The previous five editions of this newsletter presented a series of 2023 batting awards that were named after Hall of Famers: Ted Williams, Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth, Nellie Fox, and Rickey Henderson.
Now to the pitchers.
You might assume that Major League Baseball has beaten me to the punch in this category, since its preeminent pitching honor is already linked to a Cooperstown legend, the Cy Young Award.
But I have a counterpart that takes a slightly different tack.
It’s named after Juan Marichal, the great San Francisco Giants righthander whose career spanned from 1960 to 1975. Marichal posted the best BPO-A of any postwar Hall of Fame pitcher who recorded at least 10,000 outs.
BPO-A, as you know, stands for bases allowed per out. It’s a ratio that’s calculated by adding up all the bases that a pitcher surrendered through hits, walks, hit batters, stolen bases, and sacrifices, and then dividing that total by the outs he induced.
Marichal yielded only 5,764 bases while amassing 10,622 outs, which translates to an outstanding BPO-A of .543 — the best career figure, as previously noted, since World War II.
It’s no surprise that 2023’s overall major-league leader also earned a Cy Young trophy. Gerrit Cole of the New York Yankees gave up only 311 bases while stacking up 626 outs, resulting in a microscopic BPO of .497. The latter figure earned him the American League’s Juan Marichal Award.
The race on the National League side wasn’t as clean-cut.
Corbin Burnes of the Milwaukee Brewers took the Marichal with a BPO of .549, edging Zack Wheeler of the Philadelphia Phillies (.556) and Logan Webb of the San Francisco Giants (.559). And what of Cy Young honoree Blake Snell of the San Diego Padres? He was all the way down in fifth place at .580.
Scroll down to see the 15 best BPO-A rates in each league. The rankings are confined to pitchers who worked at least 162 innings during the 2023 season.
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American League BPO-A leaders
1. Gerrit Cole, Yankees, .497
2. Kyle Bradish, Orioles, .515
3. Sonny Gray, Twins, .529
4. Zach Eflin, Rays, .548
5. George Kirby, Mariners, .581
6. Pablo Lopez, Twins, .610
6. Framber Valdez, Astros, .610
8. Luis Castillo, Mariners, .616
9. Logan Gilbert, Mariners, .621
10. Kevin Gausman, Blue Jays, .627
11. Jose Berrios, Blue Jays, .641
12. Dane Dunning, Rangers, .643
13. Chris Bassitt, Blue Jays, .656
14. Dean Kremer, Orioles, .675
15. Yusei Kikuchi, Blue Jays, .686
National League BPO-A leaders
1. Corbin Burnes, Brewers, .549
2. Zack Wheeler, Phillies, .556
3. Logan Webb, Giants, .559
4. Zac Gallen, Diamondbacks, .577
5. Blake Snell, Padres, .580
6. Justin Steele, Cubs, .582
7. Kodai Senga, Mets, .591
8. Spencer Strider, Braves, .597
9. Merrill Kelly, Diamondbacks, .622
9. Freddy Peralta, Brewers, .622
11. Sandy Alcantara, Marlins, .637
12. Bryce Elder, Braves, .647
13. Jesus Luzardo, Marlins, .655
14. Aaron Nola, Phillies, .659
15. Mitch Keller, Pirates, .662