LVP frontrunners: Andrus, Ahmed, Newman
Worst pitchers (so far) are Lyles, Skubal, and Hendricks
We move today from the story of Cy Young to the tale of Milt Gaston.
You know all about Young, the winningest pitcher in big-league history. His 511 career victories put him 96 ahead of runner-up Walter Johnson’s 417, an awe-inspiring margin. Only two other pitchers — Pete Alexander and Christy Mathewson — sit within 140 wins of Young’s total.
The annual award for the best pitchers in both leagues is named after Young, and why not? The number forever linked to his name — that immortal 511 — will almost certainly never be matched.
Gaston set a record of a much different kind. He went 97-164 for the Yankees, Browns, Senators, Red Sox, and White Sox between 1924 and 1934. He twice led the American League in losses, suffering 18 defeats for St. Louis in 1926 and 20 for Boston in 1930. His career winning percentage of .372 ranks as the worst for any major-league pitcher with at least 250 decision.
Why bring this up? Tuesday’s installment ranked the best batters and pitchers in the early weeks of the 2021 season, the respective frontrunners for the Most Valuable Player and Cy Young Awards.
Today’s entry takes the opposite approach, focusing on players who have been struggling severely. I’m offering lists of the leading contenders for a pair of mythical dishonors, the Least Valuable Player and Milt Gaston Awards.
The process is the same as it was on Tuesday. Batters and pitchers are ranked by base balance. (Click here for details.) All stats are as of May 8. That’s a few days back, I know, but May 8 was the cutoff for Tuesday’s installment. Using the same deadline allows easy comparisons of the figures I cited then and those that follow.
Elvis Andrus is clearly suffering the most difficult season of any big-league batter so far, batting a measly .148 for the Athletics through the first week of May. He reached only 31 bases during that span, while making 95 outs.
The typical major leaguer would have attained 63 bases under the same circumstances, which gives Andrus a balance of minus-32 bases, the worst total in the majors. He consequently holds first place — an unenviable distinction — in the American League’s Least Valuable Player rankings.
Nick Ahmed of the Diamondbacks and Kevin Newman of the Pirates are tied for first place in the National League’s LVP standings. They have balances of minus-22 bases.
And what about Milt Gaston? The imaginary award carrying his name will go to the pitchers who are saddled with the highest positive balances in each league.
There currently is a tie in the American League, with Jordan Lyles of the Rangers and Tarik Skubal of the Tigers at plus-32. Their respective ERAs of 7.09 and 5.67 are evidence of the trouble they’ve seen.
Lyles yielded 98 bases and secured 100 outs up to May 8, while the corresponding figures for Skubal were 87 and 83. Both pitchers yielded 32 more bases than the average pitcher would have surrendered under the same circumstances.
The normally outstanding Kyle Hendricks of the Cubs is the surprise leader for the National League’s Milt Gaston Award. His base balance is an equally bloated plus-32 so far this year.
Below are lists of the batters and pitchers who have endured the greatest disappointments to this point of 2021, followed by the worst base balances on every team.
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American League LVP
1. Elvis Andrus (Athletics), -32
2. Evan White (Mariners), -26
3. Jonathan Schoop (Tigers), -25
4. Leury Garcia (White Sox), -22
5. Martin Maldonado (Astros), -20
5. Danny Jansen (Blue Jays), -20
7. Leody Taveras (Rangers), -19
7. JaCoby Jones (Tigers), -19
7. Willi Castro (Tigers), -19
10. Willy Adames (Rays), -18
10. Yoshi Tsutsugo (Rays), -18
10. Eli White (Rangers), -18
National League LVP
1. Nick Ahmed (Diamondbacks), -22
1. Kevin Newman (Pirates), -22
3. Josh Fuentes (Rockies), -21
4. Erik Gonzalez (Pirates), -19
5. Keston Hiura (Brewers), -18
5. Edwin Rios (Dodgers), -18
7. Jackie Bradley Jr. (Brewers), -17
7. Eugenio Suarez (Reds), -17
9. Garrett Cooper (Marlins), -16
9. James McCann (Mets), -16
American League Milt Gaston
1. Jordan Lyles (Rangers), 32
1. Tarik Skubal (Tigers), 32
3. Brad Keller (Royals), 30
4. Bruce Zimmermann (Orioles), 26
5. Buck Farmer (Tigers), 22
6. Kenta Maeda (Twins), 21
7. Mike Foltynewicz (Rangers), 20
8. Logan Allen (Indians), 19
8. Kohei Arihara (Rangers), 19
8. Matt Shoemaker (Twins), 19
National League Milt Gaston
1. Kyle Hendricks (Cubs), 32
2. Max Fried (Braves), 26
2. Josh Lindblom (Brewers), 26
2. Patrick Corbin (Nationals), 26
5. Drew Smyly (Braves), 23
6. Chad Kuhl (Pirates), 22
6. Daniel Bard (Rockies), 22
8. Matt Moore (Phillies), 21
9. Zach Davies (Cubs), 20
10. Amir Garrett (Reds), 19
Team leaders
Angels: (B) David Fletcher, -17; (P) Jose Quintana, 16
Astros: (B) Martin Maldonado, -20; (P) Joe Smith, 14
Athletics: (B) Elvis Andrus, -32; (P) Mike Fiers, 15
Blue Jays: (B) Danny Jansen, -20; (P) T.J. Zeuch, 18
Braves: (B) Cristian Pache, -14; (P) Max Fried, 26
Brewers: (B) Keston Hiura, -18; (P) Josh Lindblom, 26
Cardinals: (B) Andrew Knizner, -11; (P) Daniel Ponce de Leon, 13
Cubs: (B) David Bote, -14; (P) Kyle Hendricks, 32
Diamondbacks: (B) Nick Ahmed, -22; (P) Luke Weaver, 18
Dodgers: (B) Edwin Rios, -18; (P) Garrett Cleavinger and Joe Kelly, 9
Giants: (B) Mauricio Dubon, -12; (P) Gregory Santos, 12
Indians: (B) Yu Chang, -17; (P) Logan Allen, 19
Mariners: (B) Evan White, -26; (P) Marco Gonzales and Ljay Newsome, 11
Marlins: (B) Garrett Cooper, -16; (P) Nick Neidert, 15
Mets: (B) James McCann, -16; (P) Joey Lucchesi, 14
Nationals: (B) Josh Bell, -10; (P) Patrick Corbin, 26
Orioles: (B) Pedro Severino, -15; (P) Bruce Zimmermann, 26
Padres: (B) Luis Campusano, -15; (P) Nick Ramirez, 5
Phillies: (B) Alec Bohm, -10; (P) Matt Moore, 21
Pirates: (B) Kevin Newman, -22; (P) Chad Kuhl, 22
Rangers: (B) Leody Taveras, -19; (P) Jordan Lyles, 32
Rays: (B) Willy Adames and Yoshi Tsutsugo, -18; (P) Chris Mazza, 8
Red Sox: (B) Franchy Cordero, -15; (P) Austin Brice, 11
Reds: (B) Eugenio Suarez, -17; (P) Amir Garrett, 19
Rockies: (B) Josh Fuentes, -21; (P) Daniel Bard, 22
Royals: (B) Hanser Alberto, Hunter Dozier, and Jorge Soler, -9; (P) Brad Keller, 30
Tigers: (B) Jonathan Schoop, -25; (P) Tarik Skubal, 32
Twins: (B) Jake Cave, -17; (P) Kenta Maeda, 21
White Sox: (B) Leury Garcia, -22; (P) Evan Marshall, 9
Yankees: (B) Jay Bruce and Gleyber Torres, -8; (P) Nick Nelson, 9