Now that Wins have changed from complete games to a possible 'quality start' and three or four relievers protecting a lead, the Win has become a by-product.
Some in roto want to get rid of the Win. The problem being that replacing it is tough. Some want to give in to agent's whims and make 'quality starts', a category.
Really?
Should we really celebrate a 4.50 ERA?
78 starting pitchers threw enough innings to qualify in statistics last year. Of those 78 starting pitchers, 67 of them had an ERA below 4.50
A quality start is an agents stat.
Giving up three runs in six innings should be considered a meh start.
Quality....Ugh.
A Quality Start
I'm surprised they don't call it a Value Start.
There are also those that want to mess around with numbers. Some want to say that ANY time a pitcher pitches more than six innings, that that should be a category.
Or, any time a pitcher gives up less than three runs in 5+ innings.
Or some other concoction that sounds good to them.
The problem being that it takes the moment of the game away.
For instance, if Bartolo Colon is staked to an eight run lead after three innings, I would expect that Colon pitches differently.
He'll get more pitches in the strike zone. Making hitters earn their way on. In a way, he is playing the nickel defense.
Why should Colon be penalized for doing his job in the right manner. He is trying to win the game.
And that brings us full circle.
The Win is here to stay until somebody smarter than me (easy) can come along with a better category to replace it (tough).
No matter how much has changed in baseball, the starting pitcher still wants the win. If behind in a game when taken out, most starting pitchers, literally, head for the showers. When being taken out while ahead, most starting pitchers are vested, lingering on the bench to see if they get the win.
Some, even seen on camera with a fist pump for his successful reliever.
A Manager will let a struggling veteran finish the fifth inning if he has the lead.
A courtesy to the stat.
For us, the Win is maddening. Our pitcher can throw eight innings of masterful ball.
Only to see it go for naught when his team does not score or a reliever has a bad night.
Collin McHugh won 19 games last year.
Nineteen!
I don't think of McHugh as a nineteen game winner.
I think of him as a good pitcher who happened to win 19 games.
McHugh will not be taken any higher in NFBC drafts because he won 19 games. We know that the 19 games is a by-product.
We don't even know if Houston will be a very good or bad team next year.
Shelby Miller won six games in starting 33 games and throwing over 200 innings of 3.02 ERA ball.
6.
Teammate Matt Wisler started just 19 games, threw only 109 innings.
And registered eight Wins.
The Win is unfair.
It is maddening.
It is galling.
It pisses every one of us, right off.
But simply put, it is the best thing we have in measuring a starting pitchers grit, guttiness, and game in each of his starts.
We already have his ERA and WHIP to measure his Numerish.
And we already have strike outs to measure his dominance.
Wins is the test of a starting pitcher.
And in testing that starting pitcher, it tests us as well.
It's a category meant for us.
The game of fantasy baseball is a big ball of every emotion possible. From minute to minute, we could be euphoric, then depressed.
Our first pick strikes out with the bases loaded and no outs.
Our crappy shortstop bought for a dollar on FAAB, hits a homer and steals a base.
It all tests our grit and mettle in playing this game.
Much like a Win for starting pitchers.....and us.
The Win, right now, in a way, fits our game better than if we had played fantasy baseball in the 60's.
Anybody could have guessed that Sandy Koufax would win 27 games.
We've made it harder on ourselves. The way our game should be.
Now leave me alone, I'm trying to find next year's Collin McHugh.