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Who has been the top starting pitcher (overall) of the 21st century? (Explain your choice!)

Tom Glavine 0 (0.00%)
Roy Halladay 11 (8.46%)
Tim Hudson 2 (1.54%)
Randy Johnson 5 (3.85%)
Greg Maddux 4 (3.08%)
Pedro Martinez 18 (13.85%)
Roy Oswalt 7 (5.38%)
Johan Santana 76 (58.46%)
Curt Schilling 3 (2.31%)
Other (who?) 4 (3.08%)
Who has been the top starting pitcher (overall) of the 21st century? (Explain your choice!) | 4 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
FanfromTheIsland - Saturday, July 21 2007 @ 12:20 AM EDT (#171842) #
Somebody had to start the homer vote (albeit a reasonable one), so I did.
Geoff North - Saturday, July 21 2007 @ 12:31 AM EDT (#171843) #
Huh, with only 11 votes cast, I'm the only guy to vote for Randy Johnson, a pitcher I've long admired.  While Santana might overtake him, he's been nowhere near as valuable.  Johnson has pitched almost 400 (FOUR HUNDRED) more innings than Johan so far this century (more, I believe, than anyone else in this poll). 

Since the turn of the century he has:
Won 3 Cy Young awards, and placed second once (2000, 2001, 2002 and second in 2004)
Tied with Curt Schilling for World Series MVP (in 2001).
Recorded ERA+'s of 190, 184, 177, 171 while averaging 251 innings a season (in his four best seasons).  By comparison, Santana has recorded in his four best full seasons ERA+'s of 182, 161, 153 and 151 while averaging only 213 innings a season.

This is a hugely dominant peak, and his other four seasons (including this partial season) have ranged from very good to mediocre - with the mediocre due in large part to the lousy Yankee defence he was pitching in front of.

I chose Johnson over Martinez despite the truly incredible seasons Martinez produced due to durability - Johnson has pitched almost 400 more innings than Martinez.
I chose Johnson over Schilling because I feel he's been obviously better, despite Schilling's Red Sox World Series heroics it's not like Johnson is a stranger to post season success!

Johnson's been the best so far, and he's not done yet.
AWeb - Saturday, July 21 2007 @ 01:50 PM EDT (#171867) #
Since I'm a stickler, I decided that for me, I wouldn't count 2000 (not part of 21st century) in my vote. Taking that year into account, I'd put Pedro and Randy above Santana for sure, since that was Pedro's most ridiculous year, and another great for Randy as well.  With it out, it's a lot closer. A lot of good choices though.
Jaynut - Sunday, July 22 2007 @ 03:42 PM EDT (#171909) #

I picked the Doc over Santana because of the word overall. I believe without injuries  Doc would have had another 2 MVP awards under his belt.Granted by my name I'm a homer.

Who has been the top starting pitcher (overall) of the 21st century? (Explain your choice!) | 4 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.