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2022 Pitcher Power Rankings: End of April

You saw the name of this article. You know why we’re here. Let’s rank some pitchers.

Some clarifying information first: these rankings are based only on 2022 stats to date. The rankings are the result of a formula – I don’t put my thumb on the scale. Results of the formula are then converted to a scale of -100 to 100, which is by what the players are ranked. These are also not meant to be predictive, but instead a measure of which pitchers have been the best so far. Also, starters, relievers, and swing pitchers are all ranked against each other on the same scale.

Let’s talk about that formula. A magician never reveals their tricks, nor will I be divulging the formula. I will, however, talk about what goes into the formula. To start with, pitchers who produce volume are more valuable, thus innings pitched are a major component of the formula. A pitcher’s job is to prevent runs, so ERA is in here as well, though I park adjust it using ERA-. I also use FIP- and xFIP-, which focus on results but have less noise than ERA. These stats do not reflect the ability to induce weak contact, a valuable skill, so to rectify that I use xERA too. Finally, going under the hood on pitch-by-pitch data, I incorporate CSW%. I will not say how I use any of these numbers, or how any of them are weighted within the formula. But for transparency, the stats I use are now listed. All housekeeping out of the way, here are 2022’s top 30 pitchers as of the end of play on April 30th.

RankNameScore2021 Rank
1Kevin Gausman64.37
2Kyle Wright62.9813
3Carlos Rodón59.314
4Pablo López58.565
5Shane McClanahan55.348
6Corbin Burnes53.21
7Max Scherzer50.83
8Joe Musgrove50.719
9Clayton Kershaw49.428
10Nestor Cortes48.698
11Paul Blackburn45.5804
12Merrill Kelly43.7154
13Garrett Whitlock43.758
14Michael King43.2215
15Tylor Megill43.0243
16Joe Ryan42.5290
17Eric Lauer42.0104
18Miles Mikolas38.8353
19Keegan Thompson38.6402
20Patrick Sandoval38.285
21Shohei Ohtani37.338
22Jesús Luzardo37.0864
23Justin Verlander37.0NR
24Aaron Nola36.220
25Alek Manoah36.166
26Dylan Cease35.326
27Logan Gilbert35.0173
28Bruce Zimmermann35.0570
29Logan Webb34.913
30Chris Bassitt34.433

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Featured Image: @MLBStats / Twitter

Sean Huff

Sean is an applied psychology graduate student in his third semester at Fordham College of Arts and Sciences. He is a lifelong baseball fan with a nominal affinity for the Phillies. You can follow him on Twitter at @srhkthew2 for occasional comments on baseball and assorted esoterica.

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