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Fantasy Baseball: 2010 Top 20 Starting Pitchers Based on K/100 Pitches

A few months back, I posted an article listing the leaders in K/100 pitches as some feel it is a stat that is a good predictor of success for a starting pitcher. This is an excerpt from my initial article:

Here is a quote from Rich Lederer's article over at Baseball Analysts:

As detailed in Strikeout Proficiency (Part Two), K/P has the highest correlation in each of the five run measures (ERA, R/G, ERC, FIP, and DIPS). K/BF has the second-highest correlation and K/IP has the lowest correlation. In any other words, K/P > K/BF > K/IP.

So, Lederer feels that his K/P is a better metric to rank starting pitchers than K/9 or K/IP. To calculate K/P, I used the following formula:

(K/Pitches thrown) * 100

I plan to take a look at this metric again at the end of the season providing year to date data along with second half data. It is not a surprise to see many of the top pitchers in baseball in the table above. I hope the second half data can provide some sleepers for 2011 fantasy drafts.

Here is a look at the K/100 pitches leaders for all of 2010:


Player INN PC K ERA WHIP Kd9 QS W K/100 P
Morrow, Brandon SP TOR 146.3 2523 178 4.49 1.3804 10.95 15 10 7.055093
Lincecum, Tim SP SF 212.3 3437 231 3.433 1.2716 9.79 22 16 6.720978
Lester, Jon SP BOS 208 3357 225 3.245 1.2019 9.74 20 19 6.702413
Liriano, Francisco SP MIN 191.7 3021 201 3.616 1.2626 9.44 20 14 6.653426
Latos, Mat SP SD 184.7 2965 189 2.924 1.083 9.21 21 14 6.374368
Wainwright, Adam SP STL 230.3 3356 213 2.423 1.0507 8.32 25 20 6.346841
Sanchez, Jonathan SP SF 193.3 3233 205 3.072 1.231 9.54 14 13 6.34086
Weaver, Jered SP ANA 224.3 3713 233 3.009 1.0743 9.35 27 13 6.275249
Hamels, Cole SP PHI 208.7 3368 211 3.062 1.1789 9.1 21 12 6.264846
Kershaw, Clayton SP LA 204.3 3390 212 2.907 1.1794 9.34 23 13 6.253687
Gallardo, Yovani SP MIL 185 3199 200 3.843 1.3676 9.73 17 14 6.251954
Johnson, Josh SP FLA 183.7 2987 186 2.303 1.1053 9.11 23 11 6.226984
Hernandez, Felix SP SEA 249.7 3731 232 2.271 1.0574 8.36 30 13 6.218172
Lee, Cliff SP TEX 212.3 2981 185 3.179 1.0031 7.84 18 12 6.205971
Halladay, Roy SP PHI 250.7 3568 219 2.442 1.0412 7.86 25 21 6.137892
Oswalt, Roy SP PHI 211.7 3194 193 2.764 1.0252 8.21 24 13 6.04258
Chacin, Jhoulys SP COL 137.3 2304 138 3.277 1.2743 9.04 11 9 5.989583
Jimenez, Ubaldo SP COL 221.7 3600 214 2.883 1.1549 8.69 25 19 5.944444
Nolasco, Ricky SP FLA 157.7 2475 147 4.51 1.2812 8.39 16 14 5.939394
Lewis, Colby SP TEX 201 3301 196 3.716 1.1891 8.78 20 12 5.937595

A couple guys that standout for me are the Giants Jonathan Sanchez, the Blue Jays Brandon Morrow and the Rockies Jhoulys Chacin. Also, 13 of the 20 pitchers listed are from the National League. And, of those 13, 6 pitch in the NL West, 3 pitch for the Phillies, and the Rockies and Giants have 2 pitchers apiece appearing on the list.

Morrow, he of the 18 K game in 2010, also led the majors with a 10.95 K/9 rate. He had an ERA of 4.49, but had an excellent FIP of 3.16 and xFIP of 3.63 in 2010. He is a sleeper for 2011 drafts.

Sanchez had a solid 2010 season, winning 13 games with an excellent 3.06 ERA, FIP of 4.00 and xFIP of 4.11. Was his 2010 season a bit fluky, or can we expect more of the same from Sanchez in 2011?

As I stated in the Tuesday night chat, I like Rockies starter Jhoulys Chacin alot. He started 21 games in 2010, winning 9 of them, with an ERA of 3.28, FIP of 3.54 and an xFIP of 3.74. As a starter in 2010, he held opponents to a triple slash line of .226/.319/.322 with a 2.98 ERA and 1.271 WHIP.