7), HR/9 (0.6), and BB/9 (2.3) whereas main the American League in WHIP (0.999). Higuera acquired no official recognition for this season; with the Brewers dropping again to 3rd within the AL East and his win complete receding, Higuera didn’t get a lot as one vote for MVP or Cy Younger. He battled accidents after 1988 and by no means threw greater than 170 innings in a season once more, however his three-year run from 1986-88 is, for me, the perfect multi-year stretch for a beginning pitcher in group historical past.
Whereas starters often had blips on the radar within the Nineteen Nineties, the following really nice season by a Brewer starter wouldn’t come for an additional 16 years.
Ben Sheets was Milwaukee’s first-round decide within the 1999 draft, and he turned arguably probably the most well-known minor leaguer on Earth when he threw a shutout in the USA’ 4-0 victory over Cuba within the gold medal recreation of the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. The Brewers had been determined for any kind of constructive information within the early 2000s and Sheets made the Brewers out of spring coaching in 2001 after Baseball America named him the No. 5 prospect within the league. By June, Sheets was 10-4 with a 3.35 ERA and he made the All-Star group, however he light badly down the stretch and completed with a 4.76 ERA. For the following two seasons, Sheets was about league common, however he was making tweaks, primarily by changing into an ace management pitcher.
In 2004, every little thing got here collectively. Sheets made 34 begins and threw 237 innings and whereas his file was an unremarkable 12-14 (for a group that went 67-94), every little thing else about that season was implausible. He had a 2.70 ERA and 162 ERA+, and his FIP was even higher at 2.65. He struck out 264 batters, by far a career-high and second within the NL to Randy Johnson. Maybe much more impressively, Sheets walked solely 32, and he thus put up an absurd 8.25 Ok:BB ratio, which was far and away forward of the remainder of the league (Johnson at 6.59) and is within the prime 10 single-season marks by a qualifying pitcher after 1900. Sheets’ 0.983 WHIP in 2004 is the perfect for any Brewer starter previous to 2021 and his 8.0 fWAR is the single-season group file for a pitcher. The top of Sheets’ nice season got here on Could sixteenth in opposition to the Atlanta Braves, when he had what might be the perfect begin ever by a Brewer pitcher: he tossed a whole recreation, allowed one run on three hits and a stroll, and struck out 18 batters, three greater than every other Brewer has ever struck out in a recreation, a quantity topped solely 12 occasions in baseball historical past.
In fact, after that, Sheets couldn’t keep wholesome, though he confirmed flashes of his outdated brilliance, most notably in 2008 when he pitched mainly till his arm fell off in his thirty first and ultimate begin of the 12 months (rendering him unusable within the postseason). Even nonetheless, from 2004-08, Sheets had a 134 ERA+ in 839 1/3 innings with a 5.16 Ok:BB ratio (which, simply to provide it some context, could be the file for a retired beginning pitcher if that had been his full-career mark).
Talking of 2008, no dialogue of the best Brewer pitching season could be full with out speaking about CC Sabathia. It’s very troublesome to say that the perfect season ever by a Brewer pitcher got here from a man who made solely 17 appearances after being acquired in July, however these should not regular appearances! In these 17 begins, Sabathia threw seven full video games and three shutouts, he had a 5.12 Ok:BB ratio, and he had a 1.65 ERA (255 ERA+). He got here a whisker away from throwing the second no-hitter in group historical past, he went 11-2, and he mainly single-handedly dragged the Brewers to their first postseason in 26 years by pitching on brief relaxation three straight occasions down the stretch, together with a whole recreation through which he allowed solely an unearned run in a 3-1, Wild-Card-clinching victory on the final day of the season.
The final season that should be thought of is considered one of solely two seasons through which a Brewers starter gained a Cy Younger Award, and that’s Corbin Burnes in 2021.* It was a considerably controversial award in that Burnes threw solely 167 innings that season, however by mainly each different measure, he was the league’s greatest pitcher. He led the majors in ERA (2.43), FIP (1.63) HR/9 (0.4), Ok/9 (12.6), Ok:BB (6.88), and fWAR (7.5), and for good measure, he threw eight hitless innings (with 14 strikeouts and one stroll) when he and Josh Hader mixed for simply the second no-hitter in group historical past. Burnes simply edged Philadelphia’s Zack Wheeler in Cy Younger voting (they each bought 12 first-place votes however Burnes completed higher on different ballots and completed with 151 vote factors to Wheeler’s 141), and he had two extra excellent seasons with the Brewers (through which he completed seventh and eighth in Cy Younger voting).
*Pete Vuckovich gained the Cy Younger in 1982, nevertheless it was fully due to his team-leading 18 wins for a division champion. His ERA+ was 114 and he had 2.8 bWAR and a pair of.4 fWAR; by fashionable requirements, there may be virtually no probability he would have gotten a lot as a vote for Cy Younger.
So which do you select? Caldwell was probably the most potent workhorse in group historical past, pitching to a 162 ERA+ in large innings. Higuera showcased all-around brilliance and set a group file for bWAR in 1986 however was even higher by price stats in 1988. Sabathia did legend issues. Burnes was a finely tuned precision device: most effectivity, most effectiveness. However…
Beginning Pitcher: Ben Sheets, 2004
34g, 237 IP, 12-14, 2.70 ERA, 162 ERA+, 2.65 FIP, 264 Ok, 32 BB, 0.983 WHIP, 8.25 Ok:BB, 7.3 bWAR, 8.0 fWAR
For me, this spot goes to Sheets. The mixture of quantity and effectiveness gave him what’s, in my view, the simplest season in group historical past. He did it in obscurity for an terrible group whereas everybody was being attentive to two of the perfect pitchers of all time (Roger Clemens and Randy Johnson went 1-2 in Cy Younger voting within the NL), however Sheets in ’04 had a singular mixture of dominant strikeout stuff and pinpoint management, besting even Burnes’ Cy Younger season by way of strikeout-to-walk ratio.
As I stated earlier than, I feel you could possibly craft a profitable argument for any considered one of these seasons, and I’ve discovered that Sabathia’s season particularly will get the juices flowing amongst followers (that was the go-to reply among the many pals I polled previous to penning this). I’d not argue in opposition to you if that was your selection, nor would I actually argue with the collection of any of the seasons mentioned. This was a tough one!
Additionally price mentioning, along with the six “finalists” listed above: Brandon Woodruff in 2021, who was virtually nearly as good as Burnes; Cal Eldred in 1992, who went 11-2 with a 1.79 ERA (217 ERA+) in 14 begins and completed fourth in Rookie of the 12 months voting regardless of not making his debut till after the All-Star break; Ben McDonald in 1996 and Chris Bosio in 1989, who simply had very strong seasons; Jeff D’Amico in 2000, who confirmed the potential that made him a first-round decide by pitching to a 171 ERA+ in 23 begins within the midst of an injury-cursed profession; and Ricky Bones in 1994, who rode luck to a 146 ERA+ and made the All-Star group in a strike-shortened season.
