In a day and age where Sabermetrics runs the game of baseball, numbers are the easiest way to compare two players to one-another. Usually, fans of a team would compare one of their players to one on another ball club, but is important to compare teammates as well. Going into the 2015 season, Matt Harvey was coming off of Tommy John’s Surgery and was predicted by many to be the ace of the Mets’ staff. The ranking of Mets’ pitchers pre 2015 was Harvey, Jacob deGrom, Zack Wheeler, Bartolo Colon, Jon Niese. However, Wheeler went down with an elbow injury during Spring Training, and deGrom arose as one of the best young pitchers in the game. Both Harvey and deGrom have had amazing seasons, but who has been better? Which player would be more trusted in a game five or seven situation during the post season? Let’s take a look at the numbers!
Harvey: For those of you who are old-school fans like myself, the basic numbers for Harvey have looked good this season. Harvey is 11-7 with a 2.48 ERA in 160.0 innings. Harvey has a 149:33 strike out to walk ratio so far in 2015, and has made very few poor outings. For those of you who like seeing the more advanced numbers for players, Harvey has an xFIP of 3.38, which puts him 21 out of 88 ranked pitchers in the major leagues so far this season. Harvey has held the opposition to a .253 BABIP and has left 82.5% of players on base. Harvey has had an excellent season to any measures thus far, but how does it hold up to deGrom?
deGrom: Just like what was done for Harvey’s numbers, I will start off by displaying the old-school type numbers and then the newer advanced numbers. This season, deGrom is 12-7 with a 2.32 ERA in 163.0 innings. Although he has had a few shaky starts, deGrom has proven himself to be nasty, and he did not shy away during the All-Star Game. deGrom made history in Cincinnati this year, becoming the first pitcher ever to strike out the side on 10 pitches or less! As for the advanced numbers, deGrom has an xFIP of 2.98, which ranks him 10 on the same list of 88 pitchers. deGrom has a BABIP of .252 thus far in 2015 and has left 80.7% of players on base.
The numbers for the two aces are close. However, there is no doubt that deGrom has been the better pitcher this season. deGrom has proven himself as a true number one in virtually every aspect this season, and his numbers trump Harvey’s in virtually every category. As of today, it seems that the ranking of Mets pitchers has changed, and goes: deGrom, Harvey, Noah Syndergaard, Colon, Niese. Despite his rare but occuring struggles, deGrom is the best fit to pitch in a game five or seven situation for the Mets, but Harvey would not be a terrible choice either. Any team that can boast a player of Harvey’s talent as a number two pitcher has strong potential to go far in the postseason!
Harvey is still my number one.
In a game # 7 , I want deGrom on the mound to start.
(just thinking of these two great pitchers and a game 7 is mind boggling ! )
With the season on the line I’d still go with Harvey. He’s a relentless bulldog. DeGrom is terrific, but about every 5th start he makes terrible pitch selection (or doesnt listen to his catcher) and gets clobbered. I can’t envision Harvey not rising to the occasion in a big spotlight game.
I think deGrom has more ability at the moment to limit big innings. That’s the difference maker for me. Next year, it will likely be Harvey though.