1988 American League Pitching Leaders

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Other Leagues: Major Leagues, NL

Pennant Winner: Oakland Athletics

AL Most Valuable Player: José Canseco

AL Cy Young: Frank Viola

AL Rookie of the Year: Walt Weiss

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1988 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. Boggs • BOS 8.3

2. Puckett • MIN 7.8

3. Gubicza • KCR 7.7

4. Viola • MIN 7.7

5. Greenwell • BOS 7.5

6. Higuera • MIL 7.4

7. Canseco • OAK 7.3

8. Clemens • BOS 7.1

9. Henderson • NYY 6.3

10. Henderson • OAK 6.3

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. Gubicza • KCR 7.7

2. Viola • MIN 7.7

3. Higuera • MIL 7.4

4. Clemens • BOS 7.1

5. Swindell • CLE 5.9

6. Candiotti • CLE 5.7

7. Langston • SEA 5.6

8. Anderson • MIN 5.2

9. Leibrandt • KCR 5.2

10. Stewart • OAK 4.5

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. Anderson • MIN 2.45

2. Higuera • MIL 2.45

3. Viola • MIN 2.64

4. Gubicza • KCR 2.70

5. Clemens • BOS 2.93

6. Robinson • DET 2.98

7. Stieb • TOR 3.04

8. Leibrandt • KCR 3.19

9. Swindell • CLE 3.20

10. Stewart • OAK 3.23

Wins

1. Viola • MIN 24

2. Stewart • OAK 21

3. Gubicza • KCR 20

4. Clemens • BOS 18

Hurst • BOS 18

Swindell • CLE 18

7. Welch • OAK 17

8. Anderson • MIN 16

Davis • OAK 16

Higuera • MIL 16

Stieb • TOR 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. Viola • MIN .774

2. Hurst • BOS .750

3. Gubicza • KCR .714

4. Key • TOR .706

5. Davis • OAK .696

6. Robinson • DET .684

7. Stieb • TOR .667

8. Welch • OAK .654

9. August • MIL .650

Candelaria • NYY .650

Walks & Hits per IP

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

1. Higuera • MIL 0.999

2. Clemens • BOS 1.057

3. Robinson • DET 1.122

4. Moore • SEA 1.133

5. Viola • MIN 1.136

6. Stieb • TOR 1.138

7. Swindell • CLE 1.153

8. Anderson • MIN 1.166

9. Gubicza • KCR 1.187

10. Reuss • CHW 1.235

Hits per 9 IP

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

1. Robinson • DET 6.331

2. Higuera • MIL 6.651

3. Stieb • TOR 6.815

4. Witt • TEX 6.918

5. Hough • TEX 7.214

6. Clemens • BOS 7.398

7. Langston • SEA 7.645

8. Moore • SEA 7.714

9. Stewart • OAK 7.836

10. Guzmán • TEX 7.839

Bases On Balls per 9 IP

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

1. Anderson • MIN 1.646

2. Swindell • CLE 1.674

3. Alexander • DET 1.808

4. Bosio • MIL 1.879

5. Viola • MIN 1.903

6. Saberhagen • KCR 2.037

7. Clemens • BOS 2.114

8. Reuss • CHW 2.115

9. Clancy • TOR 2.154

10. Candiotti • CLE 2.202

Strikeouts per 9 IP

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

1. Clemens • BOS 9.920

2. Langston • SEA 8.093

3. Witt • TEX 7.641

4. Higuera • MIL 7.601

5. Moore • SEA 7.163

6. Hurst • BOS 6.895

7. Guzmán • TEX 6.837

8. Viola • MIN 6.803

9. Swindell • CLE 6.694

10. Morris • DET 6.434

Games Played

Games Played or Pitched

1. Crim • MIL 70

2. Thigpen • CHW 68

3. Williams • TEX 67

4. Henneman • DET 65

5. Smith • BOS 64

Ward • TOR 64

7. Hernández • DET 63

Reardon • MIN 63

Guante • 2TM 63

10. Farr • KCR 62

Jackson • SEA 62

Saves

1. Eckersley • OAK 45

2. Reardon • MIN 42

3. Jones • CLE 37

4. Thigpen • CHW 34

5. Plesac • MIL 30

6. Smith • BOS 29

7. Henke • TOR 25

Righetti • NYY 25

9. Henneman • DET 22

10. Farr • KCR 20

Innings Pitched

1. Stewart • OAK 275.2

2. Gubicza • KCR 269.2

3. Clemens • BOS 264.0

4. Langston • SEA 261.1

5. Saberhagen • KCR 260.2

6. Viola • MIN 255.1

7. Hough • TEX 252.0

8. Witt • CAL 249.2

9. Welch • OAK 244.2

10. Leibrandt • KCR 243.0

Strikeouts

1. Clemens • BOS 291

2. Langston • SEA 235

3. Viola • MIN 193

4. Higuera • MIL 192

Stewart • OAK 192

6. Gubicza • KCR 183

7. Moore • SEA 182

8. Swindell • CLE 180

9. Hough • TEX 174

10. Saberhagen • KCR 171

Games Started

1. Stewart • OAK 37

2. Welch • OAK 36

3. Clemens • BOS 35

Gubicza • KCR 35

Langston • SEA 35

Leibrandt • KCR 35

Saberhagen • KCR 35

Viola • MIN 35

Boddicker • 2TM 35

10. Alexander • DET 34

Flanagan • TOR 34

Hough • TEX 34

Morris • DET 34

Witt • CAL 34

Complete Games

Complete Game

1. Stewart • OAK 14

Clemens • BOS 14

3. Witt • TEX 13

4. Swindell • CLE 12

Witt • CAL 12

6. Candiotti • CLE 11

Terrell • DET 11

8. Hough • TEX 10

Morris • DET 10

10. Bosio • MIL 9

Moore • SEA 9

Saberhagen • KCR 9

Langston • SEA 9

Shutouts

Shutouts No runs allowed and a complete game.

1. Clemens • BOS 8

2. Stieb • TOR 4

Swindell • CLE 4

Gubicza • KCR 4

5. Moore • SEA 3

Langston • SEA 3

Kilgus • TEX 3

8. Power • 2TM 2

Morris • DET 2

McCaskill • CAL 2

Leibrandt • KCR 2

Key • TOR 2

Robinson • DET 2

Stewart • OAK 2

Guzmán • TEX 2

Candelaria • NYY 2

Viola • MIN 2

Welch • OAK 2

Bailes • CLE 2

Witt • TEX 2

Witt • CAL 2

Home Runs

Home Runs Hit/Allowed

1. Fraser • CAL 33

2. Langston • SEA 32

3. Alexander • DET 30

4. Dotson • NYY 27

5. Clancy • TOR 26

Perez • CHW 26

7. Boyd • BOS 25

Smithson • BOS 25

Tanana • DET 25

10. Moore • SEA 24

Wegman • MIL 24

Bases on Balls

Bases on Balls/Walks

1. Hough • TEX 126

2. Langston • SEA 110

Stewart • OAK 110

4. Witt • TEX 101

5. Davis • OAK 91

6. Witt • CAL 87

7. Gubicza • KCR 83

Morris • DET 83

9. Finley • CAL 82

Guzmán • TEX 82

Hits

Hits/Hits Allowed

1. Saberhagen • KCR 271

2. Witt • CAL 263

3. Alexander • DET 260

4. Leibrandt • KCR 244

5. Blyleven • MIN 240

Stewart • OAK 240

7. Gubicza • KCR 237

Welch • OAK 237

9. Viola • MIN 236

10. Swindell • CLE 234

Boddicker • 2TM 234

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. Clemens • BOS 4.694

2. Swindell • CLE 4.000

3. Viola • MIN 3.574

4. Higuera • MIL 3.254

5. Saberhagen • KCR 2.898

6. Moore • SEA 2.889

7. Blyleven • MIN 2.843

8. Alexander • DET 2.739

9. Candiotti • CLE 2.585

10. Hurst • BOS 2.554

Home Runs per 9 IP

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

1. Gubicza • KCR 0.367

2. Stewart • OAK 0.457

3. Witt • CAL 0.505

4. Swift • SEA 0.515

5. John • NYY 0.561

6. Clemens • BOS 0.580

7. Higuera • MIL 0.594

8. Saberhagen • KCR 0.621

9. Anderson • MIN 0.623

10. Candiotti • CLE 0.623

Losses

1. Blyleven • MIN 17

2. Hough • TEX 16

Saberhagen • KCR 16

Terrell • DET 16

Witt • CAL 16

6. Bautista • BAL 15

Bosio • MIL 15

Finley • CAL 15

Kilgus • TEX 15

Moore • SEA 15

Tibbs • BAL 15

Boddicker • 2TM 15

Earned Runs

Earned Runs Allowed

1. Blyleven • MIN 125

2. Fraser • CAL 117

3. Witt • CAL 115

4. Alexander • DET 110

Saberhagen • KCR 110

6. Morris • DET 103

7. Farrell • CLE 99

Stewart • OAK 99

Welch • OAK 99

10. Clancy • TOR 98

Flanagan • TOR 98

Wild Pitches

1. Davis • OAK 16

Witt • TEX 16

3. Stewart • OAK 14

4. McCaskill • CAL 13

Perez • CHW 13

6. Fraser • CAL 12

Gubicza • KCR 12

8. McDowell • CHW 11

Morris • DET 11

10. Guzmán • TEX 10

Hough • TEX 10

Leibrandt • KCR 10

Toliver • MIN 10

Ward • TOR 10

Hit By Pitch

Times Hit by a Pitch.

1. Blyleven • MIN 16

2. Boddicker • 2TM 14

3. Stieb • TOR 13

4. Hough • TEX 12

5. Kilgus • TEX 10

Welch • OAK 10

7. Clancy • TOR 9

Farrell • CLE 9

Fraser • CAL 9

10. Rhoden • NYY 8

Swift • SEA 8

Mohorcic • 2TM 8

Batters Faced

1. Stewart • OAK 1,156

2. Gubicza • KCR 1,111

3. Saberhagen • KCR 1,089

4. Witt • CAL 1,080

5. Langston • SEA 1,078

6. Hough • TEX 1,067

7. Clemens • BOS 1,063

8. Welch • OAK 1,034

9. Viola • MIN 1,031

10. Leibrandt • KCR 1,002

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. Thigpen • CHW 59

2. Reardon • MIN 58

3. Smith • BOS 57

4. Eckersley • OAK 53

5. Henneman • DET 51

Williams • TEX 51

7. Farr • KCR 49

8. Plesac • MIL 48

9. Jones • CLE 46

10. Henke • TOR 44

Adjusted ERA+

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

1. Anderson • MIN 166

2. Higuera • MIL 162

3. Viola • MIN 154

4. Gubicza • KCR 149

5. Clemens • BOS 141

6. Stieb • TOR 128

7. Robinson • DET 128

8. Swindell • CLE 128

9. Leibrandt • KCR 126

10. Langston • SEA 125

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. Clemens • BOS 2.17

2. Higuera • MIL 2.80

3. Swindell • CLE 2.82

4. Gubicza • KCR 2.93

5. Viola • MIN 2.95

6. Saberhagen • KCR 3.08

7. Candiotti • CLE 3.22

8. Stewart • OAK 3.27

9. Moore • SEA 3.41

10. Hurst • BOS 3.42

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. Viola • MIN 41

2. Higuera • MIL 40

3. Gubicza • KCR 37

4. Clemens • BOS 35

5. Anderson • MIN 32

6. Langston • SEA 23

7. Swindell • CLE 23

8. Leibrandt • KCR 21

9. Stieb • TOR 21

10. Henneman • DET 20

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. Viola • MIN 4.4

2. Higuera • MIL 4.4

3. Gubicza • KCR 4.0

4. Clemens • BOS 3.8

5. Anderson • MIN 3.4

6. Langston • SEA 2.4

7. Swindell • CLE 2.4

8. Leibrandt • KCR 2.2

Stieb • TOR 2.2

10. Candiotti • CLE 2.1

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. Higuera • MIL 43.31

2. Viola • MIN 43.04

3. Clemens • BOS 39.97

4. Gubicza • KCR 36.17

5. Anderson • MIN 31.92

6. Stieb • TOR 26.59

7. Candiotti • CLE 22.69

8. Robinson • DET 21.94

9. Leibrandt • KCR 20.72

10. Stewart • OAK 20.14

Win Probability Added (WPA)

Win Probability Added by Pitcher Given average teams, this is the change in probability. A change of +/- 1 would indicate one win added or lost.

1. Higuera • MIL 5.2

2. Viola • MIN 5.2

3. Jones • CLE 4.9

4. Clemens • BOS 4.3

5. Eckersley • OAK 3.2

6. Anderson • MIN 3.1

7. Leibrandt • KCR 2.6

8. Gubicza • KCR 2.6

9. Righetti • NYY 2.6

10. Harvey • CAL 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. Higuera • MIL 5.4

2. Clemens • BOS 4.6

3. Gubicza • KCR 3.2

4. Viola • MIN 3.1

5. Swindell • CLE 3.0

6. Stieb • TOR 2.6

7. Anderson • MIN 2.3

8. Eckersley • OAK 2.2

9. Stewart • OAK 2.1

10. Robinson • DET 2.1

Championship WPA (cWPA)

Championship Win Probability Added by Pitcher Given average teams, this is the change in probability, displayed in percentage points. A change of +/- 100% would indicate one world series win added or lost.

1. Henneman • DET 4.5

2. Eckersley • OAK 3.6

3. Hurst • BOS 3.3

4. Righetti • NYY 3.3

5. Viola • MIN 3.2

6. Robinson • DET 3.0

7. Jones • CLE 2.9

8. Smith • BOS 2.8

9. Higuera • MIL 2.5

10. Burns • OAK 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. Higuera • MIL 4.8

2. Viola • MIN 4.6

3. Clemens • BOS 4.2

4. Gubicza • KCR 3.9

5. Anderson • MIN 3.4

6. Stieb • TOR 2.9

7. Robinson • DET 2.4

8. Candiotti • CLE 2.4

9. Leibrandt • KCR 2.2

10. Stewart • OAK 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