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Edinson Volquez on pace for historic season

While perusing some stats on Baseball-Reference.com, I noticed that Volquez is currently leading the NL in Adjusted ERA+ at 304.  Now I’m vaguely familiar with this statistic, and while I don’t totally understand how it’s calculated, I think I have a pretty good grasp of what it means.

 

Adjusted ERA+, as I understand it, is used to compare ERAs from a given season to ERAs from any other season.  It compares an individual’s ERA to the average for that season.  The adjusted part comes in when Ballpark factors are included.  For instance, an ERA of 1.50 in GABP would be more impressive than the same ERA in Petco Park.  Beyond that, 100 is the average and you go from there.  Higher is better.

 

Now, it’s June 2nd, and we’re roughly 1/3 of the way through the season.  With that in mind, if Edinson could keep this Adjusted ERA+ close to where it is, he could be headed for a historic season.  The following is a list of the greatest Adjusted ERA+ seasons since 1920.

 

1. Pedro Martinez (28) 291 2000 R

2. Greg Maddux (28) 271 1994 R

3. Greg Maddux (29) 262 1995 R

4. Bob Gibson+ (32) 258 1968 R

5. Pedro Martinez (27) 243 1999 R

6. Dwight Gooden (20) 228 1985 R

7. Roger Clemens (42) 226 2005 R

8. Roger Clemens (34) 221 1997 R

9. Lefty Grove+* (31) 219 1931 L

10.  Pedro Martinez (25) 219 1997 R

 

We’ve discussed before whether or not Volquez can keep up this pace (Probably not, IMO), but even if he starts to slip, he could finish with one of the most impressive seasons of all time. 

 

If anyone has corrections, or more to add, feel free to help me out.

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