Diamondbacks All-Decade Team: Pitching Staff
The Arizona Diamondbacks All-Decade Team of the 2010s has a formidable pitching staff. Although their only awards were for defense or hitting, they still put up some impressive pitching numbers. Consequently, these choices were not always easy.
Selection Criteria – Starters
For starting pitchers, the four criteria are a starter’s ERA- (from FanGraphs), strikeouts, walks, and WHIP. Why those four? ERA- compares his ERA to the rest of the league, with the league average being 100. The lower the ERA-, the better, and each number is equal to one percentage point. For example, if a player has an ERA- of 90, that means that his park-adjusted ERA is 10 percentage points better than the league average. Strikeouts and walks do a good job at determining a pitcher’s control. Finally, WHIP shows how many baserunners he allows per inning. Pitchers who rank high in those four categories, with rare exception, end up having a good win-loss record.
The players are then ranked in each of those four statistical categories. His overall score is the average ranking in the four. For a player’s season to be considered, he must have started at least 15 games. Furthermore, for pitchers who split time in the rotation and the bullpen, only his numbers from games he started will be used in the calculation.
Selection Criteria – Relievers
Relievers must have a minimum of 40 innings pitched in relief. The reason for 40 is that most relievers pitch in one inning per appearance. If he pitches in 40 innings, then he pitched in roughly one fourth of his team’s games. For rankings, the four starting pitcher categories will be used. However, a fifth one is added – inherited runners scored percentage (IS%). A reliever’s job is to get guys out without allowing runs to score, and he often comes in with men on base. An average IS% is around 30%.
Relievers who are effective in all five of these categories go a long way toward helping their teams win games. For reference, the relievers will have Goose Eggs (GE) (and their counterparts, Broken Eggs (BE) and Mehs (M)) listed. A Goose Egg is a statistic for clutch relief innings invented by Nate Silver of the website Five Thirty-Eight, and it is quite telling. Anyway, here is the pitching staff for the Diamondbacks All-Decade Team of the 2010s.
Diamondbacks All-Decade Starting Rotation
Zack Greinke (2019)
Before he went to the Houston Astros in a deadline-day blockbuster, Zack Greinke was having a tremendous season for the Diamondbacks. He went 10-4 with a 2.90 ERA (66 ERA-) in 23 starts. In the process, he compiled 135 strikeouts, 21 walks, and a 0.945 WHIP in 146 innings. Among Diamondbacks starters in the decade, he ranked third in ERA-, 25th in strikeouts, third in walks, and first in WHIP, making an average ranking of 8.00. That made him first on the list. He made two other appearances in the overall top five, as his 2017 season tied him for second with an average ranking of 9.00 and his 2018 season put him in fourth with an average rank of 10.00.
Patrick Corbin (2018)
For anyone who is wondering why Patrick Corbin received a six-year, $140 million contract from the Washington Nationals, look here. In 2018, he had a record of 11-7, but that was deceptive. 15 of his 33 starts ended with no decision. In six of those, he left the game in position to get the win only for the bullpen to blow it. His other numbers tell the story better. He had an ERA of 3.15 (78 ERA-) with a complete game shutout, 246 strikeouts, 48 walks, and a 1.050 WHIP in 200 innings. His ERA-, strikeouts, walks, and WHIP ranked eighth, first, 24th, and third, respectively, for an average rank of 9.00.
Ian Kennedy (2011)
The ace of the 2011 National League West Division champions went 21-4 in 33 starts with an ERA of 2.88 (72 ERA-). While putting together that phenomenal record, Ian Kennedy had a complete game shutout, 198 strikeouts, 55 walks, and a 1.086 WHIP. His average rank of 12.00 came from finishing fifth in ERA-, seventh in strikeouts, 30th in walks, and sixth in WHIP.
Clay Buchholz (2018)
Clay Buchholz came to Arizona in May of 2018 on a minor league deal and worked his way to the majors. Buchholz had a nice year despite his injury struggles, going 7-2 in 16 starts with a 2.01 ERA (50 ERA-). He added 81 strikeouts, 22 walks, and a 1.037 WHIP in 98 1/3 innings. Imagine if he had been able to pitch the entire season while maintaining those rates! Even with the limited outings, he ranked first in ERA-, 41st in strikeouts, sixth in walks, and second in WHIP for an average rank of 12.50, giving him the fourth spot in the all-decade rotation.
Robbie Ray (2017)
The fifth and final spot in the Diamondbacks All-Decade pitching rotation goes to the 2017 version of Robbie Ray. He had a monster year, going 15-5 in 28 starts with a 2.89 ERA (63 ERA-). In addition, he racked up 218 strikeouts, 71 walks, and a 1.154 WHIP. This ranked him second in ERA-, third in strikeouts, 45th in walks, and ninth in WHIP for an average rank of 14.75. It tied him with the 2012 version of Wade Miley, but we went with Ray here since the walk ranking was a clear outlier that pulled his average down.
Diamondbacks All-Decade Relief Corps
J.J. Putz (2011)
J.J. Putz had each of the top two average rankings, and they came from his 2011 and 2012 seasons. In 57 games in relief in 2012, he went 1-5 with a 2.82 ERA (69 ERA-), 32 saves in 37 opportunities, a GE-BE-M line of 24-6-2, 65 K, 11 BB, and a 1.031 WHIP in 54 1/3 innings. This ranked him 12th in ERA-, 18th in strikeouts, first in walks, and fourth in WHIP. He also did not allow an inherited runner to score, ranking first, obviously. However, he only had three inherited runners, so that’s not a large sample size.
That is why we’re going with his 2011 season here. In 60 relief appearances, he went 2-2 with a 2.17 ERA (54 ERA-), 45 saves in 49 opportunities, a GE-BE-M line of 34-6-2, 61 K, 12 BB, and a 0.914 WHIP in 58 innings. Out of 10 inherited runners, he only allowed two to score, giving him an IS% of 20%. He ranked fifth in ERA-, 10th in IS%, 20th in strikeouts, second in walks, and first in WHIP. This gave him an average rank of 7.60.
Archie Bradley (2017)
Archie Bradley was a key piece to the Wild Card run in 2017 as a setup man for Fernando Rodney. It ended up being a case of the setup man having a better year than the closer. In 63 relief appearances for Bradley, he went 3-3 with a 1.73 ERA (38 ERA-), 25 holds, a GE-BE-M line of 31-4-8, 79 K, 21 BB, an IS% of 22% (8 out of 36) and a 1.041 WHIP in 73 innings. He ranked first in ERA-, 15th in IS%, fourth in strikeouts, 18th in walks, and fifth in WHIP, giving him an average of 8.60.
David Hernandez (2012)
David Hernandez was a setup man for Putz in 2012, and his performance that season gave him the third spot in the list. In 72 relief appearances, he went 2-3 with a 2.50 ERA (61 ERA-), 25 holds, a 26-8-1 GE-BE-M line, 98 K, 22 BB, a 20% IS% (two out of ten), and a 1.024 WHIP in 68 1/3 innings. His rankings of eighth in ERA-, 10th in IS%, first in strikeouts, 22nd in walks, and third in WHIP, giving him an average of 8.80.
Brad Ziegler (2015)
Brad Ziegler was the second-best closer of the decade for the Diamondbacks, having the fifth- and seventh-best seasons according to these metrics. In 2015, he appeared in 66 games in relief. In those games, he went 0-3 with a 1.85 ERA (45 ERA-), 30 saves in 32 opportunities, a 37-3-3 GE-BE-M line, 36 K, 17 BB, a 20% (4 for 20) IS%, and a 0.956 WHIP in 68 innings. He ranked second in ERA-, 10th in IS%, 43rd in strikeouts, 11th in walks, and second in WHIP for an average ranking of 13.60.
Yoshihisa Hirano (2018)
The struggles Yoshihisa Hirano faced in 2019 are making a lot of people forget about the great season he had in 2018. He went 4-3 in 75 relief appearances with a 2.44 ERA (60 ERA-), 32 holds, a 33-7-5 GE-BE-M line, 59 K, 23 BB, an IS% of 17% (5 out of 30), and a 1.085 WHIP in 66 1/3 innings. This ranked him seventh in ERA-, seventh in IS%, 23rd in strikeouts, 27th in walks, and sixth in WHIP, an average of 14.00.
Josh Collmenter (2015)
This selection may surprise people due to his rough start to the season. Josh Collmenter started 2015 off in the rotation, struggling his way to a 3-6 record and 5.24 ERA in 12 starts. However, after moving to the bullpen, he sparkled. In his 32 relief appearances, he went 1-0 with a 1.89 ERA (46 ERA-), 30 K, 14 BB, an IS% of 27% (4 out of 15), and a 1.108 WHIP in 52 1/3 innings. With his ranks of third in ERA-, 24th in IS%, 47th in strikeouts, fifth in walks, and eighth in WHIP, he averaged 17.40. A note on practicality – since he was a converted starter, this makes him the ideal candidate for a long-relief role.
Andrew Chafin (2019)
Andrew Chafin’s average ranking – 17.40 – tied him with Collmenter. This gave him the seventh and final spot in the relief corps, and it gave the bullpen their lone lefty. He was a prototypical left-handed specialist. In his 77 relief appearances, he pitched less than an inning in 49 of them. While doing so, he went 2-2 with a 3.76 ERA (85 ERA-), 68 K, 18 BB, an IS% of 11% (6 out of 53), and a 1.329 WHIP in 52 2/3 innings. He ranked 23rd in ERA-, fifth in IS%, 14th in strikeouts, 15th in walks, and 30th in WHIP, an average of 17.40.
Diamondbacks All-Decade Team Full Roster
Starters
Zack Greinke (2019)
Patrick Corbin (2018)
Ian Kennedy (2011)
Clay Buchholz (2018)
Robbie Ray (2017)
Relievers
Andrew Chafin (2019)
Josh Collmenter (2015)
Yoshihisa Hirano (2018)
Brad Ziegler (2015)
David Hernandez (2012)
Archie Bradley (2017)
J.J. Putz (2011)
Click here to see the position players.
Click here to see the statistics and rankings in spreadsheet form.
Main Photo
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