Everyone enjoyed the four-game sweep of the Reds and the clinching of the NL East over the weekend. What may have gotten past everyone was how great the starting pitching was. Dave Cameron did a chart of the four hurlers and they combined for 26 IP, 0 BB, 34 Ks and only 1 HR allowed. He also said:
You can adjust for opponent quality all you want; there’s no way for a four-start stretch that includes no walks and 36 strikeouts (sic) to not be remarkably impressive. Sure, the ’15 Reds aren’t the ’27 Yankees, but they have a .311 wOBA as a team this year; putting them in the same hitting tier as the Cardinals (.312), Cubs (.313), and Pirates (.313), and the games were played in Cincinnati, so these weren’t the results of some good arms just taking advantage of a pitcher-friendly environment. These were four high-ceiling arms putting their abilities on display, and sending a message to the rest of the National League.
As a group, their fastballs averaged 96 mph this weekend, which is probably part of the reason why the Reds made contact on just 78% of their swings despite the fact that their starters lived in the strike zone all weekend. 53.6% of the pitches that the Mets fearsome four threw were within the bounds of the PITCHF/x strike zone, the kind of strike-throwing number you generally see from command pitchers who lack the stuff to get a lot of chases out of the zone. But that doesn’t describe any of the Mets four starters, all of whom were throwing hard and with movement. And when you constantly pound the zone with an elite pitch repertoire, well, you apparently end up running a 1.03 FIP.
Source: FanGraphs
A lot of fans have been worried about the starters hitting some mythical wall here in September. The Reds series suggests otherwise.
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And the Reds have real hitters. Votto, Frazier, Phillips are all major league professional sticks. None were real difference makers. Regardless that the Reds trotted out AA pitchers to the games and we lumbered them to death, I think it is critical to recognize how good our pitching was and should be moving onward. I love where we are at and where we are heading.
The whole article about the Mets was very positive. It really psyches me up that this is what we have to look forward to (and Wheeler) the next few years with the extra bonus of Familia closing out the games.