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1968 American League Pitching Leaders

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Other Leagues: Major Leagues, NL

Pennant Winner: Detroit Tigers

AL Most Valuable Player: Denny McLain

AL Cy Young: Denny McLain

AL Rookie of the Year: Stan Bahnsen

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1968 AL Menu

American League Pitching Leaders

Wins Above Replacement--all

Wins Above Replacement A single number that presents the number of wins the player added to the team above what a replacement player (think AAA or AAAA) would add. Scale for a single-season: 8+ MVP Quality, 5+ All-Star Quality, 2+ Starter, 0-2 Reserve, < 0 Replacement Level Developed by Sean Smith of BaseballProjection.com

1. Yastrzemski • BOS 10.4

2. Robinson • BAL 8.4

3. Tiant • CLE 7.9

4. McLain • DET 7.4

5. Freehan • DET 6.9

6. Campaneris • OAK 6.6

7. McNally • BAL 6.6

8. Bahnsen • NYY 5.9

John • CHW 5.9

10. Northrup • DET 5.8

WAR for Pitchers

Wins Above Replacement for Pitchers A single number that presents the number of wins the player added to the team above what a replacement player (think AAA or AAAA) would add. This value includes defensive support and includes additional value for high leverage situations. Scale: 8+ MVP Quality, 5+ All-Star Quality, 2+ Starter, 0-2 Reserve, < 0 Replacement Level Developed by Sean Smith of BaseballProjection.com

1. Tiant • CLE 8.5

2. McLain • DET 7.4

3. Bahnsen • NYY 6.4

4. Chance • MIN 6.2

5. McNally • BAL 5.9

6. John • CHW 5.6

7. Wood • CHW 5.4

8. McDowell • CLE 5.4

9. Stottlemyre • NYY 5.4

10. Nash • OAK 4.3

Earned Run Average

9 * ER / IP For recent years, leaders need 1 IP per team game played. Bold indicates lowest ERA using current stats Gold means awarded ERA title at end of year.

1. Tiant • CLE 1.60

2. McDowell • CLE 1.81

3. McNally • BAL 1.95

4. McLain • DET 1.96

5. John • CHW 1.98

6. Bahnsen • NYY 2.05

7. Nash • OAK 2.28

8. Horlen • CHW 2.37

9. Odom • OAK 2.45

10. Stottlemyre • NYY 2.45

Wins

1. McLain • DET 31

2. McNally • BAL 22

3. Stottlemyre • NYY 21

Tiant • CLE 21

5. Hardin • BAL 18

6. Bahnsen • NYY 17

Lolich • DET 17

8. Chance • MIN 16

Culp • BOS 16

Ellsworth • BOS 16

Odom • OAK 16

Win-Loss %

Win-Loss Percentage W / (W + L) For players, leaders need one decision for every ten team games. For managers, minimum to qualify for leading is 320 games.

1. McLain • DET .838

2. Culp • BOS .727

3. Tiant • CLE .700

4. Ellsworth • BOS .696

5. McNally • BAL .688

6. Lolich • DET .654

7. Stottlemyre • NYY .636

8. Wright • CAL .625

Hannan • WSA .625

10. Odom • OAK .615

Walks & Hits per IP

(BB + H)/IP For recent years, leaders need 1 IP per team game played

1. McNally • BAL 0.842

2. Tiant • CLE 0.871

3. McLain • DET 0.905

4. Chance • MIN 0.983

5. Peterson • NYY 1.017

6. John • CHW 1.038

7. Nash • OAK 1.050

8. Brunet • CAL 1.056

9. Hardin • BAL 1.057

10. Bahnsen • NYY 1.062

Hits per 9 IP

9 x H / IP For recent years, leaders need 1 IP per team game played

1. Tiant • CLE 5.295

2. McNally • BAL 5.769

3. McDowell • CLE 6.056

4. Siebert • CLE 6.335

5. McLain • DET 6.455

6. John • CHW 6.852

7. Chance • MIN 6.904

8. Culp • BOS 6.906

9. Hardin • BAL 6.934

10. Phoebus • BAL 6.956

Bases On Balls per 9 IP

9 x BB / IP For recent years, leaders need 1 IP per team game played

1. Peterson • NYY 1.229

2. McLain • DET 1.688

3. Ellsworth • BOS 1.699

4. Kaat • MIN 1.731

5. McNally • BAL 1.813

6. Chance • MIN 1.942

7. Merritt • MIN 1.964

8. Coleman • WSA 2.058

9. Stottlemyre • NYY 2.099

10. Nash • OAK 2.165

Strikeouts per 9 IP

9 x SO / IP For recent years, leaders need 1 IP per team game played

1. McDowell • CLE 9.468

2. Tiant • CLE 9.197

3. Lolich • DET 8.059

4. Culp • BOS 7.904

5. McLain • DET 7.500

6. Phoebus • BAL 7.217

7. Chance • MIN 7.212

8. Merritt • MIN 6.835

9. Williams • CLE 6.808

10. Boswell • MIN 6.774

Games Played

Games Played or Pitched

1. Wood • CHW 88

2. Wilhelm • CHW 72

3. Locker • CHW 70

4. Perranoski • MIN 66

5. Higgins • WSA 59

Watt • BAL 59

7. Burgmeier • CAL 56

Humphreys • WSA 56

9. Aker • OAK 54

Fisher • CLE 54

Worthington • MIN 54

Saves

1. Worthington • MIN 18

2. Wood • CHW 16

3. Higgins • WSA 13

4. Romo • CLE 12

Aker • OAK 12

Stange • BOS 12

Wilhelm • CHW 12

8. Lyle • BOS 11

Watt • BAL 11

Hamilton • NYY 11

Innings Pitched

1. McLain • DET 336.0

2. Chance • MIN 292.0

3. Stottlemyre • NYY 278.2

4. McNally • BAL 273.0

5. McDowell • CLE 269.0

6. Bahnsen • NYY 267.1

7. Tiant • CLE 258.1

8. Brunet • CAL 245.1

9. Hardin • BAL 244.0

10. Phoebus • BAL 240.2

Strikeouts

1. McDowell • CLE 283

2. McLain • DET 280

3. Tiant • CLE 264

4. Chance • MIN 234

5. McNally • BAL 202

6. Lolich • DET 197

7. Phoebus • BAL 193

8. Culp • BOS 190

9. Merritt • MIN 181

10. Hunter • OAK 172

Games Started

1. McLain • DET 41

2. Chance • MIN 39

3. McDowell • CLE 37

4. Stottlemyre • NYY 36

Phoebus • BAL 36

Brunet • CAL 36

7. Hardin • BAL 35

Horlen • CHW 35

McNally • BAL 35

10. Bahnsen • NYY 34

Dobson • OAK 34

Hunter • OAK 34

Merritt • MIN 34

Complete Games

Complete Game

1. McLain • DET 28

2. Tiant • CLE 19

Stottlemyre • NYY 19

4. McNally • BAL 18

5. Hardin • BAL 16

6. Chance • MIN 15

7. Nash • OAK 12

Coleman • WSA 12

9. Merritt • MIN 11

McDowell • CLE 11

Hunter • OAK 11

Culp • BOS 11

Dobson • OAK 11

Shutouts

Shutouts No runs allowed and a complete game.

1. Tiant • CLE 9

2. Nash • OAK 6

Stottlemyre • NYY 6

Chance • MIN 6

Culp • BOS 6

McLain • DET 6

7. Brunet • CAL 5

McNally • BAL 5

9. Pascual • WSA 4

Siebert • CLE 4

Lolich • DET 4

Odom • OAK 4

Home Runs

Home Runs Hit/Allowed

1. McLain • DET 31

2. Hunter • OAK 29

3. McNally • BAL 24

4. Brunet • CAL 23

Lolich • DET 23

6. Ellis • CAL 22

7. Merritt • MIN 21

Stottlemyre • NYY 21

9. Dobson • OAK 20

Hardin • BAL 20

Wilson • DET 20

Bases on Balls

Bases on Balls/Walks

1. McDowell • CLE 110

2. Phoebus • BAL 105

3. Odom • OAK 98

4. Siebert • CLE 88

5. Boswell • MIN 87

6. Culp • BOS 82

7. Hargan • CLE 81

8. Dobson • OAK 80

9. Sparma • DET 77

10. Tiant • CLE 73

Hits

Hits/Hits Allowed

1. Stottlemyre • NYY 243

2. McLain • DET 241

3. Chance • MIN 224

4. Bahnsen • NYY 216

5. Coleman • WSA 212

6. Hunter • OAK 210

7. Merritt • MIN 207

8. Dobson • OAK 197

Horlen • CHW 197

10. Ellsworth • BOS 196

Strikeouts / Base On Balls

SO/W or SO/BB For recent years, pitching leaders need 1 IP per team game played. No batting leaders computed.

1. McLain • DET 4.444

2. Peterson • NYY 3.966

3. Chance • MIN 3.714

4. McNally • BAL 3.673

5. Tiant • CLE 3.616

6. Merritt • MIN 3.481

7. Kaat • MIN 3.250

8. Nash • OAK 3.073

9. Lolich • DET 3.031

10. Williams • CLE 2.882

Home Runs per 9 IP

9 x HR / IP For recent years, leaders need 1 IP per team game played

1. Bell • BOS 0.316

2. Odom • OAK 0.350

3. Phoebus • BAL 0.374

4. Peters • CHW 0.387

5. McDowell • CLE 0.435

6. Chance • MIN 0.462

7. Bahnsen • NYY 0.471

8. Pascual • WSA 0.493

9. John • CHW 0.508

10. Siebert • CLE 0.524

Losses

1. Brunet • CAL 17

2. Chance • MIN 16

Coleman • WSA 16

Merritt • MIN 16

5. Hargan • CLE 15

McGlothlin • CAL 15

Phoebus • BAL 15

8. Carlos • CHW 14

Dobson • OAK 14

Horlen • CHW 14

McDowell • CLE 14

Earned Runs

Earned Runs Allowed

1. Hunter • OAK 87

2. Merritt • MIN 86

3. Chance • MIN 82

McGlothlin • CAL 82

5. Coleman • WSA 81

6. Brunet • CAL 78

Lolich • DET 78

8. Stottlemyre • NYY 76

9. Dobson • OAK 75

Sparma • DET 75

Wild Pitches

1. Bertaina • WSA 17

Odom • OAK 17

3. Clark • CAL 13

4. Chance • MIN 12

5. Brunet • CAL 10

Dobson • OAK 10

Phoebus • BAL 10

8. Bell • BOS 9

Boswell • MIN 9

Coleman • WSA 9

Culp • BOS 9

Hardin • BAL 9

Peters • CHW 9

Waslewski • BOS 9

Hit By Pitch

Times Hit by a Pitch.

1. Horlen • CHW 14

2. Coleman • WSA 12

John • CHW 12

4. Lolich • DET 11

Lonborg • BOS 11

6. Carlos • CHW 10

Chance • MIN 10

Hardin • BAL 10

McDowell • CLE 10

McNally • BAL 10

Williams • CLE 10

Batters Faced

1. McLain • DET 1,288

2. Chance • MIN 1,161

3. Stottlemyre • NYY 1,123

4. McDowell • CLE 1,098

5. Bahnsen • NYY 1,070

6. McNally • BAL 1,038

7. Phoebus • BAL 994

8. Tiant • CLE 987

9. Hardin • BAL 974

10. Brunet • CAL 973

Games Finished

Games Finished Credited to the last pitcher to appear for a team in a game. Complete Games are not counted as Games Finished.

1. Wood • CHW 46

2. Perranoski • MIN 41

3. Watt • BAL 39

Wilhelm • CHW 39

5. Womack • NYY 36

6. Worthington • MIN 34

7. Higgins • WSA 33

8. Locker • CHW 32

9. Aker • OAK 30

Stange • BOS 30

Adjusted ERA+

ERA+ 100*[lgERA/ERA] Adjusted to the player’s ballpark(s).

1. Tiant • CLE 186

2. McDowell • CLE 165

3. John • CHW 161

4. McLain • DET 154

5. McNally • BAL 150

6. Bahnsen • NYY 140

7. Horlen • CHW 135

8. Chance • MIN 124

9. Nash • OAK 122

10. Williams • CLE 119

Fielding Independent Pitching

Fielding Independent Pitching this stat measures a pitcher's effectiveness at preventing HR, BB, HBP and causing SO <tt>(13*HR + 3*(BB+HBP) - 2*SO)/IP + Constantlg</tt> The constant is set so that each season major-league average FIP is the same as the major-league avg ERA

1. Tiant • CLE 2.04

2. Chance • MIN 2.20

3. McDowell • CLE 2.25

4. McLain • DET 2.53

5. Peterson • NYY 2.56

6. Bahnsen • NYY 2.64

7. Phoebus • BAL 2.68

8. Nash • OAK 2.69

9. Williams • CLE 2.75

10. Merritt • MIN 2.75

Adj. Pitching Runs

Adjusted Pitching Runs A set of formulas developed by Gary Gillette, Pete Palmer and others that estimates a pitcher’s total contributions to a team’s runs total via linear weights. 0.0 is an avg performance, <0 is worse than avg and >0 is better than avg

1. Tiant • CLE 40

2. McLain • DET 38

3. McNally • BAL 31

4. McDowell • CLE 28

5. Bahnsen • NYY 24

6. John • CHW 22

7. Wood • CHW 22

8. Chance • MIN 18

9. Horlen • CHW 16

10. Nash • OAK 15

Adj. Pitching Wins

Adjusted Pitching Wins A set of formulas developed by Gary Gillette, Pete Palmer and others that estimates a pitcher’s total contributions to a team’s wins with his arm. 0.0 is an avg performance, <0 is worse than avg and >0 is better than avg

1. Tiant • CLE 5.0

2. McLain • DET 4.7

3. McNally • BAL 3.8

4. McDowell • CLE 3.4

5. Bahnsen • NYY 2.9

6. John • CHW 2.8

7. Wood • CHW 2.5

8. Chance • MIN 2.1

9. Horlen • CHW 1.9

10. Nash • OAK 1.8

Base-Out Runs Saved (RE24)

Base-Out Runs Saved Given the bases occupied/out situation, how many runs did the pitcher save in the resulting play. Compared to average, so 0 is average, and above 0 is better than average

1. Tiant • CLE 45.27

2. McLain • DET 43.73

3. McNally • BAL 35.56

4. Wood • CHW 24.69

5. Bahnsen • NYY 23.48

6. McDowell • CLE 23.46

7. John • CHW 21.21

8. Nash • OAK 20.02

9. Stottlemyre • NYY 19.48

10. Chance • MIN 19.02

Win Probability Added (WPA)

Win Probability Added by Pitcher Given average teams, this is the change in probability. See <a href='https://www.baseball-reference.com/about/wpa.shtml'>Win Expectancy explainer</a> for details.

1. Tiant • CLE 6.4

2. McLain • DET 5.2

3. Bahnsen • NYY 4.2

4. McNally • BAL 4.0

5. Stottlemyre • NYY 3.8

6. McDowell • CLE 3.6

7. Wood • CHW 2.9

8. Hardin • BAL 2.7

9. Nash • OAK 2.5

10. John • CHW 2.5

Sit. Wins Saved (WPA/LI)

Situational Wins (WPA/LI) It is the sum of WPA divided by the leverage index for each play. WPA depends greatly on the context of the at bats. This stat does not.

1. Tiant • CLE 5.2

2. McLain • DET 4.0

3. McNally • BAL 3.7

4. Chance • MIN 3.6

5. McDowell • CLE 2.4

6. Bahnsen • NYY 2.4

7. Wood • CHW 2.3

8. Perry • MIN 2.0

9. John • CHW 2.0

10. Wilhelm • CHW 2.0

Championship WPA (cWPA)

Championship Win Probability Added by Pitcher Given average teams, this is the change in probability of winning the World Series, displayed in percentage points. See <a href='https://www.baseball-reference.com/about/wpa.shtml'>Win Expectancy explainer</a> for details.

1. McLain • DET 12.2

2. Tiant • CLE 7.6

3. McNally • BAL 5.7

4. Lolich • DET 3.8

5. Hardin • BAL 3.6

6. Hiller • DET 3.1

7. McDowell • CLE 3.0

8. Patterson • DET 2.7

9. McMahon • 2TM 2.5

10. Dobson • DET 2.1

Base-Out Wins Saved (REW)

Base-Out Wins Saved This is the number of wins above average the player was worth by their performance measured by the 24 base-out situations.

1. Tiant • CLE 5.8

2. McLain • DET 5.4

3. McNally • BAL 4.5

4. Bahnsen • NYY 2.9

5. McDowell • CLE 2.8

6. Wood • CHW 2.8

7. John • CHW 2.5

8. Nash • OAK 2.5

9. Stottlemyre • NYY 2.4

10. Romo • CLE 2.2

A ** by the stat's value indicates the player had fewer than the required number of at bats or plate appearances for the BA, OBP, SLG or OPS title that year. In order to rank the player, the necessary number of hitless at bats were added to the player's season total. The value printed here is their actual value and not the value used to rank them, therefore some numbers may appear out of order.

For rate stats, generally a minimum of 3.1 Plate Appearances/Team Game (batting), 1.0 IP/Team Game (pitching), 0.67 Gm and Chances/Team Game (fielding), 0.2 SB att/Team Game (catchers), 0.1 SB att/Team Game (baserunners only since 1951), and 0.1 decision/Team Game (W-L%) is needed for single-season leaderboards. For pitcher fielding the minimums are reduced by a third. For LF, CF, RF fielding stats, we only have reliable data since 1898, so all leaders are since 1898. Explanation of min. requirements