Pitchers are picked by managers although they could have been voted on in 1984. Below are sorts of top starters and relievers as of July 6 according to this data model. Color coded red are All Star picks for AL, blue for NL.
Starters
| Rank | WAA | Name | TeamID | Pos |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| +001+ | 6.13 | Phil_Niekro | NYA | SP |
| +004+ | 4.28 | Dave_Stieb | TOR | SP |
| +013+ | 3.59 | Richard_Dotson | CHA | SP |
| +014+ | 3.44 | Nolan_Ryan | HOU | SP |
| +018+ | 3.36 | Geoff_Zahn | ANA | SP |
| +020+ | 3.28 | Bruce_Hurst | BOS | SP |
| +023+ | 3.21 | Storm_Davis | BAL | SP |
| +022+ | 3.21 | Joaquin_Andujar | SLN | SP |
| +025+ | 3.15 | Ricky_Mahler | ATL | SP |
| +033+ | 3.02 | Joe_Niekro | HOU | SP |
| +035+ | 2.96 | Charlie_Lea | WAS | SP |
| +034+ | 2.96 | Ricky_Horton | SLN | SP |
| +036+ | 2.94 | Ray_Burris | OAK | SP |
| +039+ | 2.81 | Alejandro_Pena | LAN | SP |
| +042+ | 2.77 | Mike_Boddicker | BAL | SP |
| +043+ | 2.75 | Dwight_Gooden | NYN | SP |
Dave Stieb gets picked to start for AL ( highlighted in red ) and Charlie_Lea for NL Not much difference in WAA value between Nolan Ryan who didn’t get chosen as primary starter and Charlie Lea. Nolan Ryan and Gooden get picked as reserve. Houston Astros (HOU) is a National League team.
Who is Charlie Lea?
Charlie_Lea
| Year | Rank | WAA | TeamID | Pos |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | XXXXX | 0.29 | WAS | PITCH |
| 1981 | -083- | -1.62 | WAS | PITCH |
| 1982 | +103+ | 2.54 | WAS | PITCH |
| 1983 | +056+ | 3.63 | WAS | PITCH |
| 1984 | +023+ | 5.08 | WAS | PITCH |
| 1987 | XXXXX | -0.73 | WAS | PITCH |
| 1988 | -022- | -3.23 | MIN | PITCH |
| TOTAL | X | 5.96 | PITCH |
1984 will be Lea’s best year of his career. Arm and shoulder injuries keep him from pitching the next two years and after that — not so well. In 1984 WAS was the Montreal Expos.
Phil Niekro had a tremendous start to this season yet finishes 1984 ranked #61 losing almost 3 WAA in value from today. Ironically his fortunes will be opposite of his team (NYA) who go from -9 WAA as of today to +12 WAA by season end making Yankees best team in MLB if the commissioner allowed for first half mulligans.
The baseball-handbook.com site will allow simple drill down into this Yankee roster and see player seasonal and team WAA trend lines as well as other oddities that may arise from these reports.
Relievers
| Rank | WAA | Name | TeamID | Pos |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| +005+ | 4.09 | Doug_Sisk | NYN | RP |
| +028+ | 3.09 | Dan_Quisenberry | KCA | RP |
| +032+ | 3.02 | Bruce_Sutter | SLN | RP |
| +046+ | 2.58 | Willie_Hernandez | DET | RP |
| +051+ | 2.48 | Craig_Lefferts | SDN | RP |
| +056+ | 2.37 | Dave_Righetti | NYA | RP |
| +060+ | 2.23 | Luis_Sanchez | ANA | RP |
| +064+ | 2.14 | Jesse_Orosco | NYN | RP |
| +070+ | 1.97 | Ernie_Camacho | CLE | RP |
| +076+ | 1.93 | Tom_Tellmann | MIL | RP |
| +075+ | 1.93 | Tom_Niedenfuer | LAN | RP |
| +083+ | 1.85 | Bill_Dawley | HOU | RP |
| +082+ | 1.85 | Bill_Caudill | OAK | RP |
| +092+ | 1.78 | Jeff_Reardon | WAS | RP |
| +095+ | 1.68 | Mike_Jeffcoat | CLE | RP |
Orosco and Sutter get picked for NL, Quisenberry, Harnandez, and Claudill for AL. Doug Sisk had a very good first half season. His second half doesn’t go so well as he drops from being ranked #5 to #72 by season end.
Sutter pitches even better second half making him the first and only reliever ( probably forever and ever ) to be the top ranked pitcher by end of year according to this data model. 1984 will be the best year of his career — and he played for the Cardinals!
Since there were 24 teams of 25 players in 1984, top 80 ranks would be comparable to top 100 in a 30 team league of 25 players. The cutoff for rank eligibility is 160 in 1984.
There are 11 relievers above ranked in the top 80 which holds steady all season. By the end of 2019 this model ranked 11 relievers in the top 100 so very similar. In 2019 only one reliever cracked the WAR top 100, Liam Hendricks of Oakland with a WAR=3.5 ranked #95.
Cubs wrap up their west coast trip tomorrow by taking 3 out of 4 from the hapless Giants and then it’s All Star vacation until July 12 when the west coast teams come to Wrigley Field starting with the Dodgers. Until then ….