Find any player or team from any Reference site with our new cross-sport search engine. Only on Sports-Reference.com.

2008 American League Pitching Leaders

Previous Season Next Season

Other Leagues: MLB, NL

Pennant Winner: Tampa Bay Rays

AL Most Valuable Player: Dustin Pedroia

AL Cy Young: Cliff Lee

AL Rookie of the Year: Evan Longoria

Become a Stathead & surf this site ad-free.

2008 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. Markakis • BAL 7.4

2. Pedroia • BOS 7.0

3. Rodriguez • NYY 6.8

4. Lee • CLE 6.7

5. Danks • CHW 6.4

6. Youkilis • BOS 6.3

7. Halladay • TOR 6.2

8. Lester • BOS 6.1

9. Ríos • TOR 6.0

10. Sizemore • CLE 5.9

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. Lee • CLE 6.8

2. Danks • CHW 6.4

3. Halladay • TOR 6.2

4. Lester • BOS 6.1

5. Matsuzaka • BOS 5.4

6. Greinke • KCR 5.2

7. Mussina • NYY 5.1

8. Santana • LAA 5.1

9. Meche • KCR 4.9

10. Saunders • LAA 4.7

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. Lee • CLE 2.54

2. Halladay • TOR 2.78

3. Matsuzaka • BOS 2.90

4. Lester • BOS 3.21

5. Danks • CHW 3.32

6. Mussina • NYY 3.37

7. Saunders • LAA 3.41

8. Baker • MIN 3.45

9. Hernández • SEA 3.45

10. Greinke • KCR 3.47

Wins

1. Lee • CLE 22

2. Halladay • TOR 20

Mussina • NYY 20

4. Burnett • TOR 18

Matsuzaka • BOS 18

6. Floyd • CHW 17

Saunders • LAA 17

8. Lester • BOS 16

Santana • LAA 16

10. Buehrle • CHW 15

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. Lee • CLE .880

2. Matsuzaka • BOS .857

3. Perkins • MIN .750

4. Lester • BOS .727

5. Saunders • LAA .708

6. Lackey • LAA .706

7. Santana • LAA .696

8. Mussina • NYY .690

9. Floyd • CHW .680

10. Galarraga • DET .650

Walks & Hits per IP

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

1. Halladay • TOR 1.053

2. Lee • CLE 1.110

3. Santana • LAA 1.119

4. Shields • TBR 1.153

5. Baker • MIN 1.178

6. Wakefield • BOS 1.182

7. Beckett • BOS 1.187

8. Galarraga • DET 1.192

9. Saunders • LAA 1.212

10. Mussina • NYY 1.223

Hits per 9 IP

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

1. Matsuzaka • BOS 6.871

2. Galarraga • DET 7.657

3. Wakefield • BOS 7.657

4. Smith • OAK 7.991

5. Halladay • TOR 8.049

6. Santana • LAA 8.137

7. Garza • TBR 8.285

8. Floyd • CHW 8.288

9. Guthrie • BAL 8.308

10. Danks • CHW 8.400

Bases On Balls per 9 IP

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

1. Lee • CLE 1.370

2. Mussina • NYY 1.393

3. Halladay • TOR 1.427

4. Shields • TBR 1.674

5. Byrd • 2TM 1.700

6. Sonnanstine • TBR 1.722

7. Beckett • BOS 1.755

8. Blackburn • MIN 1.816

9. Santana • LAA 1.932

10. Litsch • TOR 1.994

Strikeouts per 9 IP

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

1. Burnett • TOR 9.393

2. Beckett • BOS 8.880

3. Santana • LAA 8.795

4. Vázquez • CHW 8.640

5. Matsuzaka • BOS 8.266

6. Greinke • KCR 8.140

7. Hernández • SEA 7.849

8. Meche • KCR 7.830

9. Weaver • LAA 7.743

10. Halladay • TOR 7.537

Games Played

Games Played or Pitched

1. Guerrier • MIN 76

Rodríguez • LAA 76

3. Reyes • MIN 75

Wright • TEX 75

5. Thornton • CHW 74

6. Delcarmen • BOS 73

Pérez • CLE 73

8. Dotel • CHW 72

Green • SEA 72

10. Ramírez • KCR 71

Saves

1. Rodríguez • LAA 62

2. Soria • KCR 42

3. Papelbon • BOS 41

4. Nathan • MIN 39

Rivera • NYY 39

6. Ryan • TOR 32

7. Sherrill • BAL 31

8. Jenks • CHW 30

9. Percival • TBR 28

10. Wilson • TEX 24

Innings Pitched

1. Halladay • TOR 246.0

2. Lee • CLE 223.1

3. Burnett • TOR 221.1

4. Santana • LAA 219.0

5. Buehrle • CHW 218.2

6. Shields • TBR 215.0

7. Lester • BOS 210.1

Meche • KCR 210.1

9. Vázquez • CHW 208.1

10. Floyd • CHW 206.1

Strikeouts

1. Burnett • TOR 231

2. Santana • LAA 214

3. Halladay • TOR 206

4. Vázquez • CHW 200

5. Greinke • KCR 183

Meche • KCR 183

7. Hernández • SEA 175

8. Beckett • BOS 172

9. Lee • CLE 170

10. Kazmir • TBR 166

Games Started

1. Buehrle • CHW 34

Burnett • TOR 34

Meche • KCR 34

Mussina • NYY 34

5. Blackburn • MIN 33

Danks • CHW 33

Floyd • CHW 33

Halladay • TOR 33

Lester • BOS 33

Pettitte • NYY 33

Shields • TBR 33

Vázquez • CHW 33

Verlander • DET 33

Complete Games

Complete Game

1. Halladay • TOR 9

2. Lee • CLE 4

3. Slowey • MIN 3

Sabathia • CLE 3

Millwood • TEX 3

Shields • TBR 3

Lackey • LAA 3

Garza • TBR 3

9. Santana • LAA 2

Smith • OAK 2

Litsch • TOR 2

Lester • BOS 2

Hernández • SEA 2

Hernández • MIN 2

Cabrera • BAL 2

Shutouts

Shutouts No runs allowed and a complete game.

1. Garza • TBR 2

Halladay • TOR 2

Lee • CLE 2

Lester • BOS 2

Litsch • TOR 2

Sabathia • CLE 2

Shields • TBR 2

Slowey • MIN 2

9. Hernández • CLE 1

Duchscherer • OAK 1

Harrison • TEX 1

Padilla • TEX 1

Richmond • TOR 1

Santana • LAA 1

Sonnanstine • TBR 1

Waters • BAL 1

Home Runs

Home Runs Hit/Allowed

1. Byrd • 2TM 31

2. Floyd • CHW 30

3. Bannister • KCR 29

4. Galarraga • DET 28

5. Lackey • LAA 26

Padilla • TEX 26

Robertson • DET 26

8. Perkins • MIN 25

Vázquez • CHW 25

Wakefield • BOS 25

Bases on Balls

Bases on Balls/Walks

1. Matsuzaka • BOS 94

2. Cabrera • BAL 90

3. Smith • OAK 87

Verlander • DET 87

5. Burnett • TOR 86

6. Hernández • SEA 80

7. Batista • SEA 79

8. Eveland • OAK 77

Jackson • TBR 77

10. Meche • KCR 73

Hits

Hits/Hits Allowed

1. Buehrle • CHW 240

2. Garland • LAA 237

3. Pettitte • NYY 233

4. Blackburn • MIN 224

5. Halladay • TOR 220

Millwood • TEX 220

7. Robertson • DET 218

8. Bannister • KCR 215

9. Lee • CLE 214

Mussina • NYY 214

Vázquez • CHW 214

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. Halladay • TOR 5.282

2. Beckett • BOS 5.059

3. Lee • CLE 5.000

4. Mussina • NYY 4.839

5. Santana • LAA 4.553

6. Shields • TBR 4.000

7. Baker • MIN 3.357

8. Sonnanstine • TBR 3.351

9. Vázquez • CHW 3.279

10. Greinke • KCR 3.268

Home Runs per 9 IP

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

1. Lee • CLE 0.484

2. Eveland • OAK 0.536

3. Lester • BOS 0.599

4. Matsuzaka • BOS 0.644

5. Halladay • TOR 0.659

6. Danks • CHW 0.692

7. Hernández • SEA 0.762

8. Mussina • NYY 0.764

9. Burnett • TOR 0.773

10. Verlander • DET 0.806

Losses

1. Verlander • DET 17

2. Bannister • KCR 16

Smith • OAK 16

Vázquez • CHW 16

5. Silva • SEA 15

6. Batista • SEA 14

Pettitte • NYY 14

Washburn • SEA 14

9. Rogers • DET 13

10. Blanton • OAK 12

Buehrle • CHW 12

Guthrie • BAL 12

Hochevar • KCR 12

Byrd • 2TM 12

Earned Runs

Earned Runs Allowed

1. Robertson • DET 119

2. Bannister • KCR 117

3. Rogers • DET 110

Silva • SEA 110

5. Vázquez • CHW 108

Verlander • DET 108

7. Garland • LAA 107

8. Cabrera • BAL 105

9. Pettitte • NYY 103

10. Burnett • TOR 100

Wild Pitches

1. Cabrera • BAL 15

2. Padilla • TEX 12

Wakefield • BOS 12

4. Burnett • TOR 11

Dickey • SEA 11

6. Floyd • CHW 9

7. Hernández • CLE 8

Davies • KCR 8

Greinke • KCR 8

Hernández • SEA 8

Speier • LAA 8

Hit By Pitch

Times Hit by a Pitch.

1. Cabrera • BAL 18

2. Padilla • TEX 15

3. Verlander • DET 14

4. Wakefield • BOS 13

5. Eveland • OAK 12

Halladay • TOR 12

Shields • TBR 12

8. Feldman • TEX 10

Lackey • LAA 10

Lester • BOS 10

Rupe • TEX 10

Batters Faced

1. Halladay • TOR 987

2. Burnett • TOR 957

3. Buehrle • CHW 918

4. Santana • LAA 897

5. Lee • CLE 891

6. Vázquez • CHW 890

7. Meche • KCR 886

8. Pettitte • NYY 881

9. Verlander • DET 880

10. Floyd • CHW 878

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. Rodríguez • LAA 69

2. Papelbon • BOS 62

3. Rivera • NYY 60

4. Nathan • MIN 57

Soria • KCR 57

6. Jenks • CHW 52

7. Sherrill • BAL 49

8. Ryan • TOR 48

9. Wilson • TEX 41

10. Percival • TBR 38

Adjusted ERA+

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

1. Lee • CLE 167

2. Matsuzaka • BOS 160

3. Halladay • TOR 152

4. Lester • BOS 144

5. Danks • CHW 138

6. Mussina • NYY 131

7. Saunders • LAA 131

8. Santana • LAA 127

9. Greinke • KCR 125

10. Shields • TBR 124

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. Lee • CLE 2.83

2. Halladay • TOR 3.03

3. Beckett • BOS 3.24

4. Santana • LAA 3.30

5. Mussina • NYY 3.32

6. Danks • CHW 3.44

7. Burnett • TOR 3.45

8. Greinke • KCR 3.56

9. Meche • KCR 3.61

10. Lester • BOS 3.64

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. Lee • CLE 43

2. Halladay • TOR 38

3. Lester • BOS 33

4. Matsuzaka • BOS 31

5. Danks • CHW 28

6. Duchscherer • OAK 25

7. Santana • LAA 24

8. Rivera • NYY 24

9. Saunders • LAA 22

10. Nathan • MIN 21

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. Lee • CLE 4.6

2. Halladay • TOR 4.0

3. Lester • BOS 3.4

4. Matsuzaka • BOS 3.2

5. Danks • CHW 2.8

6. Duchscherer • OAK 2.7

7. Santana • LAA 2.5

8. Rivera • NYY 2.4

9. Saunders • LAA 2.3

10. Mussina • NYY 2.1

Ziegler • OAK 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. Lee • CLE 48.99

2. Halladay • TOR 41.78

3. Lester • BOS 36.17

4. Matsuzaka • BOS 34.03

5. Danks • CHW 30.79

6. Santana • LAA 29.68

7. Saunders • LAA 27.03

8. Rivera • NYY 27.01

9. Duchscherer • OAK 25.92

10. Baker • MIN 24.48

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. Lee • CLE 5.9

2. Rivera • NYY 4.5

3. Halladay • TOR 4.4

4. Soria • KCR 4.2

5. Santana • LAA 3.8

6. Howell • TBR 3.6

7. Rodríguez • LAA 3.5

8. Saunders • LAA 3.4

9. Ziegler • OAK 3.4

10. Jenks • CHW 3.4

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. Halladay • TOR 4.9

2. Lee • CLE 4.7

3. Santana • LAA 3.2

4. Duchscherer • OAK 3.1

5. Danks • CHW 3.0

6. Rivera • NYY 2.6

7. Lester • BOS 2.4

8. Beckett • BOS 2.4

9. Matsuzaka • BOS 2.3

Soria • KCR 2.3

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. Danks • CHW 8.7

2. Nathan • MIN 4.0

3. Baker • MIN 3.8

4. Jenks • CHW 3.5

5. Matsuzaka • BOS 2.7

6. Buehrle • CHW 2.6

7. Lester • BOS 2.4

8. Rodríguez • LAA 2.3

9. Rivera • NYY 2.2

10. Mijares • MIN 2.2

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. Lee • CLE 5.3

2. Halladay • TOR 4.5

3. Lester • BOS 3.6

4. Matsuzaka • BOS 3.4

5. Danks • CHW 3.1

6. Santana • LAA 3.0

7. Duchscherer • OAK 2.8

8. Saunders • LAA 2.7

9. Rivera • NYY 2.7

10. Baker • MIN 2.6

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